since he arrived in the Senate in 1985. Sigh! To wit:
KERRY BACKED FOR FOREIGN RELATIONS UNIT
BOSTON GLOBE, (02-09-1985)
By Walter V. Robinson, Globe Staff
WASHINGTON
Sen. John F. Kerry, who focused much of his campaign last year on criticism of US foreign policy, was selected yesterday for a coveted seat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Kerry, still awaiting other committee assignments, said he is "very, very excited" about the prospect of playing a role in the foreign policy arena.
His selection by the Senate's Democratic Steering Committee means that the committee seat remains in Massachusetts hands. Kerry's predecessor, Paul E. Tsongas, also served on the Foreign Relations Committee.
Kerry, who is an attorney, was also picked for a seat on the Senate Judiciary Committee. But that appointment was placed on hold yesterday when the Steering Committee realized that another Massachusetts Democrat, Edward M. Kennedy, already sits on Judiciary.
Kerry's selection by his Democratic colleagues must be ratified by the Democratic Caucus and by the full Senate when it returns from recess Feb. 19. But that is considered a formality.
In a telephone interview, Kerry said he also hopes to win a seat on a committee that will permit him to focus on the domestic economy as well as foreign affairs.
As for the Foreign Relations assignment, Kerry said, "My hope is that through the committee I can help to create enough pressure on this Administration to fashion a policy I think is sensitive ansd sensible, and particularly to help in the effort to rethink some of our defense policy in a way that will help influence the way the arms race goes."
Committee Assignments in the 99th Congress (1985-1987)
FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE
Richard Lugar, Ind., chairman
Jesse Helms, N.C.
Charles McC. Mathias, Md.
Nancy Landon Kassebaum, Kan.
Rudy Boschwitz, Minn.
Larry Pressler, S.D.
Frank Murkowski, Alaska
Paul Trible, Va.
Dan Evans, Wash.
Claiborne Pell, R.I.
Joseph Biden, Del.
Paul Sarbanes, Md.
Edward Zorinsky, Neb.
Alan Cranston, Calif.
Christopher J. Dodd, Conn.
Thomas Eagleton, Mo.
John Kerry, Mass.
************
LABOR AND HUMAN RESOURCES COMMITTEE
Orrin G. Hatch, Utah, chairman
Richard Stafford, Vt.
Dan Quayle, Ind.
Don Nickles, Okla.
Paula Hawkins, Fla.
Strom Thurmond, S.C.
Lowell Weicker, Conn.
Malcolm Wallop, Wy.
Charles Grassley, Iowa
Edward M. Kennedy, Mass.
Claiborne Pell, R.I.
Howard Metzenbaum, Ohio
Spark M. Matsunaga, Hawaii
Christopher J. Dodd, Conn.
Paul Simon, Ill
John Kerry, Mass.
I actually don't think Sen. Kerry got Labor committee. (Teddy K was on that one too.) I think this is where he got Small Business. He held field hearings on Small Business issues in 1985 & 1986. He must have been on the committee in order to do that. to wit:
SMALL FIRMS QUALIFY TAX-PLAN SUPPORT
BOSTON GLOBE, THIRD, Sec. BUSINESS, p 19 (07-04-1985)
By Charles Stein, Globe Staff
Owners of small businesses in New England support President Ronald Reagan's goals of tax simplification and lower tax rates. It is not at all clear, however, that they are willing to give up the tax breaks they now enjoy to get those lower rates.
At a hearing in Boston yesterday run by Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), a parade of witnesses defended pieces of the current tax code that Reagan has proposed to eliminate.
**************
SIX NEW MEMBERS SIT ON PANEL
JOURNAL OF COMMERCE, FIVE STAR, Sec. MARITIME, p 22B (01-08-1987)
By ROBERT F. MORISON Journal of Commerce Staff
WASHINGTON
The Senate Commerce Committee officially gained six new members as the 100th Congress continued the business of organizing itself.
Still to be decided is the makeup of the committee's subcommittees. The earlier designation of Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, D-Texas, as chairman of the Merchant Marine Subcommittee, remained the major surprise.
Expectations that newly elected Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., who had served on the House Merchant Marine Committee, would be named to the Commerce Committee were not realized.
The other new Democrats named to the Commerce Committee were Sen. John Breaux, La.; John Kerry, Mass., and Brock Adams, Wash.
Sen. Adams was a secretary of transportation in the Carter administration. Sen. Breaux also had prior service on the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee.
The new Republican members of Senate Commerce will be Sens. Pete Wilson, Calif., and John McCain, Ariz.
The full committee, chaired by Sen. Ernest F. Hollings, D-S.C., is scheduled to meet Jan. 15 to formalize subcommittee.
********
KERRY NAMED TO A 3D MAJOR SENATE PANEL
BOSTON GLOBE, THIRD, Sec. NATIONAL/FOREIGN, p 73 (12-02-1988)
By Michael Kranish, Globe Staff
WASHINGTON
Sen. John Kerry was granted an unusual waiver yesterday to get his third important committee assignment, on the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. Kerry had originally sought a seat on the powerful Appropriations Committee.
Kerry stressed in an interview last night that while he had sought the Appropriations Committee assignment, it is "very unusual" that he be given any third committee assignment and that he is "thrilled" with the Banking Committee position.
Kerry said that of the many senators who have sought waivers for third important committee assignments, only he and the outgoing Senate majority leader, Robert Byrd of West Virginia, have received them.
"This is a plus, an extra for Massachusetts," he said. "We had the notion on Appropriations, and we knew it was a gamble. But they could have said no. . . . Instead, I am one of only two senators to get a waiver for a third committee assignment. I am elated."
In addition to the Banking Committee, Kerry also sits on the Foreign Relations and the Commerce, Science and Transportation committees.
The committee to which Kerry was assigned yesterday deals with a variety of important issues for states, including programs for housing, mass transit and urban development, as well as the soundness of federal financial institutions.
The three open Appropriations Committee seats were awarded yesterday to Sen.-elect Robert Kerrey (D-Neb.); Sen. Brock Adams (D-Wash.) and Sen. Wyche Fowler (D-Ga.). In the past, two of those three seats had gone to Southerners. The Appropriations Committee is generally considered the most important committee assignment because it controls the federal purse strings.
Kerry got the job one day after he gave up the chairmanship of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, a post that allowed him to direct thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to other senators.
Kerry credited the newly elected Senate majority leader, George Mitchell of Maine, and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy with helping him to obtain the waiver to get the Banking assignment. Kerry said he had made known his interest in three possible committees: Appropriations, Banking and Environment.
Senator Kerry gave up the Banking committee in 2001, when he was named to the Finance Committee. I have posted news articles on this in another thread.
A LOOK AT DEMOS' SENATE LEADERS
Press-Telegram, AM, Sec. MAIN NEWS, p A6 (12-03-1994)
By Associated Press
Leaders chosen Friday by Senate Democrats:
* Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota, 46, low-key and liberal, enjoys a close friendship with President Bill Clinton. But, at his first news conference as leader, he declared Senate Democrats "will not be led" by the White House. He said his selection represented a generational change and wants Democrats to offer "constructive alternatives, not gridlock" in the Republican-controlled Senate.
* Whip Wendell Ford of Kentucky, 70, a 20-year Senate veteran and holdover from the old generation of leadership, was re-elected to the Democrats' No. 2 position. He was more conservative than Majority Leader George Mitchell of Maine and protected his home-state tobacco industry. In the new regime, he promised, "When the leader speaks, he has my support."
* Conference Secretary Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, 58, loud and brash, grew up and still lives in Baltimore, whose blue-collar neighborhoods she knows inside and out. She is known as a supporter of the space program and a protector of the middle class. She is moving up from assistant floor leader and is replacing Sen. David Pryor of Arkansas, who did not seek re-election.
* Chief Deputy Whip John Breaux of Louisiana, 50, from the small Cajun town of Crowley, is a conservative who often works with Republicans. This year, he was a leader of the Mainstream Coalition, a bipartisan group of senators trying to craft a compromise healthcare reform bill.
* Assistant Floor Leader Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, 52, is a populist who campaigned vigorously against the GATT trade agreement as a sellout of American workers. He's a harsh critic of Wall Street's leveraged buyouts and junk bonds and complains every time the Federal Reserve raises interest rates.
* Steering Committee Chairman John Kerry of Massachusetts, 50, first became known in 1971 as an organizer of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War. He served as lieutenant governor under Michael Dukakis and was elected to the Senate in 1984. He's used his chairmanship of a Foreign Relations subcommittee to investigate drug-dealing by dictators in Central America and the BCCI international banking scandal. He takes over the Steering Committee, which controls committee assignments, from Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawaii.
Committee assignments of the 106th Congress
Aerospace Daily, Vol. 189, Issue. 34, p 268 (02-22-1999)
SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE
Republicans: Democrats:
Richard C. Shelby (Ala.),
Chair J. Robert Kerrey (Neb.), Ranking Democrat
John H. Chafee (R.I.)
Rochard H. Bryan (Nev.)
Richard G. Lugar (In.)
Bob Graham (Fla.)
Mike DeWine (Ohio)
John F. Kerry (Mass.)
Jon Kyl (Ariz.)
Max Baucus (Mt.)
James M. Inhofe (Okla.)
Charles Robb (Va.)
Orrin G. Hatch (Utah)
Frank Lautenberg (N.J.)
Pat Roberts (Kans.)
Carl Levin (Mich.)
Wayne Allard (Colo.)
Does this help?