Senate Committee Chairs in 111th Congress Announced

Senate majority leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., announced the names of Democrats who will chair the upper chamber's committees in the 111th Congress yesterday and there are some important changes.

The biggest is at Appropriations, where Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawaii, takes over for ailing, 91-year old Sen. Robert Byrd, D-West Virginia. Inouye, who was first elected to the Senate in 1962, is 84.

West Virginia's junior U.S. senator, Jay Rockefeller, will chair the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-California, will continue to chair the Environment and Public Works Committee. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico remains chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, while Iowa Democrat Tom Harkin continues as chair of the Agriculture Committee and Kent Conrad of North Dakota chairs the Budget Committee.