Tag: committees

Four Indian-American lawmakers appointed as members of key US House Committees

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Washington: Four Indian-American lawmakers– Raja Krishnamoorthi, Pramila Jayapal, Ami Bera and Ro Khanna– have been appointed as members of key US House Committees, reflecting the growing influence of the community in American politics.
Congressman Krishnamoorthi was appointed on Wednesday (local time) to serve as Ranking Member on the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
“I’m grateful to Leader Jeffries for appointing me to serve as Ranking Member on the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party,” said Krishnamoorthi.
Krishnamoorthi further stated that China poses serious economic and security threats to the United States and to democracy and prosperity across the globe, illustrated by its threats against Taiwan’s democracy, its weaponization of TikTok, and its theft of hundreds of billions of dollars worth of American intellectual property.
“I look forward to working with my colleagues in both parties on this committee to counteract the CCP’s escalating aggression and ensure that our nation is prepared to overcome the economic and security challenges that the CCP presents to our country,” said Krishnamoorthi.
Another Indian-American Congressman Khanna has also been made a member of this new committee, formed in the 118th Congress by Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for the specific purpose of investigating and developing policy to address the United States’ economic, technological and security competition with the CCP.
“I am honored to be appointed to the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party,” said Khanna. “I plan to use my seat on the committee to bring attention to our trade deficit with China while also working to address the security risk China poses to Taiwan.”
“I take my role as the representative for the only majority Asian American community in the continental United States very seriously. We can be tough on the Chinese Communist Party while unequivocally condemning anti-Asian racism and the increase in hate crimes targeting the Asian American community,” said Khanna.

Indian-American US Representative Pramila Jayapal has been named Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, making her the first immigrant to serve in a leadership role for the subcommittee.
“As the first South Asian woman elected to the US House of Representatives and one of only two dozen naturalized citizens in Congress, I am honoured and humbled to serve as the Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement,” Jayapal said in a press release.
Jayapal is the first immigrant in recorded committee history to serve as either Ranking Member or Chair of this Subcommittee, the media release said.
Calling it “extremely meaningful”, Jayapal said in the media release that she will now be in a position to better move the needle and recenter broken immigration system around dignity, humanity, and justice.
The Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement will be chaired by Tom McClintock and has jurisdiction over immigration law and policy, naturalization, border security, refugee admissions, non-border immigration enforcement and other various issues.
While Indian-American Congressman Ami Bera was appointed as a member of the influential US House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence for the 118th Congress.
The Intelligence Committee is charged with providing oversight of the nation’s intelligence activities, including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), the National Security Agency (NSA) and military intelligence programmes.
“I am honored to be appointed by Leader Jeffries to serve on the House Intelligence Committee, which plays a crucial role in ensuring the safety and national security of the United States,” Bera said in the press release.
He further said, “At a time of increased threats, both at home and abroad, I take seriously this new role and the responsibility entrusted to me to protect and defend American families.”
Bera stressed that he looks forward to working with committee members to ensure that intelligence agencies of US operate effectively to keep the nation safe.
“With my decade of experience working on critical national security issues, I look forward to working with Committee members from both sides of the aisle to ensure our intelligence agencies are operating effectively to keep our nation safe,” Bera further said.
US Congressman Ami Bera also serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 3, 2023
Santos forgoes his committees as House GOP struggles to boot Omar

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Santos’ move drew immediate praise from his home-state GOP colleagues, several of whom have already called for his resignation amid the growing controversy over his misstatements about his past.
“I think it’s obvious it’s the right decision,” said Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), who toppled House Democrats’ former campaign chief in a swing-district midterm triumph two months ago.
Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-N.Y.) echoed that sentiment: “As I said, I think he should resign and focus on his defense. But, do welcome this decision.”
Santos declined to comment to POLITICO when asked about the move, just upon exiting the weekly closed-door meeting. He replied: “I don’t know.”
And there appeared to be some uncertainty on Tuesday about whether Santos — who faces multiple investigations on the federal, state and local levels into potential false statements about his background — would try to return to his committees.
Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said Tuesday morning that Santos had apologized and described his move as a temporary recusal, after which “he’ll come back” to the panels he’d not yet been seated on.
“It sounded to me like it’s temporary,” said Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas), who chairs the Small Business Committee. “I think, until there’s a level of what he thinks the issues that he’s a distraction from are over.”
Despite the multiple probes Santos is currently dealing with, Williams said he didn’t sense the move stemmed from looming legal issues.

“I’ve seen members do that before, usually when they were under some sort of legal question or something like that — just step back on their own. If they don’t do it, we quite often do it ourselves,” House Rules Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said, adding that Santos “deserves some credit for doing it” before any internal move that may have been made against him.
The small business panel had not yet named its Republican members as of Tuesday. A panel spokesperson attributed the delay on Monday to reasons other than Santos.
Jordain Carney contributed to this report.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

January 31, 2023
Grievances appellate committees to probe complaints against social media firms

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New Delhi: The Centre has notified three grievances appellate committees that will address users’ complaints against social media and other internet-based platforms.
According to the notification, each of the three GACs (grievances appellate committees) will have a chairperson, two whole-time members from different government entities and retired senior executives from the industry for a term of three years from the date of assumption of office.
The first panel will be chaired by the chief executive officer of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Ashutosh Shukla and Punjab National Bank’s (PNB) former chief general manager and chief information officer Sunil Soni have been appointed as the whole-time members of the panel.
The second panel will be chaired by the joint secretary in charge of the Policy and Administration Division in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Indian Navy’s retired Commodore Sunil Kumar Gupta and Kavindra Sharma, former vice-president (consulting), L and T Infotech, have been appointed as the whole-time members of this panel.
The third panel will be chaired by Kavita Bhatia, a senior scientist at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
Former traffic service officer of the Indian Railways Sanjay Goel and former managing director and chief executive officer of IDBI Intech Krishnagiri Ragothamarao have been appointed as the whole-time members of the third panel.

The notification is part of the tighter IT rules, notified in October 2022 for setting up government-appointed GACs.
The objective of establishing the GACs is to settle the issues that users may have against the manner in which social media platforms initially addressed their complaints regarding content and other matters.
After the notification of the IT rules for social media, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that compliance with rules and laws was not a “pick-and-choose” or “cherry-picking” option for the platforms.
He had cautioned that if and when rules are not followed, the “safe harbour protection” that these platforms enjoy falls away.
The provision of safe harbour under IT laws gives internet platforms — social media, e-commerce etc. — protection from the content posted by users.
“The government looks at the internet through the prism of keeping it safe and accountable for 120 crore digital nagriks (digital citizens). Safe and trusted internet is an integral part of the trillion dollars digital economy goal,” the minister had said.
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#Grievances #appellate #committees #probe #complaints #social #media #firms
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 28, 2023
House Democrats named their rosters for the most desired committees, including the Rules Committee.

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Democrats on Rules will be a counterweight to the more conservative members of the panel.

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#House #Democrats #named #rosters #desired #committees #including #Rules #Committee
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

January 25, 2023