New members join House transportation committee NEWSWIRE

WASHINGTON — Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and ranking member Sam Graves (R-Mo.) announced new committee members from their respective parties. Graves also named key subcommittee appointments.

Democratic members newly selected to the committee are Colin Allred (Texas), Anthony Brown (Md.), Salud Carbajal (Calif.), Angie Craig (Minn.), Sharice Davids (Kan.), Antonio Delgado (N.Y.), Adriano Espaillat (N.Y.), Abby Finkenauer (Iowa), Lizzie Fletcher (Texas), Jesús (Chuy) García (Ill.), Stephen Lynch (Mass.), Tom Malinowski (N.J.), Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (Fla.), Chris Pappas (N.H.), Harley Rouda (Calif.), and Greg Stanton (Ariz.).

Espaillat, representing parts of upper Manhattan and the Bronx, said in a statement, “New York City has the largest transit system and tremendous transportation needs, yet our city has lacked a single representative on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for more than a year.” He has been pushing for expansion of the Second Avenue subway.

Garcia, from Illinois’ Fourth congressional district, covering parts of Cook County, says his appointment enables him to “advocate for the urgent transit and infrastructure challenges facing Chicago and the Midwest.”

Eight Republican members are to join the Transportation committee for the first time. They are Troy Balderson (Ohio), Brian Fitzpatrick (Penn.), Jenniffer González-Colón (Puerto Rico), Carol Miller (W.Va.), Gary Palmer (Ala.), Greg Pence (Ind.),  Ross Spano (Fla.), and Pete Stauber (Minn.).

Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) was named ranking member for the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. First elected to Congress in 2012, Davis has served on the Transportation committee since 2013. He sponsored the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, which authorizes funding through 2020.

Arkansas Rep. Rick Crawford will serve as ranking member of the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials. “Our country’s infrastructure system faces many tough challenges, but our rail system is one that works,” says Crawford. “It plays a crucial role nationwide, in facilitating Arkansas’s agriculture and industry, and is an industry in and of itself with several rail car manufacturing facilities in Arkansas’s First District.” Crawford voted in 2017 to end all funding for Amtrak.

DeFazio has yet to announce subcommittee chairs.