House Appropriations Committee chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) said yesterday that Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) would serve as the chairman of the defense subcommittee, after former chairman Bill Young (R-Fla.) died earlier this year.
Frelinghuysen was the number-two Republican on the defense subcommittee and also served as the chairman of the energy and water development subcommittee.
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| Photo courtesy Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) |
“I am grateful to Chairman Rogers and the House leadership for giving me this responsibility,” Frelinghuysen said in a statement. “The security and budget challenges we face are real and dramatic. The job before us is to provide for a strong national defense and support the men and women who provide for that defense each and every day.”
Frelinghuysen is serving his 10th term in Congress and has beenon the defense subcommittee since 1999, according to his website.
“Rodney is a thoughtful, steady and strong leader, is staunchly dedicated to doing what is best for the country and his district, and has a determined focus that allows him to rise above politics to get things done,” Rogers said in an announcement yesterday morning. “He has an unwavering devotion to the safety and security of our nation, and to the care and protection of our men and women in uniform, and I know he will be a great leader of the defense subcommittee.”
In a chairmanship shuffle, Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) will leave his post as chairman of the interior and environment subcommittee to replace Frelinghuysen on the energy and water development subcommittee. Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) will assume chairmanship of the interior and environment subcommittee. Rogers also announced that Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) would chair the legislative branch subcommittee after former chair Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-La.) resigned at the end of September.