WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last night, the Democratic Steering Committee nominated and the full Democratic Caucus approved the appointment of Congressman Chris Murphy (CT-5) to the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The Energy and Commerce Committee is often referred to as one of the three most powerful committees in Congress, along with the Appropriations and Ways and Means Committees. It has the broadest jurisdiction of any committee in the U.S. House, overseeing policy on health care, energy, the environment, global warming, consumer product safety, telecommunications, and other matters. In the coming Congress, any health care reform or energy reform legislation will go through the Energy and Commerce Committee.
Murphy will become the first Member of Congress from Connecticut to sit on the Committee in over a decade, and only the fourth Member from Connecticut to serve on the Committee in the past fifty years.
Murphy released the following statement on his selection:
“I am thrilled to have been appointed to a committee that will allow me to play a major role in expanding access to health care, combating global warming, and making our country truly energy independent. In particular, health care reform has always been an issue central to my public service, and this appointment gives me an opportunity to continue the work I started as Chair of the Public Health Committee in Hartford.
“For the first time in over a decade, Connecticut will have a seat on one of the most influential committees in Congress. Under the leadership of Chairman Henry Waxman and President-Elect Obama, the Energy and Commerce Committee will be at the center of the most important policy debates of the next two years. I look forward to being Connecticut’s voice at the table as we construct landmark health care and energy reform legislation.
“I am especially grateful to my friends John Larson and Rosa DeLauro, who lobbied hard on my behalf for this assignment. We might be a small state, but we have a powerhouse delegation that is now represented on every major committee in Congress. That’s a great thing for Connecticut.”