Committees and Caucuses

Reichert Appointed to Ways & Means Trade and Health Subcommittees

Washington, Jan 6 - Congressman Dave Reichert (WA-08) today announced his appointment to serve on the Trade and Health Subcommittees of the House Committee on Ways and Means:

Reichert was first appointed to the Ways & Means Committee, the oldest in the United States Congress and the chief tax-writing committee, in January 2009.  Now ninth in seniority on the new committee majority, Reichert anticipates his service on the Trade and Health subcommittees in the 112th Congress will afford many opportunities to continue his distinguished leadership and advocacy for job-creating economic policy, the promotion and passage of free trade agreements with partners such as Korea, protecting Medicare benefits for seniors, and addressing the harmful and problematic provisions of the recently passed health care overhaul.

“I’m pleased that I’ll have the opportunity to continue my service on Ways & Means, and I look forward to investigating, debating and shaping policies that are critically important to my constituents and all Americans,” Reichert said. “There are many challenges for the 112th Congress to address, and a good deal of legislation focused on stimulating economic recovery and caring for the health of our citizens will develop in Ways & Means and these two key subcommittees. I’m excited about the potential to promote meaningful legislation and to continue employing a bipartisan, solutions-oriented approach to my work in Congress.”

BACKGROUND
Reichert was appointed to the House Committee on Ways and Means on January 6, 2009, and prior to today’s selection served on the Trade, Oversight and Social Security Subcommittees.  The Committee on Ways and Means derives a large share of its jurisdiction from Article I, Section VII of the U.S. Constitution which declares, "All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives."

In addition to pending free trade agreements, the jurisdiction of the Subcommittee on Trade includes bills and matters that relate to customs and customs administration including tariff and import fee structure, classification, valuation of and special rules applying to imports, and special tariff provisions and procedures which relate to customs operation affecting exports and imports … more here.

The jurisdiction of the Subcommittee on Health includes programs such as Medicare that provide payments (from any source) for health care, health delivery systems, or health research. This subcommittee was at the forefront of debate concerning last year’s health care overhaul legislation.

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