Raja Krishnamoorthi will head a panel on economic and consumer policy and Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna has been appointed to several key Congressional committees.
Washington: Raja Krishnamoorthi, a prominent Indian-American Congressman, has been named as the chairman of a panel on economic and consumer policy, making him the first ever member of South Asian descent to chair a congressional committee or subcommittee.
Krishnamoorthi, 45, was on Thursday named as Chairman of the House Oversight Committee’s Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy which will give him jurisdiction over important pocketbook issues such as education, workforce development, income inequality, health care, consumer protection and data privacy.
“I am honoured and privileged to become the first ever South Asian-American to serve as a chair in Congress,” Krishnamoorthi said.
“As a child, I had the opportunity to see my parents work hard to achieve the American Dream of a middle-class life. As the Chairman, I will use my role on this subcommittee to grow and strengthen the middle class so that all Americans can have the same opportunities my family did,” he said.
The two-term Democratic Congressman from Illinois, Krishnamoorthi previously served as the president of small businesses focused on research and development in the renewable energy and national security industries.
He also served as the founding Special Assistant Attorney General in Illinois’ anti-corruption unit.
The subcommittee will have jurisdiction over income inequality and policies that affect the growth and prosperity of the middle class (including education, housing, labour, trade, small business, and agriculture), securities regulation, consumer protection, private sector information technology security, policy, and management, intellectual property, and telecommunications, a media release said.
Announcing the new Subcommittee Chairs for the 116th Congress, Congressman Elijah E Cummings said that he is confident each of these exemplary leaders will tackle the issues that matter the most to the American people while also conducting independent, rigorous oversight of the Executive Branch, as the Constitution demands.
“I congratulate all of my colleagues and look forward to working with them over the next two years on behalf of all of our constituents, he said.
Ro Khanna
Indian-American Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna has been appointed to several key Congressional committees, reflecting his growing stature within the party and the Congress.
In the current 116th Congress, Khanna has joined three influential committees — Oversight and Reform, Armed Services and Budget.
The 42-year-old Congressman, who represents Silicon valley, has also joined the House Armed Services subcommittees on Intelligence and Emerging Threats, and Strategic Forces, as well as the Oversight subcommittees of Government Operations and Economic Policy.
“I’m honoured to have the confidence of Speaker Pelosi to serve on these committees at such a critical time in our nation’s history,” Khanna said.
He further said: “I look forward to using these assignments to spark discussions around how we are going to grow the digital economy, forge a progressive foreign policy, hold the administration accountable and modernise government technologies”.
The committee on Oversight and Reform serves as the primary investigative body for the US House of Representatives and plays a crucial role in holding the Trump Administration accountable for many of the outstanding questions over potential campaign, ethics and constitutional violations.
One of the first such investigations will focus on the ongoing issues of security clearance at the White House, a statement issued by the office of Khanna said.
The committee also has sweeping jurisdiction in many policy areas, allowing Khanna and his colleagues to conduct oversight over “any matter” it believes would serve the American people, it said.
Some of the first hearings will look at rising drug prices, campaign finance and lobbying reform.
The committee on the Budget drafts the annual budget resolution that sets the levels of revenue and spending expected each fiscal year.
Pelosi has already committed to holding hearings before the Budget committee on Medicare for all, where Khanna plans to continue his fight for universal health care in the country.
Khanna has been a leading advocate in the movement for universal health coverage and for lowering prescription drug costs.
With Senator Brown, he introduced the Grow American Incomes Now Act (GAIN) that expands the earned income tax credit by USD 1.4 trillion and will continue to fight for this policy on the committee.
As a member of the committee on Armed Services’ subcommittees on Intelligence and Emerging Threats and Strategic Forces, Khanna will continue to provide a much-needed voice of restraint in our nation’s foreign policy, his office said.
Khanna is leading the effort in the house to end US involvement in the Yemen civil war, cautions against a new nuclear arms race with Russia, and supports bringing technologies from Silicon Valley to the Defence Department, it said. -PTI
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