KIND COULD BE NAMED TO INFLUENTIAL COMMITTEE
Monday, November 29th, 2004 -- 10:57 AM
Wisconsin Democratic Reps. Ron Kind and Tammy Baldwin are in line to get assignments on two of the most powerful House committees next year.Congressional Democrats from a half-dozen Midwestern states met this month and recommended Kind for a seat on the House Ways and Means Committee and Baldwin for the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The two committees are among the three "exclusive" House panels, meaning that according to party rules, Democrats who serve on them must give up all other committee assignments, although exceptions occasionally are made. The other exclusive committee is the House Appropriations Committee. That means that, barring a waiver, Kind would have to step down from his current three assignments on the Budget, Resources, and Education and the Workforce committees. At the meeting, Democrats from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa and the Dakotas voted unanimously to endorse Kind and Baldwin for the committee assignments The "exclusive" committees usually are reserved for members who have built up some seniority in the House. Next year will be Baldwin's seventh year in Congress and Kind's ninth. The Ways and Means Committee sets tax policy, making it a sought-after panel.
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