Committee
Assignments
Senator Max Baucus currently serves on several
Senate Committees which include the Senate Finance Committee where Baucus is
currently the Committee Chair, the Senate Agriculture Committee where he is a
Senior Member and also the only member of Montana’s delegation on an
Agricultural committee, and the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
where Baucus is considered to be a Senior Member. Senator Baucus serves on the Joint Committee
on Taxation, made up of members from both the House of Representatives and the
Senate, and serves as the Vice Chairman.
Baucus also participates in the subcommittees of: Taxation and Oversight
Subcommittee, Domestic and Foreign Marketing Subcommittee, the Inspection, and
Plant and Animal Health Subcommittee, the Production and Income Protection and
Price Support Subcommittee, the Hunger, Nutrition and Family Farms Subcommittee,
Chairman of the Subcommittee of Transportation and Infrastructure (committee
that writes the federal highway program), the Clean Air and Nuclear Safety
Subcommittee, and the Superfund, Toxics and Environmental Health Subcommittee.
(http://www.baucus.senate.gov/?p=issue&id=46)
Current
issues before committees relevant to campaigns
·
Baucus voted for the fiscal cliff
compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally
passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income
levels. The bill was passed in the
Senate by an 89/8 vote on January 1, 2013.
(http://www.baucus.senate.gov/?p=issue&id=46)
·
In the recent debate concerning a ban on
assault rifles the Democratic Party has generally supported Obama in its installation. But Baucus clearly learned from his previous
experience during the Clinton era concerning gun control. Baucus then supported an assault weapons ban
and nearly lost his Senate seat due to an angered constituency. (Mountain men obviously need assault weapons
to fight off bears and mountain lions; not to mention keeping that pesky
neighbor off their property.) Baucus was recently reported opposing the
President’s proposed ban. With his
competition mounting in Montana Baucus needs to keep his constituents happy
(and apparently armed.) Although in all
seriousness it was reported by a research group studying the Rocky Mountain
Front in 2011, sportsmen in Montana spend around $10 million every year during
hunting season on the Front. (http://missoulian.com/news/local/pro-gun-voters-put-heat-on-democratic-senators/article_617e6e96-88d6-11e2-ac8d-001a4bcf887a.html)
·
Baucus demanded that the House vote on
the proposed Farm Bill that he helped push through the Senate. He claimed that the Farm Bill is a “jobs
bill.” He stated that Montana’s dairy
producers would be hit the hardest by the inaction. Agriculture is Montana’s leading industry
with sixty-five percent of the land in Montana is currently included in farms
and ranches. Baucus discusses this issue in this video link: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=fXOhU50paa4)
·
Baucus was a leader in much of the 2009
Healthcare Reform due to his chairmanship of the Senate Finance Committee. He continues to receive much criticism about
the reform from his Montana constituents.
(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/max_baucus/index.html)
Sources:
http://www.baucus.senate.gov/?p=issue&id=46
for list of Committee Assignments
http://missoulian.com/news/local/pro-gun-voters-put-heat-on-democratic-senators/article_617e6e96-88d6-11e2-ac8d-001a4bcf887a.html
for article on assault weapons ban
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/max_baucus/index.html
for article on Healthcare Reform
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=fXOhU50paa4
for video on Joint Committee on Taxation to reduce the deficit, and Healthcare
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