Towns Backs Rush for House Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member
Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., took himself out of the running for ranking member of the House Communications Subcommittee, clearing the way for Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., to take the job. Towns will join the Commerce Committee, according to a list we obtained of Democratic committee assignments. Also, House Judiciary Committee Republicans announced chairmen and vice chairmen for its subcommittees. Late Friday, Commerce Committee Republicans announced their subcommittee assignments.
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A Towns spokesman said the congressman will defer to Rush, who is less senior but wants the post. A final decision hasn’t been made. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., is also believed to want the post, but she is less senior than Rush. An Eshoo spokesman declined to comment.
The list of Democratic committee assignments is dated Jan. 7 and provides lineups for the Commerce, Appropriations and Ways & Means committees. It was approved Friday by the full Democratic Caucus, a House staffer said. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., as expected, continues to lead Democrats on the committee. The Democrats, who will have 23 seats this year compared to 29 last year, cut senior Reps. Bruce Braley of Iowa and Peter Welch of Vermont. Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, apparently added two seats (CD Jan 6 p8) to the committee, one for each party, which after the arrival of Towns saved a chair for Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif.
The list of Commerce Committee Democrats was confirmed by a committee spokeswoman. By seniority, the committee will include: Waxman; John Dingell of Michigan; Ed Markey of Massachusetts; Towns; Frank Pallone of New Jersey; Bobby Rush of Illinois; Eshoo; Eliot Engel of New York; Gene Green of Texas; Diana DeGette of Colorado; Lois Capps of California; Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania; Jane Harman of California; Jan Shakowsky of Illinois; Charles Gonzalez of Texas; Jay Inslee of Washington; Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin; Mike Ross of Arkansas; Anthony Weiner of New York; Jim Matheson of Utah; G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina; John Barrow of Georgia and Matsui.
Upton and Chairman Emeritus Joe Barton of Texas will be ex officio members on every subcommittee of the Commerce Committee, Republicans said. GOP members on the Communications Subcommittee are: Greg Walden of Oregon, Lee Terry of Nebraska, Cliff Stearns of Florida, John Shimkus of Illinois, Mary Bono Mack of California, Mike Rogers of Michigan, Brian Bilbray of California, Charlie Bass of New Hampshire, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Phil Gingrey of Georgia, Steve Scalise of Louisiana, Bob Latta of Ohio, Brett Guthrie of Kentucky and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.
Subcommittees on Oversight and Manufacturing, both of which are expected to hold hearings on net neutrality, would each have 14 Republicans and 9 Democrats. GOP members on Oversight include: Reps. Stearns, Terry, John Sullivan of Oklahoma, Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania, Michael Burgess of Texas, Blackburn, Sue Myrick of North Carolina, Bilbray, Gingrey, Scalise, Corey Gardner of Colorado and Morgan Griffith of Virginia. Republicans on Manufacturing include Mack, Blackburn, Stearns, Bass, Greg Harper of Mississippi, Leonard Lance of New Jersey, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Guthrie, Pete Olsen of Texas, David McKinley of West Virginia and Kinzinger.
Rep. Norm Dicks of Washington will lead Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee, replacing the retiring David Obey of Wisconsin, according to the list of Democratic committee assignments. The 21-member list cuts off after Rep. Betty McCollum of Minnesota. Rep. Sander Levin of Michigan will lead Democrats on the Ways & Means Committee. The 15-member list cuts off after Rep. Joseph Crowley of New York.
Also Friday, House Judiciary Committee Republicans named subcommittee chairmen and vice chairmen. Rep. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia will chair and Rep. Howard Coble of North Carolina will vice-chair the Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet. Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona is chairman for the Constitution subcommittee, Coble for Courts, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin for Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security, and Elton Gallegly of California for Immigration Policy.
Welch’s departure from the Commerce Committee leaves Butterfield the committee’s only rural Democrat who last year was on the Communications Subcommittee. However, subcommittee lineups are not set and the full committee has two other rural Democrats: Ross and Matheson. Many big telecom issues, including broadband deployment and adoption, tend to cut on urban-rural lines.
Braley’s exit from the committee is surprising given his allegiance to Waxman, said a telecom lobbyist. When Waxman beat Dingell to chair the Commerce Committee in 2008, a turning point may have been a speech by then-freshman Braley in glowing support of Waxman, the lobbyist said.