Chairman Jay Rockefeller


Senators Rockefeller and HutchisonAs Chairman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, Senator Jay Rockefeller has embraced a broad agenda that includes protecting consumers, improving the economy, heightening the nation’s security, building technology infrastructure and promoting transformative research.  Under his leadership since 2009, the committee has taken on strong new oversight and investigative responsibilities, launching aggressive inquiries into the health insurance industry, federal contractors, and e-commerce.

As a longtime advocate of accessible and quality healthcare, Rockefeller is recognized as one of the strongest champions for health care reform. He has an extensive and distinguished career of fighting to reduce the number of uninsured children and working families, protecting and improving seniors' and veterans' health care, and fighting for the promised health benefits of retired coal miners and steelworkers.

To diversify and expand economic opportunities, Rockefeller has played an instrumental role in attracting new investment and jobs to West Virginia. In addition to bringing a Toyota manufacturing plant to Buffalo, Rockefeller has recruited numerous national and international companies to the Mountain State, resulting in thousands of new jobs. At the same time, Rockefeller maintains a strong focus on strengthening core industries such as steel, coal and chemicals by fighting for fair trade policies and targeted tax relief. He is also working on policies that will allow for energy independence by drawing on West Virginia's natural resources to produce clean and reliable fuels.

As part of Senator Rockefeller's effort to strengthen the lives of children and families, he has coauthored legislation to improve educational opportunities for students, promote stability through adoptions and foster care, increase minimum wage for employees, reduce violence and obscenity on television, and help every school and library connect to the Internet. He has also supported numerous targeted tax cuts for working families such as the child tax credit and the earned-income tax credit, and he supported eliminating the marriage penalty.

Rockefeller is also known for his strong national security credentials, support for our nation's soldiers and veterans, and oversight of the country's intelligence programs. He has been critical of the nation's mismanagement of the Iraq war, and continues to press the United States to refocus its mission and resources on al Qaida and global terrorism.

In addition to the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, Rockefeller is also Chairman of the Health Care Subcommittee on Finance. Rockefeller also serves on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence where he served as Chairman from 2007-2009 and Vice Chairman from 2003-2007, and the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Senator Jay Rockefeller has proudly served the people of West Virginia for over 40 years. Rockefeller first came to West Virginia in 1964 as a 27-year-old VISTA volunteer serving in the small mining community of Emmons. Many of the lessons that Rockefeller learned in Emmons have shaped his public service career and led to his lifelong commitment to improving the lives of West Virginians and all Americans.

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison

Chairman Rockefeller and Ranking Member HutchisonIn 1993, Texans elected Kay Bailey Hutchison to the United States Senate in a special election, making her the first -- and, to date, the only -- woman elected to represent the state in the Senate. One year later, she was re-elected to a full six-year term. And in 2000, she received more votes for her re-election to a second full term than any other statewide candidate had ever received.

In 2006, she was again re-elected by an overwhelming margin. She serves in the Senate leadership, having been elected by her colleagues to be chairman of the Republican Policy Committee in the 110th Congress, making her the fourth-highest ranking Republican senator and the highest ranking Republican woman. Sen. Hutchison also serves on the Republican National Hispanic Assembly (RNHA) National Advisory Committee.

Defense and Foreign Policy

Senator Hutchison has played a vital role in shaping America's defense policy and fulfilling our nation's promises to our veterans as former Chairman and now Ranking Member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and as a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense. She introduced and passed legislation creating an Overseas Basing Commission, which conducted a comprehensive review of the U.S. military's global footprint to help ensure that our Armed Forces are prepared to meet 21st century threats. She currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Visitors for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Homeland Security

The senator worked to secure funding for an additional 1,500 Border Patrol agents to strengthen enforcement of immigration laws. In 2004, she helped pass the National Intelligence Reform Act, which included provisions she authored to ensure greater screening of air cargo. That legislation instructs the Transportation Security Administration to establish a database of known shippers, develop facility security plans, and mandate use of worker identification cards.

  
During her term as Chairman of the Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Aviation, she played a major role in drafting the airline security bill passed by Congress after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Tax Relief and Family Support

Senator Hutchison has consistently championed tax relief for working families. In recent years, she has led the fight to provide relief from the marriage income tax penalty and to reestablish the deduction for state and local sales taxes for Texans. Senator Hutchison has worked to reduce marginal income tax rates, eliminate the death tax, and lower taxes on capital gains.

Early in her Senate career, she was lead sponsor of a bill to create the new Homemaker IRA. It allows spouses who do not work outside the home to save for retirement through an IRA.

Education and Science

Senator Hutchison has authored legislation to help recruit mid-career professionals and retirees into teaching positions. A provision included by Senator Hutchison in the No Child Left Behind Act requires "report cards" that give parents regular updates on the performance of their child's school. Senator Hutchison was also able to allow parents to place their children in a single-gender school or classroom by removing barriers that prevented local school districts from offering this choice.
  
Senator Hutchison was instrumental in establishing The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas (TAMEST). It is the centerpiece of her effort to support research and development while promoting Texas as a science state. During her tenure in the U.S. Senate, Texas has moved to third in the nation in receipt of federal research and development expenditures.

From January 2005 to December 2007, Senator Hutchison served as Chairman, then Ranking Member, of the Science and Space Subcommittee of the Commerce Committee, overseeing NASA and the National Science Foundation. In December of 2005, the president signed into law the Senator's five-year blueprint for NASA's exploration and research initiatives.

Transportation

In December of 2007, Senator Hutchison became Ranking Member of the Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security Subcommittee, having led efforts in 2006 to repeal the anti-competitive Wright Amendment, which limited flights out of Dallas Love Field Airport. Originally intended to encourage growth at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, the harmful provision artificially inflated air fares at both airports. At the Senator's encouragement, airlines and airport owners reached an historic agreement -- now enacted into law -- that will remove unfair barriers and restrictions at Love Field.