I'm not much of diary writer (this being my first) but today's Science Open Thread made me wonder who was replacing whom in the various Senate & House Committees, so I laboriously began looking them up and writing them into a comment for that thread. Two thirds of the way through a local transformer blew, wiping out what I'd written, so I started over, this time saving the information in Word as I went. I thought, perhaps, others might be interested.
Below is a list of the Outgoing and Incoming committee chairpersons, with a little editorializing on my part.
Senate Committees:
Was Will Be
Agriculture Chambliss Harkin
Appropriations Cochran Byrd
Armed Srvcs Warner Levin
Banking Shelby Sarbanes
Budget Gregg Conrad
Commerce Stevens* Inouye
Energy Domenici Bingaman
Environment Inhofe Boxer
Finance Grassley Baucus
Foreign Rel. Lugar Biden
Health Enzi Kennedy
Homeland Sec. Collins joementum
Judiciary Specter Leahy
Rules Lott Dodd
Small Biz Snowe Kerry
Veterans Craig Akaka
Select Committees:
Indian Affairs McCain Dorgan
Ethics Voinovich Johnson
Intelligence Roberts Rockefeller
Aging Smith Kohl
* - "The Internet is a series of tubes!"
While committees like Appropriations are hugely powerful, I think that the rise of Boxer to lead the Environmental Committee will be a sea change and global warming is such an enormous problem that she could be crucial. She isn't hostage to the oil industry "scientists" and will hopefully begin toward real reform in our environmental policy. And Leahy leading the Judiciary Committee will likely be very influential as well. Not the Sen Specter was terrible as Judiciary chairmen, but I think just having that committee in Dem control will limit the bush Admin in what they can do. Though he rolled over, just after 9/11, when Ashcroft basically accused the Congress of supporting terrorists if they didn't do anything that w asked, I think he has realized the peril now and has remembered that he has a pair. First order of business, re-instate habeus corpus!
House of Representatives Committees:
Was Will Be
Agriculture Goodlatte Petersen
Appropriations Lewis Obey
Armed Srvcs Hunter Skelton
Budget Nussle Spratt
Education McKeon Miller
Energy Barton Dingell
Financial Srvcs Oxley Frank
Govt Reform Davis Waxman(!)
Homeland Sec. King Thompson
House Admin Ehlers Millender-McDonald
Int'l Rel. Hyde (ret) Lantos
Judiciary Sensenbrenner Conyers(!)
Resources Pombo (Han ha)** Rahall
Rules Drier Slaughter(!)
Science Boehlert (ret.)*** Gordon
Small Biz Manzullo Velazquez
Standards Hastings Berman
Transportation Young Oberstar
Veterans Buyer Evans
Ways & Means Thomas Rangel
While I think, again, that having things like Appropriations & Budget back in Dem hands is hugely important, I think that the investigations that Waxman and Conyers are likely to start could unearth a lot of long buried poison and show the country the depths of this administration's and the Rethug Congress' venality and fecklessness. I would also hope that Slaughter would make a clean break from the recent, sordid past and insure that the Dems are seen to be running the House in a transparent manner for the benefit of the American people, for a change.
** This is meant to be pronounced like Nelson from the Simpsons.
*** Boehlert was my congressman for 10-12 years and I always liked him. Though he was Republican, he was quite moderate, and I was sorry when we got redistricted and we got McHugh instead.
Joint Committees:
Economic Bennett & Saxton Reed & Malohney
Printing Lott & Ehlers Inouye & Millender-McDonald
Taxation Grassley & Thomas Baucus & Rangel
Select Committees:
Intelligence Hoekstra Harman
Katrina Davis ****
**** This was a bare bones site and didn't say who the ranking Democratic member was. Also, therehad been no additions since last Spring, so I assume the Rethugs had shut this down and (tried) to forget that a major city was wiped out on their watch. With them doing little more than Samoza's Nicuragua.
If this has been posted, or is easily available elsewhere then please remove it. It was mostly that I was interested in a complete list and thought others might like to see it as well.
As for the poll any answer naturally has to blend the pleasure one feels at the thought of the gavel in competent hands and the relief at the thought of who is no longer in charge. So vote accordingly.