Advocate Online

From Capitol to Campus

The start of the 110th Congress in January and the turnover in majority party control have produced new faces in leadership posts on both sides of the U.S. Capitol. With the historic seating of the first female Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), these changes have generated more attention than usual.

Pelosi signaled right out of the box that she understands the need to focus on higher education by including a cut in student loan interest rates in her First 100 Hours agenda. She has also appointed friends of higher education to the relevant committees.

The House Education and the Workforce Committee’s name has reverted back to its former name, the Education and Labor Committee, and a former chairman has regained the reins. Rep. George Miller (D-CA) takes over and will be announcing subcommittee leadership posts in late January. Miller is a strong advocate for higher education. The ranking Republican on the Committee is Rep. Buck McKeon (R-CA), a chief advocate for NEA’s position on GPO-WEP.

David Obey (D-WI) takes over as appropriations chair. Signaling how important education and health funding are in his view, he has chosen to chair the subcommittee funding these critical areas.

In the Senate, the familiar face of Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) will be seen at the helm of the Senate Heath, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia will chair the Senate Appropriations Committee. The education funding subcommittee will be led by two senators who are both good friends to one another and to the NEA: Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) and now ranking Republican Arlen Specter (R-PA).