U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela has been appointed to serve on the House Armed Services Committee, which oversees U.S. military and national security policy and has jurisdiction over defense policy and spending including ongoing military operations in Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq.
The Armed Services Committee is also responsible for oversight of Department of Energy nuclear weapons programs, international arms control, and foreign relations. The panel also has jurisdiction over space control, satellite communications, and launch services including at commercial facilities like the SpaceX Boca Chica site.
Vela said he was honored by the appointment and the opportunity to “influence national security policy, which is critical to the future of the United States and the world.”
He said he’ll continue to serve as a senior member of the Committee on Agriculture, where he’s the fifth-ranking Democrat and will soon take on a new leadership role to be announced soon.
