By M. Scott Carter
January 11, 2009 01:09 am
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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- On Friday District Congressman Tom Cole was officially appointed to the powerful House Appropriations Committee -- the only Oklahoma congressman to currently serve there.
Cole will be busy.
Now in his fourth term in office, Cole will join 23 other Republicans on the 60-member committee. He was one of only two congressmen chosen for Appropriations this year.
"I've been trying for six years to get on Appropriations," he said. "And now things are looking up."
Charged with writing the nation's budget, the House Appropriations Committee -- and its 13 subcommittees -- has jurisdiction over the spending bills which fund all federal government agencies.
Each of the 13 subcommittees develops an annual appropriations bill targeted toward a specific area of government. And while Cole was hesitant to say which subcommittee he would be assigned to, he did say he was "pleased with where I think I'm going to start."
"I'm very pleased to have been appointed to serve on the House Appropriations Committee," Cole said. "This has been a goal of mine since I arrived in Congress. For the last two years Oklahoma has not had a member from either party in the House or the Senate so this is an important development for our state."
Cole said he would bring "a conservative voice" to the committee.
"I'll bring an Oklahoma set of viewpoints -- in terms of the overall level of spending -- to the committee," he said. "Right now Oklahomans are not in sync with the rest of the country, they are more conservative."
But even with that philosophy, he said having a seat on the committee allows him to ensure federal funds are "spent on things which match our (Oklahomans') priorities. We haven't had a voice on the Appropriations Committee or the Ways and Means Committee since Istook and Wes left. So, now, being on Appropriations helps ensure we're not left out."
Those priorities include everything from military spending to funding for the district's higher education institutions.
"In Oklahoma there are things that people care about spending money on; they care a lot about military spending, about the higher ed system," he said. Additionally, interests in infrastructure needs such as water, transportation and, in the fourth district, tribal issues are all "very substantial," he said. "It's important that our state has someone in that process."
Cole said the committee's work will begin almost immediately.
With their first meeting set for Monday, he said the schedule for the Appropriations Committee will be hectic because of a stimulus package being developed by incoming president Barack Obama. Recently, Obama has pushed Congress to have the bill ready for him once he assumes office later this month.
Cole said Congress will have some type of legislation "probably by the middle of February."
"Right now I don't know what its nature will be," he said. "Some Democrats are very critical and think the plan has too many tax cuts. The GOP thinks more infrastucure makes more sense. There are parts of it I like and some other things that I'm hearing are much less attractive."
Yet even with the debate, Cole predicted a bill would eventually pass.
"We're not going to make the exact deadlines because this is Congress, but I believe the bill will ultimately pass."
Still, the stimulus package and the federal budget won't be Cole's only concern. In the media statement announcing his appointment, the Moore Republican said he wanted to bring "more transparency" to the federal budget process.
"One of the things we've done in the House, but that hasn't been done in the Senate is the Senate can literally add something to a spending bill that has not gone through the committee process. We changed that in the House and that needs to be done in the Senate."
Additionally, Cole said projects which earmark funds in Congressional districts should have the member's name attached to the specific project or proposal. "Both parties have worked really hard to try and attach member names to specific projects and proposals. A name ought to be attached to project funds."
He said Congress also should work toward making "deeper structural reforms" in government spending.
"All those earmarks in spending add up to only about 1 percent," he said. "There needs to be some reform. Those big entitlement spending programs -- Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security -- if we don't deal with those, we've made an enormous mistake."
All issues which eventually find their way back to the Appropriations Committee.
"Yesterday (Thursday) I met with the chair of the Appropriations Committee," he said. "He is an old friend and we have a good relationship. He told me, 'We're going to have disagreements. But buckle up, because the Speaker is determined to get the bill done.'"
M. Scott Carter 366-3545 scarter@normantranscript.com
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