NEWLY IN CHARGE DEMS PUT THEIR MARK ON PANELS.Byline: LISA The first personal computer to include integrated software and use a graphical interface. Modeled after the Xerox Star and introduced in 1983 by Apple, it was ahead of its time, but never caught on due to its $10,000 price and slow speed. FRIEDMAN Washington Bureau WASHINGTON -- The House Armed Services Committee The term Armed Services Committee could refer to:
n. High-level development of policy, especially official government policy. adj. Of, relating to, or involving the making of high-level policy: panels. In a series of subtle and not-so-subtle name changes, House Democrats are ensuring the committees they will be leading for the first time in a decade reflect their priorities. ``It's like an animal urinating on a tree. They're marking their territory,'' said Jack Pitney, political science professor at Claremont-McKenna College. The Government Reform Committee, for example, chaired by Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Rep. Henry Waxman, is becoming the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The new name, Waxman said, underscores his vow to scrutinize the executive branch. ``One of the committee's primary responsibilities is to conduct oversight and provide accountability,'' Waxman said. ``The new name reflects both that priority and the continuing need for reform.'' Meanwhile, the House Committee on Resources is reverting to the name it had before the Republican takeover in 1994 -- the Natural Resources Committee.Democrats' decision to return the word `natural' evokes nature, Pitney said, and ``is a nod toward the environmental community.'' The Education and Workforce Committee, formerly chaired by Rep. Howard ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, also is returning to an old name - Education and Labor. Republicans initially changed the 130-year-old panel to the Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities and later to Committee on Education and the Workforce ``because, God forbid the word `labor' should exist in Republican life,'' one Democratic aide sniped. Republicans, equally snarky snark·y adj. snark·i·er, snark·i·est Slang Irritable or short-tempered; irascible. [From dialectal snark, to nag, from snark, snork, to snore, snort , called the Democrats' replacement of the word a bow to union power. Other committees getting face lifts include the Science Committee, which will become the Science and Technology Committee; and the International Relations panel, reverting back to its original name, the Foreign Affairs Committee See also United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations The Foreign Affairs Committee is one of many Select Committees of the British House of Commons, which scrutinises the work of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. . The full house must eventually vote to approve the changes. Armed Services The Constitution authorizes Congress to raise, support, and regulate armed services for the national defense. The President of the United States is commander in chief of all the branches of the services and has ultimate control over most military matters. , officials said, will remain unchanged. lisa.friedman(at)langnews.com (212) 662-7631 |
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