House Energy and Commerce Committee subpanel chairs

Democratic Caucus of the House Energy and Commerce Committee announces subcommittee assignments for the 111 Congress, following the takeover of the chairmanship of the full committee by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., from Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., in November ("1The Gray Sheet" Nov. 24, 2008, p. 5). Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., will retain his chairmanship of the Health Subcommittee, which handles most FDA-related legislation, and Bart Stupak, D-Mich., who has been trying to persuade the incoming Obama administration to "clean house" at FDA, will retain his chairmanship of the Oversight and Investigations subpanel. Stupak sent a letter in December to the Obama transition team, asking, among other things, that no current senior FDA employee be put in charge of the agency, even on an interim basis ("2The Gray Sheet" Dec. 15, 2008, p. 23)