Article
Olean Times Herald: Lone Star State dominance returns to Capitol Hill
Washington,
January 5, 2015
Monday, January 5, 2015 11:24 am
By Thomas C. Downs and Daris D. Meeks
For the 114th Congress, convening Tuesday, Kentucky is the home state of the Senate majority leader; the speaker of the House is from Ohio, and the Senate and House minority leaders hail from Nevada and California, respectively. Yet, a look at key positions of legislative control on Capitol Hill shows tremendous power residing in the Texas delegation. In fact, no other state will enjoy nearly the level of control over congressional committees as the Lone Star State.
Texans are used to this, although it has been a while since the state enjoyed such power. While they have given the nation three presidents over the past five decades, it has been more than half a century since the unprecedented six-year span of Texans’ control of both bodies of Congress, when Lyndon B. Johnson’s service as Senate majority leader coincided with Sam Rayburn’s tenure as the longest-serving speaker of the house. The last house speaker from Texas, Jim Wright, a Democrat like Johnson and Rayburn, served more than 25 years ago, and it has been more than nine years since Republican Texan Tom DeLay’s service as House majority leader, following DeLay’s service as majority whip.
In the new Congress, the delegation’s power and influence will be extensive due to the role of Republican John Cornyn as Senate majority whip (the No. 2 majority party leader in the Senate), and Texans’ control of 10 key House panels, as noted below:
House Agriculture Committee — Incoming Chairman Michael Conaway, a Republican representing the Midland area, will likely chair this committee for the next six years, allowing him to lead negotiations over the next Farm Bill to protect Texas agricultural interests such as beef cattle, chickens, dairy products, eggs and hogs. This leadership role is also important to ensure the sustainability of the land-grant university system, which includes Texas A&M and Prairie View A&M universities. Conaway will be joined on the committee by Republican Randy Neugebauer, who represents Lubbock and Abilene, and Filemon Vela, a Democrat who represents the Rio Grande Valley.
House Armed Services Committee — This committee’s incoming chairman is Republican Mac Thornberry. The committee writes the National Defense Authorization Bill. Thornberry, who represents the Amarillo area, will likely chair the committee for the next six years, during which time there is likely to be another round of Base Closure and Realignment Commission activities. He will be joined on the Armed Services Committee by Conaway and Joaquin Castro, a Democrat who represents San Antonio.
House Financial Services Committee — Republican Jeb Hensarling is chairman of this committee, which has jurisdiction over Dodd-Frank and other financial services laws, and housing legislation. The assignment allows Hensarling, whose district lies southeast of Dallas, oversight of fellow Texan and Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Juliàn Castro, a Democrat and former mayor of San Antonio. Other members of the committee include Neugebauer, Rubén Hinojosa, a Democrat who represents portions of south Texas and the Rio Grande Valley, and Al Green, a Democrat who represents Houston.
House Homeland Security Committee — Republican Michael McCaul serves as chairman of this panel, which oversees programs of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection intended to seal the Texas-Mexico border. McCaul, whose district lies between Austin and Houston, will be joined on the committee by Lamar Smith, a Republican representing portions of Austin and San Antonio, Sheila Jackson Lee, a Democrat representing Houston, Beto O’Rourke, a Democrat representing El Paso, and Vela.
House Rules Committee — Republican Pete Sessions serves as chairman of this committee, which has jurisdiction over terms and conditions of debate on every bill that reaches the House floor. Sessions, who represents Dallas, will be joined on the committee by Michael Burgess, a Republican representing the Lewisville area.
House Science Committee — Lamar Smith serves as chairman of this committee, which, for the city of Houston is important in that it authorizes programs at NASA’s Johnson Space Center there. Along with ranking member and Democrat Eddie Bernice Johnson, Chairman Smith will be joined on the committee by Neugebauer, McCaul, Randy Weber, a Republican representing East Harris County, and Marc Veasey, a Democrat representing the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Joint Economic Committee — Rep. Kevin Brady, a Republican who represents Conroe and Huntsville, will continue to chair this joint House-Senate committee, which reviews economic conditions and recommends improvements in economic policy. APROPRIATIONS
Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science — Republican Rep. John Culberson serves as chairman of this subcommittee, which is important to Houston in that it funds NASA. Culberson, from Houston, will be joined on the subcommittee by Rep. John Carter, a Republican who represents Round Rock and Temple.
Subcommittee on Homeland Security — Carter serves as chairman on this panel, which funds programs by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to seal the Texas-Mexico border, as well as funds for homeland security grants such as the Urban Area Security Initiative. Culberson is a member of the subcommittee, along with Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Democrat who represents Texas-Mexico border communities.
Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations — Republican Rep. Kay Granger serves as chairwoman of this subcommittee, which funds the Department of State and various independent agencies. Granger, who represents Fort Worth, will be joined on the subcommittee by Cuellar.
(Thomas C. Downs and Daris D. Meeks are legislative and government-affairs partners in the Washington office of Venable LLP. Downs has represented clients in Houston, San Antonio, Austin and the Rio Grande Valley, Texas. Meeks previously served as counsel to Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, and Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas.) |