Sen. Carper Statement on Anticipated Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairmanship Assignment

 
WASHINGTON – Today, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) released a statement following the Democratic Steering Committee’s approval of committee assignments for Democratic senators in the 113th Congress. Sen. Carper is the anticipated Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
 
The anticipated committee assignments are subject to approval by the full Democratic caucus and approval of an organizing resolution by the full Senate when the 113th Congress convenes in January.
 
His statement follows:
 
“I am honored to be selected by my Democratic colleagues to become the next Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Our nation has faced some significant challenges in the decade since this committee was reorganized to encompass both Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and I know there are numerous challenges that still lie ahead – whether it is securing our nation’s borders and ports, protecting our critical infrastructure from cyber attacks, reducing wasteful and fraudulent spending or getting better results from ineffective programs.
 
“Thanks to the steadfast leadership of Senator Lieberman and Senator Collins on this committee, we are safer as a nation today than we were when they took the helm.  Enhancing our nation’s security at home and abroad will remain the core of this committee’s mission, along with the work we must do to make federal agencies work better and more efficiently with the resources we entrust to them. I look forward to building on the work my colleagues and I have accomplished on the committee and its various subcommittees over the years, including the Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, on which I was privileged to serve as both Chairman and Ranking Member for nearly 8 years.  Chairman Lieberman and Senator Collins leave behind a legacy of bipartisanship, stability and productivity, and while I recognize that they leave big shoes to fill, I greatly look forward to this new leadership role.
 
“I also want to extend a warm welcome to the new members of our committee and my sincere thanks to our returning members, and I look forward to working closely with all of them. I am confident that my friend Senator Coburn and I, along with our other colleagues, will continue our committee’s proud tradition of bipartisanship and cooperation in the years to come.”  
 
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