ATLANTA (AP) — Democratic U.S. Rep David Scott will become the first Georgian and the first African American to lead the U.S. House Agriculture Committee.
The House Democratic Caucus on Thursday ratified the choice of Scott to lead the panel.
“I was born on my grandparents’ farm in rural Aynor, South Carolina, during the days of segregation, and the hardships of those, on whose shoulders I now stand,” Scott said in a statement. He represents a suburban district south and west of Atlanta.
The committee oversees the U.S. Department of Agriculture as well as food stamps, school meals and soil and water conservation.
Scott says he wants to focus on climate change’s threat to the nation’s food supply and other issues.
He replaces Rep. Collin Peterson, a Minnesota Democrat who lost his bid for reelection.
Scott was a Georgia state representative from 1975 to 1982 and a state senator from 1983 until 2002, when he was first elected to Congress. He defeated Republican Becky Hites last month to win a 10th two-year term.
–Associated Press
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