Region's 2 newest members of Congress get committees they say will benefit the area
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — This region's two newest members of Congress – U.S. Reps. Summer Lee and Chris Deluzio – have just gotten their committee assignments.
As KDKA-TV political editor Jon Delano reports, both say they will use their new committees to advance the interests of this region.
There's nothing more junior than a freshman representative in the U.S. House, but don't tell Lee and Deluzio that. They intend for this region to be a focus of their new committee assignments.
"Excited to share that I'm going to be on the Oversight and Accountability Committee," Lee told KDKA. "The other one is going to be Science, Space and Technology. That's going to be really important for our region."
Lee is picking up from former U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, who served on the Science Committee for years.
"When we think of the new Pittsburgh, the current one and the one that we're building right now, tech and science plays right into that," says Lee. "Obviously, we have CMU. We have what folks obviously think of as an innovation hub so this is the place where we get to drive resources into our region."
But it's the Oversight and Accountability Committee that will get national attention as Republicans intend to target the Biden family in their investigations. Lee expects to be vocal in fighting back.
"We're really going to be fighting with folks to make sure that we really are focusing on the real corruption and the real corporate greed and problems that we have here," Lee said.
An Annapolis Naval Academy graduate, Deluzio got two committees right in his wheelhouse.
"Pretty pleased and honored I was selected to serve on two committees: Veterans Affairs Committee and Armed Services," says Deluzio.
With tens of thousands of veterans in this area, Deluzio intends to hold the VA to higher standards.
"It's been too difficult for veterans who've been exposed to toxic substances like burn pits, for those who served in prior periods, Vietnam or otherwise, to get in to get their VA benefits. So I'm going to be really focused on those veterans, newly eligible, making sure they're in and that the VA is staffed and resourced," says Deluzio.
The Armed Services Committee is responsible for America's military, and Deluzio says he saw waste when he served in Iraq. But he also wants the military to be prepared.
"Also very concerned about the rise of communist China and what they mean for destabilizing the Pacific, what their rise means to challenge norms of human rights and democracy," he said.