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Sen. Brown joins appropriations committee
By DAVID SKOLNICK
WASHINGTON, D.C.
When then-U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine was appointed in 2001, he was the first Ohioan in about 60 years to serve on the Senate Appropriations Committee.
After a lengthy dry spell, Ohio now has both of its senators on the powerful committee.
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat who defeated DeWine, a Republican, in the 2006 Senate race, was selected Thursday to serve on the committee.
Brown will join outgoing U.S. Sen. George V. Voinovich, a Republican, on the committee. Voinovich, who’s not seeking re-election this year, has served on appropriations since January 2009.
“This is about Ohio getting its fair share of federal resources that promote economic development,” Brown said of his appointment. “For too long, Ohio has been a donor state, with Ohio taxpayers supporting other states by paying out more in federal taxes than our state receives.”
A seat on the committee opened up when its chairman, Robert C. Byrd, a Democrat from West Virginia, died last month.
“This committee is critical for setting responsible federal priorities [such as] protecting critical programs like Medicare and research at the National Institutes of Health,” Brown said. “It’s critical to getting our budget back on track and working alongside the business community to promote economic development.”
The committee is responsible for setting funding levels for all federal programs. It is a coveted committee because members are able to control federal spending and can steer money to their state.
Through his new committee assignment, Brown said he will continue work on his key priorities including health-care access and affordability, workers’ rights and education and training reform.
Brown will give up his seat on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. But he will keep his other committee assignments: banking, agriculture and veterans.