Vice President Kamala Harris, right, attends a swearing-in ceremony by Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., left, with his wife Gisele Barreto Fetterman, in the old Senate chambers on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, January 3, 2023 .
AP
Newcomer US Senator John Fetterman has co-sponsored several bills, including one to ban assault weapons, and earned his committee assignments, which include a seat on the powerful Agriculture, Food and Forestry Committee.
Fetterman will also serve on the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee and the Environment and Public Works Committee, as well as the Joint Economic Committee and the Special Committee on Aging, which is chaired by Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey.
“Farming is a tremendous economic driver in Pennsylvania, and I look forward to continuing to fight for our farmers and their families,” Fetterman said in a statement.
“On the Banking Committee I will protect consumers and take on corporate greed,” he said, “and on the Environment and Public Works board I will work to make sure we keep our environment clean and our highways, roads and bridges good -groomed.”
Pennsylvania’s agribusiness, including farming, forestry, landscaping and food manufacturing, had direct economic output of $81.5 billion in 2021, according to the state Department of Agriculture.
US Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Howard, was recently elected chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, giving Pennsylvania an even stronger voice in Congress as the Farm Bill is up for renewal this year.
Fetterman, who released his official Senate portrait Monday, co-sponsored four bills in his first week after being sworn into the US Capitol, including:
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The Better Care Better Jobs Act, led by Senator Casey, which would increase funding for Medicaid home and community services for seniors and disabled Americans.
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Assault Weapons Prohibition Act.
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The Federal Adjustment of Income Rates (FAIR) Act, which grants federal employees an 8.7% pay rise in 2024.
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The Washington, DC, Admission Act, which would make the District of Columbia the 51st state.
Fetterman said in a statement he was “proud to be able to take off” by co-sponsoring the bills.
“These bills deliver on all of the promises I made during our campaign to end gun violence, expand health services, improve wages and increase voting rights and people’s representation across the country,” he said.