U.S. Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.), who became chairman of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee earlier this year, picked up two subcommittee gavels this week.
On Monday, Cardin was named chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure for the 117th Congress.
Cardin has been a member of the EPW Committee since arriving in the Senate in 2007, and the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee will be at the center of Senate action on President Biden’s “Build Back Better” infrastructure package, which is expected to be unveiled shortly.
“I am honored to have this opportunity to lead the Senate’s Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure at this critical time for our country,” Cardin said in a statement. “Now that we have a functioning federal strategy in place to tackle COVID-19, we are in a stronger position to make the urgent infrastructure investments that will build a solid foundation for our recovery and for future generations.”
Cardin went on to call infrastructure “the literal heart of our country.”
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) will serve as Cardin’s ranking member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee. On EPW, Cardin also will serve on the Clean Air, Climate and Nuclear Safety Subcommittee and the Fisheries, Wildlife and Water Subcommittee.
Then on Friday, Cardin was named chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development Management, International Operations, and Bilateral International Development. Freshman Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) will serve as the ranking member of that subcommittee.
“Significant damage has been inflicted upon the State Department and USAID over the past four years,” Cardin said. “To protect and deliver for the American people, the United States needs to be leading on the world stage.”
In a Senate that is split 50-50, Democrats have control based on the affiliation of Vice President Kamala D. Harris.