Essential Estrogen

Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, has some new shoes to fill in the beltway this fall.

Shortly before the August recess, Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minnesota, who serves as chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, tapped Braley for service as the vice-chairman of the subcommittee on highways and transit. Braley will serve as second-ranking majority member of the subcommittee, led by Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Oregon.

"I am excited to be named vice-chairman of this subcommittee," Braley said. "It will allow me to have greater input on important transportation projects in Iowa and across the country. I look forward to working to promote the increased use of renewable energy and helping Chairman DeFazio tackle the important issue of highway safety in the wake of the Minneapolis bridge tragedy."

House rules require a vice-chairman from the majority party to be named to each committee and subcommittee to preside when the chair is not present.

Braley made history in January when he became the first freshman congressman from Iowa picked to chair a committee or subcommittee since 1959. He will continue to serve as chairman of the Subcommittee on Contracting and Technology, which is under the House Committee on Small Business.

"These committee assignments allow me to have a direct impact on the needs of eastern Iowa, from strengthening our economy on the Small Business Committee, to promoting ethanol on the Transportation Committee, to investigating government waste, fraud and abuse on the Oversight Committee," he said.