Josh Kurtz
Roll Call
3/15/2010
Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) knows he’s outnumbered. He knows the Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, where he serves as ranking member, have the ability to “slam things through” when they want to.
But Barton, a 26-year veteran of Congress, has found a way to be effective despite his party’s 36-23 deficit on the committee and the presence of a new liberal chairman, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.): by leading a unified opposition and throwing rhetorical grenades at some of the Democrats’ top priorities of the past year, such as health care reform and climate change legislation.
“They almost always had us outvoted,” Barton conceded in an interview last week. “But they never had us outgunned intellectually on the substance of the issues.”…
…Another Republican on the panel, Rep. Michael Burgess (Texas), says much of the credit must go to Barton for keeping every GOP Member in the loop and engaged in strategy on the most high-profile battles.
“It’s no accident that the committee’s Republicans stayed together on these things,” Burgess said. “I think Joe’s done a good job of keeping us informed.”…
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