Michigan adds muscle with two House chairs

Republicans Camp, Upton will head tax, energy committees

Nathan Hurst / Detroit News Washington Bureau

Washington — Two longtime Michigan lawmakers will chair the U.S. House's most powerful committees when the 112th Congress convenes in January, boosting the state's power and profile on Capitol Hill.

Rep. Dave Camp, R-Midland, got the nod Wednesday from the Republican caucus that he'll head the House Ways and Means Committee, the House's tax-writing body. Also, Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, will lead the Energy and Commerce Committee, which wields influence over regulation affecting, among other things, Michigan's auto industry.

The two legislators' leadership positions are a boon for the state's clout in the U.S. Capitol as the GOP takes control of the House next month after four years of Democratic leadership.

Michigan will have two House members and both of its senators chairing major committees. In the Democratic-controlled Senate, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Detroit, will continue to chair the Armed Services Committee and the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, while in January, Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, will chair the Agriculture Committee.

Camp and Upton passed their first big test Tuesday when they received approval from the Republican Steering Committee. The final stamps of approval will come in January.

Upton's new position brings the gavel for the Energy and Commerce Committee back into Michigan hands. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, chaired the committee until he was challenged two years ago by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif.

Camp's chairmanship will mark a new direction for the Ways and Means Committee, which is expected to take a central role in House Republicans' attempts in the new year to repeal the health care reform law passed in March by the Democratic-controlled Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama.

In announcing his new post on Wednesday, Camp said he "will focus on a job-creating agenda and reducing out-of-control federal spending."

Longer term, Camp wants to revamp the federal tax system altogether, reducing rates paid by individuals and businesses and paperwork burdens.

"Do I believe we can cut spending, simplify the tax system to pay for what we truly need and make the whole tax burden — including all those forms — less formidable for Americans?" Camp said. "Absolutely."

In Washington, he has earned credit from his Republican colleagues for a strong conservative bent. He had the honor of officially nominating Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, this month to take over as speaker of the House next month.

Camp's fiscal conservatism has also endeared him to some of the tea party-backed Republican freshmen heading to Capitol Hill from Michigan in the new year. Three cited his leadership as a reason they were interested in joining the Ways and Means Committee.

Rep.-elect Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, who knows Camp from years of working for the retiring Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland, called the Midland Republican "a great leader for the state. He sticks to his guns and knows what will get our economy moving forward… he's an asset for Michigan."

Yet Camp is far from a right-wing ideologue. He supported the $85 billion federal rescue and restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler — an important boost to Michigan's faltering economy at the height of the recession — and has voted for legislation to extend unemployment benefits in the past.

He's also stood with Michigan lawmakers on other issues of statewide interest.

Among them is insisting that any free trade agreement with South Korea have better protections for domestic automakers, a stance favored by Rep. Sander Levin, D-Royal, Oak, the committee's current chair.

Levin is expected to become the ranking member of the committee in January, though he could face opposition at today's Democratic caucus meeting.

Upton's push for Energy and Commerce chair wasn't as smooth as Camp's ascension, which was virtually uncontested. Upton dodged a challenge from the committee's current ranking member, Rep. Joe Barton, R-Tex., and took heat from conservatives over a measure he co-sponsored that effectively outlawed the sale of incandescent light bulbs in the United States.

In a statement, though, Upton promised that such moves were in the past: the "two year assault on the health, energy and telecommunications sectors is now over."

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20101209/POLITICS02/12090416/Michigan-adds-muscle-with-two-House-chairs#ixzz182uLuNM5