Tennessee's U.S. senators, Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, have received their committee assignments for the new legislative session.
Alexander said he'll serve on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, where he is currently the ranking Republican member; Appropriations, where he is the ranking Republican member on the Energy and Water Appropriations subcommittee; Energy and Natural Resources; and Rules and Administration.
"In the new Senate majority, Republicans will have an extraordinary opportunity to show Americans what it means to lead and work together to get results," Alexander said. "We need to repair the damage Obamacare has done to our health care system. We need to get Washington out of our local schools. We need to reform the FDA so life-saving drugs can get to patients faster. We need a 21st-century energy policy that doesn't pick winners and losers in the marketplace and recognizes the importance of clean, low-cost and reliable nuclear power. These will all be top priorities of mine as the new Congress begins in January, and these committee assignments give me a real opportunity to get results."
Corker will serve on Foreign Relations, which he is in line to chair; Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; Budget; and the Special Committee on Aging.
"Some of America's greatest achievements and longest-lasting solutions have occurred when one party controls Congress and another the White House," Corker said in a statement. "It will take hard work, but if the president rolls up his sleeves and provides leadership and if the Congress acts responsibly, I truly believe we can begin to solve the big issues before us so that my generation can leave behind a stronger nation than the one we inherited."
Senate committee chairmen will be elected in January by members of the respective committees, the results of which will then need to be approved by the full conference of Republican senators.