COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS

Patty Murray is a member of these committees:

Patty educates all age groups

Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee: This committee deals with a broad range of issues that are covered by health, education, labor and pensions. Some of the more specifics that branch from this committee are: child labor, aging, biomedical research, equal employment opportunity, individuals with disabilities, and labor wages. Patty has been serving on this committee since 2007 and is currently the Ranking Member of this committee. Since Patty's background is in education, this committee is her expertise. In one article by the Wall Street Journal, it explained how Patty is ready to take on this committee. She stated that she is planning to "fight as hard as I can to make sure that that the voices, values, and priorities of students, workers and families, are heard loud and clear." This committee is arguably the committee that has and is able to help Patty the most. Being that she is the ranking member, she has a lot of power in what goes on and working to change things that she is passionate about. Because of her background in education and the stem of where her political career started, she is able to resonate with many families about the issues that hit close to home. Patty is currently working on a bipartisan compromise dealing with the "no child left behind act" and changing this to make it more applicable by ending the states' need from waivers from the law. 

Appropriations Committee: the appropriations committee decides specific expenditures about government. It consists of 30 members and is the largest committee. This committee works with the budget committee to form legislation that allocates federal funds to government agencies. Patty Murray, who is a member of both committees is able to bring in resources from both committees to help. This helps to get things done on both committees and Patty has good perspectives being a part of both committees. From the source of National Review, Murray secured the 9th highest amount of dollars in earmarks for the appropriations committee. This gave her the nickname, "Queen of Pork."

Patty, doing what she does best: a.k.a getting things done

Veterans’ Affairs Committee: this committees deals with Veterans' issues. Patty was the first female member on this committee, which is important to her as she comes in with knowledge and perspective because of her past. Patty's father, who earned a purple heart in WWII, dealt with health problems when he came home from war. Patty's ideological beliefs are based off her experiences when her father was sick. She is extremely passionate about helping others the way people helped her family. She is a member of this committee and brings a different perspective than other members. She is able to be resourceful by using her membership on the Appropriations committee to handle funds out of the Veterans' Affairs Committee. The bill pictured in the photograph, displays Patty's work to helping veterans get back to work and giving them the skill set to do so. 

Budget Committee: the budget committee is in charge of producing Congress' budget plans and for monitoring the federal budget. Their job is to create a framework or outline for the budget called the "concurrent resolution." The members of this committee are also in charge of enforcing the budget. Based on the scholarly article by Politico, Patty, who is the chair of this committee, works with both sides of the committee to come to the best compromise possible for the middle class. Lately, Patty has been working with Paul Ryan (a republican from Wisconsin) to come to an agreement over 2014 and 2015 budget. This shows how Patty is a vital member of the budget committee as she is working to get stuff done and be a successful team player. Patty remains a vital member of this committee because of her tireless effort to help to middle class, but also her ability to get what she wants in a resourceful way.

Patty Murray is also a member of these subcommittees:

            Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee

            Energy and Water Development Subcommittee
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Subcommittee

            Defense Subcommittee

            Homeland Security Subcommittee