Rep. DelBene gets coveted seat on House Ways and Means Committee
U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., has done time in a congressional purgatory -- a House panel set up by Republicans to torment Planned Parenthood -- and is now stepping into a heavenly committee assignment.
DelBene, a former Microsoft executive, has been named to the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.
The panel will deal with the most controversial elements of Republicans' legislative agenda, from repeal of the Affordable Care Act to cuts in Medicare and "reforms" in Social Security, plus giving the rich whopping tax cuts.
"Instead of these dangerous proposals, we should build on the progress we have already made by incentivizing high-quality patient care, reducing costs for small business, and expanding access for our most vulnerable citizens," DelBene said in a statement.
Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash., already sits on Ways and Means. Just-retired Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., was a longtime panel member who once used his committee post to coauthor legislation that reformed foster care in America. But McDermott was seldom heard from during his last year in Congress.
Washington elected three new Democrats to Congress in 2012. Although in the minority, they have fared well in Congress' committee postings.
Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Wash., sits on the House Appropriations Committee. Rep. Denny Heck, D-Wash., is on the House Financial Services Committee, and was a key player in reviving the U.S. Export-Import Bank over right-wing House opposition.
DelBene has been a member of the House Judiciary Committee and its "select panel" charged with investigating Planned Parenthood.
Although famously restrained in her public comments, DelBene was outraged at the conduct of the panel and its harassment of stem-cell research at universities and clinics.
"Instead of carrying out a fair and evidence-based process, the panel has spent the last year publicly targeting women's healthcare providers, bullying scientists and medical students, delaying medical research and trying to cut off lines of scientific inquiry," DelBene said in a statement earlier this week.
There has been speculation that newly elected Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., will take a seat on Judiciary, giving her the opportunity to challenge some of Congress' farthest-right Republican lawmakers.
Jayapal has hired, as her district director, Rachel Berkson, former executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Washington.