As expected, House Democrats have named Congressman Bart Gordon (D-TN) chairman of the House Science Committee for the 100th Congress, starting in January. Gordon had been the ranking Democrat on the committee the last three years and was all but assumed to be chairman when the Democrats won a majority of the House in the November election. “Under my leadership, the Science Committee will be the committee of ‘good ideas,'” he said in a statement. He also emphasized bipartisan cooperation on issues “from education and research to energy and security.”
On the Republican side, Ralph Hall (R-TX) will be the ranking member of the committee in the next Congress. Hall said that he looks forward “to advancing a vision for science that promotes space exploration”, among other issues. He added that “Chairman Bart Gordon and I have a good working relationship.” Which makes sense, of course, because up until about three years ago Hall was a Democrat, and was the ranking member of the committee at the time he changed party affiliations (out of concerns linked to Texas redistricting). Gordon replaced Hall then as the ranking committee Democrat.
Hall beat out former committee chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), who sought to return to a leadership position on the committee after chairing the Judiciary Committee the last six years. Sensenbrenner told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that he lost to Hall in part because Texas is bigger than Wisconsin, and also because of Sensenbrenner’s “willful, aggressive” style. “I’m certain there was baggage,” he told the paper. “The only way you’re successful as a committee chairman around here is by being forceful.”
