McMorris named assistant majority whip

U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris has been appointed assistant majority whip and received two Armed Forces Committee assignments of importance to Eastern Washington, the congresswoman’s office announced Wednesday.

As a member of the readiness subcommittee, which oversees military readiness, training and logistics, as well as military construction and installation, McMorris will be in a position to influence military base realignment critical to Fairchild Air Force Base.

She was also named to the Strategic Forces subcommittee, which is responsible for ballistic missile defense and the Department of Energy’s national security programs, including the budget for the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.

“These two subcommittees are critical to the security and economy of the Pacific Northwest,” McMorris said in a news release. The readiness subcommittee in particular “puts me in the position to fight for Fairchild and other bases in our state, during the next round of base closures,” she said.

The congresswoman from Eastern Washington’s 5th District was one of four freshmen appointed to work with Majority Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri on legislative strategy.

Blunt asked for McMorris “largely because of her experience as minority leader in the state House,” McMorris’ chief of staff, Connie Partoyan, said Wednesday in Washington, D.C. She said the congresswoman has already earned a reputation with the House leadership for her “reliability and hard work.”

McMorris also serves on the Resources Committee and Education and Work Force Committee. She expects to get those subcommittee assignments next week, Partoyan said.