Senator Hillary Clinton (Democrat of New York) is joining the Senate Armed Services Committee, according to a news release from the senator's office.

Clinton, the senior senator from New York, will give up her current seat on the Senate Budget Committee.

Senator Hillary Clinton Press Release
January 14, 2003

Senator Clinton Appointed to Armed Services Committee
New Opportunity for New York, Home of Fort Drum, Watervliet Arsenal, West Point, Rome Labs
Clinton is First New York Senator to Serve on this Committee

Washington, DC - Following a meeting of Democratic Senators to ratify new committee assignments, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton said she had been appointed to the Senate Armed Services Committee. According to the Congressional Research Service, Senator Clinton is the first New York Senator to serve on this committee since it was established in 1947. The Armed Services Committee oversees all the national security programs at the Department of Defense and the nuclear programs at the Department of Energy.

"I am extremely honored to have been selected to serve on the Armed Services Committee. I have the greatest respect for incoming Chairman John Warner and Ranking Member Carl Levin and it will be an honor to serve with them and a privilege to support our men and women in uniform. At this time in our nation's history, the work being done on this committee is of paramount importance," said Clinton. "I am particularly pleased with this appointment because it comes with new opportunities for New York. From this seat, I will be better able to support New York's military bases and ensure that New York's defense industry continues to play a significant role in fulfilling the needs of our armed forces. And my appointment to Armed Services will enable to continue my advocacy on behalf of our veterans, both in New York and elsewhere."

"I am delighted Senator Clinton will be joining the Armed Services Committee," said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the senior Democrat on the committee. "I have known and worked with her for more than ten years. I have seen her strong commitment to the national security of this country and her deep understanding of the needs of the men and women in our armed forces and their families."

According to Roll Call, "Of the four exclusive, or 'Super A,' committees - Appropriations, Armed Services, Finance and Foreign Relations - the largest turnover will be on Armed Services, a panel that is growing in stature and attractiveness as the United States wages the war on terrorism and contemplates going to war with Iraq." (Roll call, 1/8/03)

New York is the home of key sites including Fort Drum, West Point, Watervliet Arsenal, Niagara Falls Airbase and research laboratories like Rome Labs and Benét Laboratories. In the last session of Congress, Senator Clinton worked to secure more than $100 million in funding for New York's military bases, defense companies, and defense research labs.

The full jurisdiction of the Committee under Senate rules is:

Aeronautical and space activities peculiar to or primarily associated with the development of weapons systems or military operations; the common defense; the Department of Defense, the Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy, and the Department of the Air Force, generally; maintenance and operation of the Panama Canal, including administration, sanitation, and government of the Canal Zone; military research and development; national security aspects of nuclear energy; naval petroleum reserves, except those in Alaska; pay, promotion, retirement, and other benefits and privileges of members of the Armed Forces, including overseas education of civilian and military dependents; selective service system; and strategic and critical materials necessary for the common defense.

Prior to the formation of the Armed Services Committee in 1947, two Senate Committees addressed defense issues, one on Military Affairs and the other on Naval Affairs. New York Senator Robert F. Wagner served for a year on the Military Affairs Committee in 1946 and also served on the Committee in the late 1920s. New York Senator James Wadsworth served as chairman of the Military Affairs Committee from 1919-1926.

Senator Clinton also serves on the Health, Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee and the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee.