Sherrod Brown appointed to finance committee

12/12/2012
BLADE STAFF

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio) was appointed today to the Senate Finance Committee by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.).

Mr. Brown said in a statement that he views service on the committee as an opportunity to "help build the middle class" by "ensuring a fair tax code, ... standing up for Ohio's manufacturers and workers when it comes to foreign trade, ... and protecting Social Security and Medicare.”

The senator, who was re-elected to a second term over Republican Ohio state Treasurer Josh Mandel Nov. 6, is moving from a seat on the Appropriations Committee where he is the most junior member. He will be the second-most junior member on Finance.

“I'm also honored to continue serving Ohio's nearly one million veterans on the Veterans Committee, to support the one in seven Ohio jobs tied to farming and food on the Agriculture Committee, and to continue my work on the Banking Committee on behalf of customers and workers in the financial services and housing industries that are so important to our state,” he said.

The Finance Committee handles taxation, bonded debt, customs, trade agreements, tariff and import quotas, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program, and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, among other things.

Senator Brown also serves on the Senate Banking Committee and chairs the subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection. He is the first Ohioan to serve on the Senate Agriculture Committee in more than 40 years, where he chairs the subcommittee on Jobs, Rural Economic Growth, and Energy Innovation. Mr. Brown also serves on the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.

- Tom Troy