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In a lunchtime speech to the South Central Industrial Association on Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Garret Graves, R-Baton Rouge, said he wants to chair the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, which is expected to have a new chairperson next year.
As the USA Today Network writes, Graves has been vocal about wanting to fill the seat.
The Committee on Committees, also known as the Steering Committee, would vote on who would fill that seat and the House Majority Leader, as well as the Speaker of the House—both of Louisiana—have oversized votes in the decision. Steve Scalise, the House Majority Leader, R-La., would have four votes, and Mike Johnson would have two.
Graves says that the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has jurisdiction over roads, bridges, ports, airports, pipelines, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and FEMA disaster preparation—all important to Louisiana.
“This committee, if you added energy to it, would basically be the south Louisiana portfolio,” he says. “It would be an amazing opportunity for us to have the pen and actually draft the laws that have such an impact on us.”
