Press Releases

One Month and Counting: Alabama Still Suffers Because of Parker Griffith's Selfish Decision

Alabama Democrats raised major concerns that Representative Parker Griffith has STILL not received any committee assignments from Republicans in Washington in the over 30 days since his party switch. The Huntsville Times said that Griffith's decision to switch parties "throws his ability to influence decisions directly related to North Alabama into question" and that "saying goodbye to the Democratic Party comes with a price."

"We know that Republicans here in Alabama don't like Parker Griffith very much but we thought the Republicans in Washington loved him," said Jim Spearman, Executive Director of the Alabama Democratic Party. "When Parker switched parties, we knew that North Alabama would suffer but we never thought national Republicans would lock Parker Griffith out of the room for this long. Parker cost this district by switching parties and now the Republican leadership is costing us a voice in Congress. It's time for Parker to speak publicly to his handlers in Washington and tell them he won't sit idly by any longer without committee assignments. But doing that would mean he would have to put our interests ahead of his own and he hasn't proven much ability to do that."

Republican leadership said that they would meet in January to provide new assignments. Decisions on Committee assignments for Republican Members of Congress are made by the House Republican steering committee. [Huntsville Times, 12/23/2009;1/13/2010].

Parker Griffith's party switch about self-preservation, not conviction
Huntsville Times Editorial Board
http://blog.al.com/times-views/2009/12/opinion_parker_griffiths_party.html

Does this move help North Alabama?

It's hard to see how it does.

As a freshman Democrat in a sure-to-be-contested seat, Griffith was able to reap many benefits:

He ended up on committees such as Science and Technology and Transportation and Infrastructure as a voice with the majority.

[...]

Now Griffith throws his ability to influence decisions directly related to North Alabama into question. The committee assignments he had as a Democrat are being stripped by Nancy Pelosi, and he will be up for re-assignment. Griffith may have a conservative voting record when compared to Democrats, but what kind of influence will he have when he is already being bashed by conservatives as a Republican In Name Only (RINO)?

Parker Griffith committee assignments in flux after party swap
By Shelby G. Spires, Huntsville Times
http://blog.al.com/space-news/2009/12/parker_griffith_committee_assi.html

Saying goodbye to the Democratic party comes with a price for U.S. Rep. Parker Griffith. It means he will lose his committee assignments on Capitol Hill, a spokesman for Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi told The Times Tuesday.

Griffith served on three committees: Science and Technology, Small Business and Transportation and Infrastructure. Those Democrat-controlled committee assignments are now gone, and the GOP is unlikely to put Griffith on any committee over the next two weeks.

"His assignments will be stripped away and appointments will be made to other members," said Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly. "It will be up to the GOP to make any assignments for his future."

However, this goes against what Griffith believes. After a news conference where he announced his party switch, Griffith said it wasn't a given that he'll lose his committee assignments. He said to take that away from him could make Democrats look "small and punitive," and he doesn't believe the party will want to appear petty.

North Alabama could suffer for the party swap, political experts said.

"No decisions have been made right now, and won't be until members return to Washington in January and the GOP Steering Committee meets and makes that decision," said Kevin Smith, spokesman for House Republican leader U.S. Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio.

After a press conference where he announced his party switch, Griffith said it wasn't a given that he'll lose his committee assignments.

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