Berkley loses seat on Foreign Affairs panel

Rep. Shelley Berkley, one of the most prominent lawmakers on U.S. relations with Israel, lost a platform Wednesday when she was unable to rejoin the House Foreign Affairs Committee in the new Congress.

The Nevada Democrat lost her seat in a numbers game. Democrats forfeited so many slots on various committees following the Republican takeover in the House that there was a scramble to find new placements for refugees from Appropriations, Energy and Commerce and other panels.

Berkley will continue to serve on the House Ways and Means Committee, which is designated a prime assignment whose members normally don't carry additional workloads.

In past years, Berkley requested and had been granted a waiver by party leaders to add a second committee anyway. For a while it was the House Veterans Affairs Committee and Foreign Affairs more recently.

But this year, "there are no more slots on Foreign Affairs," Berkley said. She said it was not clear if she might be able to rejoin Veterans Affairs.

The Nevada Democrat, the granddaughter of Jewish immigrants from Greece and Russia, had been an active member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, particularly on issues involving the Middle East where she was an outspoken defender of Israel. Before entering Congress in 1999, she served on the executive committee of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the leading pro-Israel lobby.

Berkley said she has spoken with leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee about attending selected hearings as a nonmember. She also will remain U.S. chairman of a U.S.-European exchange called the Transatlantic Legislators' Dialogue.

"I am sure I will have a strong hand in foreign affairs," Berkley said. "It is too much of a passion of mine not to."

In the meantime, Berkley received subcommittee assignments for the Ways and Means Committee.

She will work on the select revenues subcommittee, which handles tax legislation, and also the Social Security subcommittee.

"That will be a very important subcommittee when the Republicans start talking about privatizing Social Security," Berkley said.