Red Hook Daily Catch: Pat Ryan Appointed House Committees on Armed Services, Infrastructure and Transportation

Rep. Pat Ryan (D-18), who represents Red Hook and Rhinebeck, scored coveted positions on the House Armed Services Committee as well as the committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, both of which oversee billions of dollars in federal funds each year. 

Ryan’s office announced the committee assignments Friday. 

“Transportation and Infrastructure is one of the most highly requested committees,” Ryan told The Daily Catch today. “I fought hard to get that appointment.”   

The committee on Transportation and Infrastructure oversees all forms of U.S. travel, from airports to bridges as well as the interstate highway system and federal public buildings. It also oversees the nation’s wastewater infrastructure and emergency preparedness programs. 

Demand for a seat on the committee surged after Congress passed a $1.2-trillion bipartisan infrastructure package in November 2021. Now, Ryan said the committee will “have a central role in deciding where that funding goes.”  

He also vowed to direct funds in the infrastructure package to modernize the Hudson Valley’s aging highways, bridges, and railways. “Whether you take Metro North to New York City, travel Route 17 through Orange County, or need improved broadband in Dutchess County,” said Ryan, “I will fight every day to make sure that funding comes right back here to the Hudson Valley.”

House members are assigned to committees at the beginning of each Congress. Members first earn nominations to committee posts by their party, and then are confirmed by a vote on the U.S. House floor, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Incoming lawmakers typically serve on two to three committees at a time, according to the U.S. House archives. The House Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Appropriations committees, considered the most powerful, are usually chaired by senior members of the majority party, according to an analysis of committee assignments by The Atlantic. 

Ryan’s other committee assignment came as less of a surprise. The West Point graduate, who served two tours in Iraq, has been a sitting member of the Armed Services Committee since he won a special election in August to serve out the term of Antonio Delgado in New York’s 19th congressional district.

The House Armed Services Committee oversees the funding of the Department of Defense, the U.S. Armed Forces, and sectors of the Department of Energy. Each year, the committee drafts the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), outlining the spending plan for the Department of Defense. 

Ryan’s inaugural bill out of that committee, which would expand Veterans Affairs (VA) home loans to National Guard service members, passed the House with bipartisan support last September. The bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) in December but has yet to be voted upon in the upper chamber. 

As a new member of the minority party in the U.S. House, where Republicans hold a 10-seat majority, Ryan’s power may be limited. The committees he will sit on are chaired by two Republicans. Legislation that passes the House may face an upward battle in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

Ryan will hold his first public town hall as a congressman this Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall in Beacon. 

Meanwhile, freshmen Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-19), whose district lies just north of his home in Red Hook, will also serve on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, in addition to the Small Business Committee and the Committee on Agriculture. 

“Receiving three committee assignments is a high honor for a freshman member of Congress,” Molinaro said in a statement. “It will amplify my impact for Upstate New York and help me deliver results for local small businesses at a crucial time.”

Agriculture remains a large economic engine across the congressional districts of both Molinaro and Ryan, according to the New York Department of Labor. 

Ryan stressed that, while he is not serving on the Agriculture Committee, the district’s farms remain a top priority. “I’m focused on doing everything I can to support our local farmers,” he said. 

Ryan added that he plans to reintroduce the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, a law he co-sponsored in 2022 that would end the federal prohibition on serving whole milk in school cafeterias under the National School Lunch Program. 

Ryan argued the bill will “help our kids maintain a healthy diet while supporting our Hudson Valley dairy farmers and processors.” An earlier version of the bill was co-sponsored by now-N.Y. Lt. Gov. Delgado, when he represented the 19th district as a Democrat.