|
Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) is stepping up lobbying to lead the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, even as one Democratic aide said Monday that he may not be leadership’s top choice.
Leadership is also taking a look at Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), who has less seniority than Towns but a better attendance record at full committee hearings during the 110th Congress.
Despite Towns’s earlier explanation that he missed all but one of the Oversight panel’s recess hearings on the financial crisis due to a surgery and prior commitments in his district, a review of official committee records shows a spotty attendance record going back to when Democrats regained control of Congress in 2007.
Between January of 2007 and the beginning of November 2008, Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) held 72 hearings, of which Towns missed at least 53, according to attendance records kept by the committee’s clerk.
His attendance was in line with that of some other Democrats on the committee, including Rep. Carolyn Maloney (N.Y.), who is next in line behind Towns but far behind Cummings, who attended roughly three-quarters of the committee’s oversight hearings during this period.
“I can neither confirm nor dispute Rep. Towns’s attendance at Oversight and Government Reform’s full committee hearings because we do not maintain that type of attendance data,” said Shrita Sterlin, a spokeswoman for Towns, who defended his commitment to the Oversight panel.
“No one can question Rep. Towns’s commitment to an effective and efficient government for all Americans,” Sterlin said, citing 13 bills that passed the House that originated from the Subcommittee on Government Management, Organization and Procurement, which Towns chairs, and 23 hearings he has conducted leading that sub-panel.
Despite doubts that some Democrats have privately expressed about Towns leading the full panel, he is rapidly gathering key supporters, including the blessing of the committee’s outgoing ranking Republican, Tom Davis (Va.).
Last week Towns circulated a letter of support from three of his four fellow Oversight subcommittee chairmen: Reps. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), Danny Davis (D-Ill.) and Lacy Clay (D-Mo.).
Towns did not win the support on one subcommittee chairman. Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.) did not sign the letter because he was “not directly asked to,” Tierney’s spokeswoman Catherine Ribeiro said.
Towns’s office followed up its Friday letter by saying on Monday that Towns, who is next in line behind Waxman, is locking down the support of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and his fellow New York Democrats, including Maloney, who has publicly backed Towns while saying she would be the best alternative should Towns be unavailable to serve as chairman.
“Rep. Towns is talking with members of the Congressional Black Caucus, and so far, everyone he has reached extends unequivocal support,” said Sterlin. “By early next week Rep. Towns intends to release letters of support from almost all, if not all, members of both the CBC and New York delegation.”
At the same time, however, Towns may not have the support of the Democratic leadership or the unanimous backing of the Steering and Policy Committee, which last week punted to next month the question of who should succeed Waxman.
|
