Congressman "Doc" will chair House Ethics Committee

U.S. Rep Richard "Doc" Hastings, whose 4th Congressional District of Washington includes my town, has been named to chair the Ethics Committee in the House of Representatives. I could type out a big explanation, but the Seattle Post-Intelligencer's Joel Connelly does a good job in his Feb. 7 column. Read it here.

We'll see if Doc can heal the mess on that committee, mainly involving Rep. Tom DeLay, the majority leader.

Doc's other committee is Rules, and it's pretty unusual to serve on Ethics and Rules, I guess. Word is, Doc really wants to chair the Rules Committee. That is a powerful post, one that basically determines what legislation gets to the floor, how it reaches the floor and the debate rules. Incidentally, Doc was the presiding officer during the November 2003 vote on the Medicare prescription plan -- a vote that was extended by three hours to allow Republicans to force a one-vote victory. Are these the "Rules" and "Ethics" we can expect from "Doc"?

-- Wenatchee, Wash.