WASHINGTON, DC -- Congressman Collin C. Peterson (DFL-7th District) today was elected vice-chair of Policy for The Coalition. The position was previously held by Congressman Nathan Deal (GA). The Coalition is a group of 23 conservative Democrats working to find common sense approaches to legislation without partisanship.
"Members of The Coalition have already had an impact on policy," Peterson said. "In my capacity as ranking minority member on the Government Reform and Oversight subcommittee that dealt with regulatory reform, I worked to take an unworkable piece of legislation and turn it into something more reasonable. In addition, I was chairperson of The Coalition's task force on regulatory reform, and that post also enabled me to have a hand in shaping the risk assessment and cost benefit analysis bill. The bills passed overwhelmingly in the House. We had similar success with private property rights, unfunded mandates, the line item veto, and other bills.
"We also played a vital role with welfare reform, by putting together a comprehensive proposal that was ultimately supported by the entire Democratic caucus," Peterson continued. "Our proposal was a tough plan that moved welfare recipients into work. Even though that plan didn't pass the House, we have been in touch with key senators in an effort to keep out plan out there. We are hoping that the final bill will be more like our proposal. In fact, some House Republican leaders have acknowledged that the final bill will move closer to The Coalition position."
As co-chair for policy, Peterson will be responsible for overseeing the development of a legislative policies and strategies for getting these policies in place. The Coalition consists of several task forces, focusing on issues such as the budget, regulatory reform, tax policy, welfare reform, crime, and the environment. As vice-chair of policy, Peterson will be in charge of coordinating the work for each of these task forces. He will also work with Members on both sides of the aisle to help forge a consensus on legislation.
The Coalition consists of three co-chairs. The other two are Congressman Gary Condit (CA), co-chair of administration, and Congressman Billy Tauzin (LA), co-chair of outreach.
"During the first one hundred days of the 104th Congress we dealt with the Contract with America. Most of the items in the contract had originally been offered by Coalition members. We worked to make sure those items were enacted correctly. Now that the first one hundred days have passed, we will take an even more aggressive role in drafting legislation. The budget will be the clearest opportunity for that. The Coalition expects to play a major role in this years budget, much as it did with the welfare bill."
Also today, The Coalition created an agriculture task force to work on the 1995 Farm Bill.