U.S. Rep. David J. Trone (D), the lone freshman in Maryland’s congressional delegation, has been given his committee assignments. He’ll be serving on the House Foreign Affairs and the House Education and Labor committees.
Trone said he hoped to use his slot on Foreign Affairs to advocate for more funding for medical research.
“We must prioritize funding for military outlets like Fort Detrick in Frederick, Md., and agencies like the [National Institutes of Health] that play an integral role in the nation’s security through research on harmful and deadly diseases like Zika and Ebola,” Trone said in a statement.
Before being sworn into office, Trone took a bipartisan trip to Israel with five freshmen colleagues. On the trip, the group met with leading Israeli political figures, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, opposition leader Tzipi Livni, and the lead negotiator of the Palestinian Authority, Saeb Erekat.
On Education and Labor, Trone said he hoped to fight for American workers and highlight the link between education and a strong workforce.
“I’m joining this committee to fight for children and workers everywhere,” he said. “Workers have been getting the short end of the stick for too long, and it’s time to step up and fight for their interests.”
Trone said he chalks up his own success as a businessman to his education.
“We need to increase access to educational opportunities by fighting for universal Pre-K, closing the achievement gap, providing more technical schools, and making college more affordable,” he said.
Josh Kurtz
Founding editor
Founding Editor Josh Kurtz is a veteran chronicler of Maryland politics and government. He began covering the State House in 1995 for The Gazette newspapers, and has been writing about state and local politics ever since. He was an editor at Roll Call, the Capitol Hill newspaper, for eight years, and for eight years was the editor of E&E Daily, which covers energy and environmental policy on Capitol Hill. For 6 1/2 years Kurtz wrote a weekly column on state politics for Center Maryland and has written for several other Maryland publications as well. Kurtz regularly gives speeches and appears on TV and radio shows to discuss Maryland politics.
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