With Stark appointment, Californians now control six House committees

Californians will now lead six key House committees as a result Wednesday of Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) taking a leave of absence as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, herself a Democrat from California, picked Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) to lead the powerful tax-writing committee in Rangel's absence.

Stark will join a slew of other California Democrats in charge of influential committees, including Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller, Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman, Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner, and Standards of Official Conduct (Ethics) Committee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren.

New Yorkers are the next most influential group atop congressional committees, which is somewhat of a natural step for another populous state. New York Democrats head up the committees on Rules; Oversight and Government Reform; and Small Business. They also control a fourth spot if Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) is included in her capacity as chairwoman of the Joint Economic Committee.

(Rangel, of course, is also a veteran New York lawmaker).

The only other states with multiple lawmakers serving as chairmen of committees are Minnesota and Massachusetts, which have members atop two House committees.

See the list of House committee chairmen below:

Agriculture - Collin Peterson (Minn.)
Appropriations - David Obey (Wis.)
Armed Services - Ike Skelton (Mo.)
Budget - John Spratt (S.C.)
Education and Labor - George Miller (Calif.)
Energy and Commerce - Henry Waxman (Calif.)
Financial Services - Barney Frank (Mass.)
Foreign Affairs - Howard Berman (Calif.)
Homeland Security - Bennie Thompson (Miss.)
House Administration - Robert Brady (Pa.)
Judiciary - John Conyers Jr. (Mich.)
Natural Resources - Nick Rahall (W.Va.)
Oversight and Government Reform - Edolphus Towns (N.Y.)
Rules - Louise Slaughter (N.Y.)
Science - Bart Gordon (Tenn.)
Small Business - Nydia Velázquez (N.Y.)
Standards of Official Conduct - Zoe Lofgren (Calif.)
Transportation and Infrastructure - Jim Oberstar (Minn.)
Veterans' Affairs - Bob Filner (Calif.)
Ways and Means - Pete Stark (Calif.)
Intelligence - Sylvestre Reyes (Texas)
Energy Independence and Global Warming - Edward Markey (Mass.)

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