U.S. Senate freshman David Perdue will keep Georgia’s decades-long tradition of holding a slot on the Senate Agriculture Committee, but next year will break the state’s streak of having a representative on the Armed Services Committee.
Senate Republicans’ announcement of committee positions Monday also showed the state’s soon-to-be senior Sen. Johnny Isakson atop the Veterans Affairs and Ethics committees, though the committee members still must confirm Isakson’s expected pair of chairmanships for the 114th Congress.
Isakson’s ascension was long-diagrammed: Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., was ahead of him in seniority on Veterans Affairs, but Burr is to take over the Senate Intelligence Committee’s chairmanship.
In addition to Agriculture, Perdue will serve on the Budget Committee — befitting his overriding interest in fiscal issues — Foreign Relations, Judiciary and the Special Committee on Aging.
Perdue said during the campaign that he wanted Agriculture, which is Georgia’s largest industry. Retiring U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss was once chairman of the committee, which — aside from a six-year hiatus in the 1980s — has had a Georgian serving on it since 1957.
“Georgia has a long tradition of representation on the Senate Agriculture Committee,” Perdue said in a prepared statement. “I am humbled and honored to serve in this capacity. Agriculture is a strategic industry, not only for Georgia but for our nation, and I will work to keep it growing. I want to help Georgia’s farmers continue to produce and sell Georgia grown products and ensure that we remain an agricultural leader in the future.”
Perdue’s desire to follow Chambliss’ footsteps onto the Armed Services Committee did not come to pass. So 2015 will be the first year since 1972 that Georgia will not be represented on the committee, which was shaped in the 20th century by longtime Senate Chairmen Sam Nunn and Richard Russell, both from Georgia.
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