THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, November 14, 1994 TAG: 9411140054
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Short : 37 lines
Sen. John Warner, R-Va., says he expects to be the chairman of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee when Congress opens next year with a Republican majority.
Warner wrote Thursday to Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole to document his seniority and to say he wanted the job. Dole is expected to switch to Senate majority leader in the next Congress, the first in more than 40 years with a GOP majority.
Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, is now the panel's senior Republican.
Warner is planning to take the top Republican job on the Rules Committee because he is required to leave the Intelligence Committee. The intelligence panel has special rules limiting duration of membership.
Warner said Friday he had talked to Stevens, and the Alaskan ``is pleased that I'm going to take over as chairman. There's no question about it.''
The Rules Committee oversees administration of the Senate, approves budgets for committees, looks into unresolved Senate races and has jurisdiction over federal election issues. Its power does not begin to approach that of the House Rules Committee, which controls the traffic of legislation in that chamber.
Senate Republicans are expected to make committee assignments and select committee heads early next year after the 104th Congress begins.
Warner is second in seniority on the Senate Armed Services Committee to 92-year-old Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., who will become chairman of that panel. by CNB