Vivienne Machi
Defense Daily
The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) will include Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Doug Jones (D-Ala.) when it convenes for the 116th Congress in January.
Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)’s office released the list of new committee assignments for his party Dec. 12. Republican assignments and all subcommittee assignments have not yet been revealed.
Manchin, Duckworth and Jones will replace three Democrats who lost their seats in the 2018 midterm election: Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.). Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) remains ranking member.
Jones, who won his seat in a 2017 special election following the resignation of Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) to become attorney general, represents a number of defense industries and military assets in his state, to include Maxwell Air Force Base, Anniston Army Depot and Ft. Rucker. Redstone Arsenal is also in Alabama, which is home to the Army Material Command, U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, the Missile Defense Agency, and Army Contracting Command.
The state is also home to various shipbuilding and aerospace companies. Austal USA is headquartered in Mobile, while Ingalls Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries [HII] headquartered across the state border in Pascagoula, Mississippi, has employees commute from Alabama. Huntsville is home to divisions of aerospace contractors including Northrop Grumman [NG], Boeing [BA], Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Raytheon [RTN].
Duckworth will join Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) on SASC as the sole women veterans serving in the Senate. An Iraq War veteran who lost her legs and part of her arm when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was piloting was shot down in 2014, Duckworth served on the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) before being elected to the higher chamber in 2016.
Illinois is home to Scott Air Force Base, part of Air Mobility Command and headquarters of U.S. Transportation Command (US TRANSCOM). The Rock Island Arsenal includes several military installations, including the Army’s Contracting Command and Sustainment Command, the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center and Joint Manufacturing Technology Center and Joint Munition Command. The Army Research Laboratory’s “Central” headquarters is in Chicago, which is also the location of the corporate office for defense giant Boeing.
Manchin has previously served on SASC and currently serves on the Senate Veterans Affairs and Appropriations Committees. West Virginia is home to a variety of aerospace company divisions, to include Boeing’s Aurora Flight Sciences division, which manufactures components of the RQ-4 Global Hawk. The U.S. Navy’s Alleghany Ballistics Center – which houses Northrop Grumman, formerly Orbital ATK – is located in Rocket Center, West Virginia. The Army National Guard’s Camp Dawson and Shepherd Field Air National Guard Base are stationed in Manchin’s state.
SASC Democrats for 116th Congress
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) – Ranking Member
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.)
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.)
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.)
Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii)
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.)
Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) – caucuses with the Democrats
Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.)
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)
Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.)
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.)
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.)
Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.)
