Beginning his fifth year on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, 3rd District Congressman Zach Wamp has landed the key appointment he has worked for all along - a seat on the influential Energy and Water Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee.

Because all discretionary federal spending comes through the Appropriations Committee, this seat is a prize that virtually everyone in Congress pursues. And the Energy and Water Subcommittee is especially important for key Tennessee priorities.

The Energy and Water Subcommittee is where the funding will come to replace the ailing Chickamauga Lock in Chattanooga and to finish the $1.47 billion Spallation Neutron Source in Oak Ridge. The subcommittee also will provide funds to modernize the facilities at the Y-12 Plant and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, invest in new research initiatives and fund environmental cleanup throughout the East Tennessee Technology Corridor. The current year's funding in the Energy and Water bill for programs carried out in East Tennessee is approximately $2.4 billion.

His other subcommittee assignments will be announced later.