| |
Lincoln to chair Senate Ag Committee
Southern agricultural interests should be pleased with the recent appointment of Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln who has been named chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee.
Lincoln is widely viewed as a friend to southern agriculture and has been credited with helping shape the last farm bill to the region’s benefit. She will set precedent as the first woman and Arkansan to helm the 184-year-old committee.
The announcement, which came Wednesday afternoon, was part of a Senate committee chairmanship reshuffle necessitated by the recent death of Sen. Edward Kennedy, who had chaired the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Lincoln’s rise to chairman became possible when Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, who had been helming the Senate Agriculture Committee, agreed to take Kennedy’s former position. Harkin will immediately get to work on health care reform.
“Coming from a seventh-generation Arkansas farming family, and as a farmer’s daughter, I know my father is smiling down on me today,” said Lincoln — a Helena, Ark., native — in a Wednesday press conference. “I’m honored and it’s a privilege to serve as the Senate Agriculture Committee as chairman. … It’s a committee of significant importance to my constituents and (Arkansas’) economy.”
Lincoln has served on the Senate Agriculture Committee since being elected in 1998. Prior to that, during a stint in the House, she served on the House Agriculture Committee.
|
|
 |
| |
Keyword Search:
|
|
|
