Senator Harkin Takes Over as Chair of HELP Committee

It was announced this week that Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) will be the new Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee following the death of former HELP Chairman Ted Kennedy. This ended the speculation as to whether the committee’s most senior Democrat, Senator Chris Dodd (-CT)—who lead the committee through health care reform when Senator Kennedy became ill—would choose to become the new chairman. Dodd chose to remain Chair of the Senate Banking Committee and Senator Harkin gave up his chairmanship of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee.