What could be better than two (2) strong committee chairs? Five (5) strong committee chairs!
President-elect Obama has announced his top legislative priorities. This may be an opportune time for some reorganization to match these priorities.
1) Waxman could chair a new committee: "Health and Environment". This could give a strong base for these important issues that are currently spread throughout other committees, and that often have some conflicts of interest with other constituencies of the same committee.
2) Combine "Energy and Natural Resources". The Natural Resources committee already has an "Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee", and a "Water and Power Subcommittee", that overlap jurisdiction with Commerce subcommittees. This would strengthen oversight of extraction industries, provide a platform for reform, and encourage innovation in renewable energy.
3) Return the "Telecommunications and the Internet Subcommittee" back to Science and Technology, its natural home. Members there are familiar with technology issues, such as the basic principles of net neutrality, and less beholden to incumbent providers. The NSFnet (later Internet) was originally covered by Science and Technology during the '80s and early '90s, but moved during the Republican regime. That was a poor choice, weakening oversight, reducing competition provided by many smaller Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs). The US has fallen behind in deployment.
4) Remove Consumer Protection issues to another committee, perhaps Small Business, as it is often a conflict of interest with the other constituencies of the existing Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection Subcommittee. This would strengthen oversight.
5) Leave Dingell (the "Representative from GM") to chair the Commerce committee, perhaps renamed "Industry and Trade", to complement his long history and promote greater responsibility and oversight in this area. |
