From Capitol To Campus

Rep. Howard P. (Buck) McKeon will continue to play the lead role on higher education issues in the House of Representatives.

There had been concern that McKeon, a Republican from California, would no longer be able to lead the House's efforts on higher-education issues because of the chamber's seniority rules.

In order to keep McKeon in charge of higher ed issues, the chairman of the House education committee dissolved the postsecondary-education subcommittee and created a new subcommittee that McKeon will lead. The new committee will have jurisdiction over most higher education issues, with the exception of programs affecting historically Black colleges and universities and Hispanic serving institutions.

Sen. Arlen Specter will also keep his hand in on higher education issues. The Pennsylvania Republican has announced he will return as chairman of the Senate appropriations subcommittee for education and health programs, even though he said last October that he was leaving the panel.

Specter said he was remaining as chairman because he wanted to help finish a five-year plan to double spending on the National Institutes of Health.

Specter has helped restore funds legislators in the House of Representatives had cut from student-aid programs in recent years.

He's also an advocate for using federal funds for embryonic-stem-cell research. Scientists believe stem cells derived from human embryos can replace damaged tissue and possibly lead to cures for diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer's disease.