Congressman Al Wynn Needs Subcommittee Staff

We stopped by to introduce ourselves to staff members of Congressman Al Wynn's Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials and found that there was no staff. We were told that staff for the full Energy and Commerce Committee would support the subcommittee workload requirements. According to full committee Senior Counsel Dick Frandsen, the Republican model was adopted by the committee at the January organizing meeting.

This is unacceptable. The subcommittee needs adequate staffing to provide the required research, outreach, scheduling and other office activities. We estimate that such an office would need a budget of at least $1 million and a staff of at least 10 people. The subcommittee should be fully staffed in order to conduct the people's business. Environmental issues, particularly hazardous materials, are very important and the full committee staff is not adequate to perform the necessary subcommittee functions. Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell should carve out a budget for this subcommittee. If he does not have the budget, then he should request the budget from Congress.