http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/house-democrats-policy-committee-assignments-nancy-pelosi-114124.htmlPelosi announcing appointments to policy committees
By LAUREN FRENCH and ANNA PALMER 1/9/15 11:45 AM EST
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will announce new committee assignments Friday for nearly three dozen Democrats.
The panel assignments will serve to put younger, more newly elected Democrats on 10 policy committees.
“The Democratic Members recommended to serve on the following committees have proven themselves to be forward-looking leaders who embody the diversity, drive, and vitality of our caucus,” said Pelosi (D-Calif.). “They will bring fresh perspective and new energy to each of these committees, and we look forward to having their intelligence and ideas working in these new positions, strengthening our economy and securing our country.”
Reps. Ann Kirkpatrick of Arizona, Pete Aguilar of California and Stacey Plaskett of the Virgin Islands will join the Agriculture committee.
Both Aguilar and Plaskett are freshmen while Kirkpatrick was elected first elected in 2009 but returned to the House in 2013 after an election defeat in 2012.
The Budget Committee will include Rep. Debbie Dingell of Michigan, a freshman and wife of former Rep. John Dingell. Freshman Rep. Ted Lieu of California will also serve on the high-profile committee.
Reps. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, Alma Adams of North Carolina and Mark DeSaulnier of California will all serve on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure will gain two sophomore members, Reps. Jared Huffman of California and Julia Brownley of California. And the committees on Oversight and Government Reform and Natural Resources will each gain one freshman: Reps. Brenda Lawrence of Michigan and Don Beyer of Virginia, respectively.
Sophomore Rep. Scott Peters of California will join the Judiciary Committee.
The three committees tasked with oversight and legislation for the military and national security will see nearly 10 freshmen join their ranks. Rep. Tim Walz of Minnesota, elected in 2007, will join the Armed Services Committee, joined by sophomore Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas and freshmen Reps. Don Norcross of New Jersey, Ruben Gallego of Arizona, Mark Takai of Hawaii, Gwen Graham of Florida, Brad Ashford of Nebraska and Seth Moulton of Massachusetts.
Sophomore Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey and freshmen Reps. Kathleen Rice of New York and Norma Torres of California will join the Homeland Security Committee. The Foreign Affairs Committee will see the addition of Reps. Robin Kelly of Illinois, a sophomore, and Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, a freshman.
Democrats lost 13 committee seats after being trounced during the mid-term elections. The assignments announced on Friday don’t include the five so-called “A” committees — Ways and Means, Rules, Appropriations, Energy and Commerce and Financial Services — which were previously announced.
