WASHINGTON -- The Plains states lost and the agriculture in the rest of the country won on Dec. 5 when the House Republican Steering Committee selected seven new members for the House Agriculture Committee, a day after the House Republican leadership removed Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan., from the committee to punish him for being uncooperative.
The new members announced by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., are: Dan Benishek, R-Mich., Chris Collins, R-N.Y., Rodney Davis, R-Ill., Jeff Denham, R-Calif., Richard Hudson, R-N.C., Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., and Ted Yoho, R-Fla..
Lucas noted that there is still one vacancy, and a GOP aide said it will be filled by one additional member from a southern state.
The new appointees will take the places of Tim Johnson, R-Ill., who is retiring, Jean Schmidt, R-Ohio, who lost her primary, and Bobby Schilling, R-Ill., who was defeated, as well as Huelskamp. But since the number of members appointed to the committee exceeds the number of departing members, it appears that four current Republican members have decided to opt for membership on another committee.
The new members reduce representation of the Plains states on the committee and leave Kansas without a House Agriculture Committee member for the first time since the state joined the union, according to the Hays Daily News.
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House leadership sources said Huelskamp had lost his Agriculture and Budget committee assignments because he was unwilling to cooperate with the leadership on a wide range of issues.
