Washington Highlights:November
5, 2004
GOP Extends Its
Control over Congress
Contents
Prior Issues
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Republicans continued their recent domination of national elections
on Nov. 2. In addition to President Bush gaining a second term,
the GOP increased their advantage in both the Senate and House.
In the Senate, Republicans picked up 6 new seats and lost 2, and
will hold a 55 to 44 margin, with one Independent, in the 109th
Congress. At press time, Republicans had picked up 4 more seats
in the House to hold a 231 to 201 margin, with one Independent and
3 seats undecided. The 109th Congress will have three new physicians:
Senator-elect Tom Coburn (R-Okla), a family physician, and Rep.-elect
Tom Price (R-Ga.), a surgeon, and Rep.-elect Joe Schwarz (R-Mich.),
an otolaryngologist, bringing the total number of physicians in
Congress to 11.
The Senate will welcome 9 new members: Republicans Richard Burr,
(N.C.), Tom Coburn (Okla.), Jim DeMint (S.C.), Johnny Isakson (Ga.),
Mel Martinez (Fla.), John Thune (S.D.), David Vitter (La.), and
Democrats Barack Obama (Ill.) and Ken Salazar (Colo.). Sen.-elect
Thune, who lost his Senate bid in 2002, scored the only victory
over an incumbent, defeating Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle.
Six of the new senators have experience in the House: Reps. Burr,
DeMint, Isakson, and Vitter are current members, while Sen.-elect
Coburn served from 1995 to 2001, and Sen.-elect Thune from 1997
to 2003.
Term limits that Republicans imposed on themselves in 1997, and
revised last year, mean that at least 8 Senate committees will get
new leaders. Among the changes of interest to academic medicine,
Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) is slated to take over Appropriations Committee
from Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), who will move to chair the Commerce,
Science and Transportation Committee. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) will
chair the Veterans' Affairs Committee, which is currently led by
Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), who is in line to take over the Judiciary
Committee. Retiring Budget Committee Chair Don Nickles (R-Okla)
is likely to be replaced by either Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) or Wayne
Allard (R-Colo.). If Sen. Gregg takes over Budget, he may be replaced
as Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP)
Committee by Michael Enzi (R-Wyo.), who is next in line behind Gregg
and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.).
The membership of several key committees also will undergo change.
Senator Daschle's loss and the retirements of Senators Nickles,
John Breaux (D-La.) and Ernest Hollings (D-S.C.) will create
several vacancies on the Senate Finance Committee, but the exact
number of new seats will not be known until the ratio of Republicans
to Democrats on the panel is determined for the 109th Congress.
Since the GOP margin in the overall Senate has increased, it is
expected Republicans will push for additional seats or to reduce
the number of Democrats on committees. The current ratio on the
Finance Committee is 11 to 10, with Jim Jeffords (I-Vt.) aligned
with the Democrats. Defeated Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards
(D-N.C.), whose Senate term expires at the end of the 108th Congress,
is the only member of the HELP Committee who is leaving Congress.
In the House, Appropriations Committee Chair C.W. Bill Young (R-Fla.)
is term limited, and will be succeeded by one of three current subcommittee
chairs: Ralph Regula (R-Ohio), Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.), or Harold
Rogers (R-Ky.). James Walsh (R-N.Y) also must give up his chairmanship
of the House VA-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee.
Both the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Ways and Means
Committee will lose key members. Energy and Commerce loses Rep.
Burr, former committee chairman Billy Tauzin (R-La.), Jim Greenwood
(R-Pa.), Peter Deutsch (D-Fla.), Chris John (D-La.), and Karen McCarthy
(D-Mo.). Reps. Burr, Greenwood and John were members of the Health
Subcommittee. The Ways and Means Committee loses the number two
Republican on the committee, Phil Crane (Ill.), as well as Michael
Collins (R-Ga.), Jennifer Dunn (R-Wash.), Amo Houghton (R-N.Y.),
Scott McInnis (R-Colo.), Jerry Kleczka (D-Wis.), and Max Sandlin
(D-Texas). Reps. Crane, Dunn, and Kleczka served on the Ways and
Means Health Subcommittee.
Congress returns to Washington Nov. 16 to begin to organize for
the 109th Congress and to try to tackle the remaining FY 2005 appropriations
bills.
Information:
Dave Moore, Senior Associate Vice President
AAMC Government Relations
dbmoore@aamc.org
(202) 828-0525
AAMC Submits Comments to USDA on the Regulation
of Rats, Mice and Birds Not Bred for Research
The AAMC Oct. 28 commented
on a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) "advanced notice
of proposed rulemaking" on how it should regulate the care
and use of rats, mice, and birds not bred for research. Rats, mice
and birds bred for research are legislatively exempt from USDA regulation.
The letter concluded that the current regulatory regime for rats,
mice, and birds not bred for research is adequate and there is no
reasonable need for further regulation.
The AAMC endorsed the detailed comments submitted by the National
Association for Biomedical Research (NABR), and urged the USDA not
to developing specific standards for the nearly 10,000 species of
birds, but rather to use the general standards contained in the
Animal Welfare Act regulations and then reference existing standards
promulgated by societies and associations that have recognized expertise
in the care, management and transportation of birds. In the letter,
AAMC President Jordan Cohen, M.D., argued "In light of the
relatively small number of birds not bred for research used by research
institutions and the extraordinarily large number of bird species,
we share NABR's view that developing specific regulatory standards
for birds is not feasible nor is it prudent, and would provide an
inordinate drain on APHIS resources." The AAMC also urged the
USDA to use the existing general standards for rats and mice not
bred for research. The standards have worked well over the years
and AAMC saw no reason for them not to continue to work well.
Information:
Tony Mazzaschi, Senior Associate Vice President
AAMC Biomedical Health Sciences Research
tmazzaschi@aamc.org
(202) 828-0059
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