Sen. Chris Coons was appointed on Thursday to the Senate Appropriations Committee, one of the most powerful committees in Congress.
The appointment makes Coons the first Delawarean to serve on the committee in 40 years.
"I must say, I'm thrilled," the Delaware Democrat said. "This is a terrific opportunity for Delaware."
Coons said the assignment will allow him to fight for Delaware, job opportunities and investments in infrastructure, research, housing and education.
"But that also means I've got to be willing to make tough decisions about what we cut," he said. "Because going forward, federal spending is going to have to be more about what we cut than what we increase."
Coons will take over the seat held by Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., who died June 3. Coons said the committee's chairwoman, Democrat Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, knows he will be an advocate for the Delmarva Peninsula and for many of Lautenberg's priorities, including Amtrak, housing and the country's most vulnerable people.
"Frank Lautenberg was a business Democrat who worked hard both for his state and for the country, and if Sen. Mikulski sees in me any part of that legacy, I'm honored by that," Coons said.
In announcing the appointment, Mikulski called Coons "an excellent partner," citing their work together on issues important to Delaware and Maryland.
"I know he will be an asset to the committee," she said.
Coons has known Mikulski since 1994 when he worked for the national I Have a Dream Foundation and ran a national AmeriCorps program, a priority for Mikulski. In the Senate, they've worked together on issues concerning the Chesapeake Bay, poultry and better coordination on higher education resources and infrastructure projects.
"We speak regularly and we've done a number of events together, we've done a number of meetings together that focus on the shared concern for the Delmarva Peninsula," Coons said.
Coons said he has worked hard to build a relationship with Mikulski, but he didn't lobby for the committee seat. He said it didn't occur to him it was something he could get as such a new member, and when Mikulski mentioned the possibility during lunch one day, he thought she was joking.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Coons, who was elected in 2010, has "impressed us all" during his time in the Senate with his consensus-building ability and his skill at finding bipartisan solutions.
"I know he will continue to represent Delaware well as he brings his unique perspective and expertise to his new position on the Appropriations Committee," Reid said in a statement.
Coons will continue to serve on the Judiciary, Foreign Relations and Budget committees, and will retain his chairmanships of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Bankruptcy and the Courts and the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs. Because of Senate rules, he was required to give up his seat on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Only three other Delaware senators have served on the Appropriations Committee. No Delaware House members have served on the House Appropriations Committee.
In the past, members sought seats on the committee because it allowed them to more easily send money to their districts for pet projects, or earmarks. That changed in 2011, when lawmakers agreed to do away with earmarks, removing a key perk of a seat on the Appropriations panel.
And since 2009, Congress has regularly passed stopgap spending bills -- called continuing resolutions -- instead of full budgets. That also has eroded committee members' clout, said Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense.
Mikulski took over chairmanship of the committee this year after two other members declined it.
"They're still the ones who are writing the checks for the discretionary budget," Ellis said during a recent interview. "But it's not as fun as it used to be, I guess."
Coons said he sees the Appropriations and Finance committees as the two most powerful in Congress. He said his seat on Appropriations, along with Delaware Democratic Sen. Tom Carper's seat on Finance, will allow them to be more effective in fighting for the state's priorities.
Coons said he opposes earmark practices that allowed lawmakers in the last decade to spend enormous sums on projects that weren't debated, and in some cases, benefited donors or for-profit companies.
But he supports the idea of lawmakers playing a role in prioritizing spending in their districts and states if such spending is transparent and makes up no more than 1 percent of the federal budget.
He doesn't expect that to happen this Congress, but the idea is being actively debated.
"I would not support returning to the earmark practices of the last decade," he said. "But there has to be a role for Congress in setting spending priorities along with the executive branch."
Original Publication URL: http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20130621/NEWS02/306210031/Coons-joins-powerful-Senate-panel
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