Vice Chairman of two years to lead key House Committee in 113th Congress
Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON D.C. Our Republican Conference in the U.S. House is committed to restoring the American Dream and I will tirelessly defend Republican principles to get our country back on the right track" said Cong. Pete Sessions (R-Dallas) today responding to his nomination by House Speaker John Boehner to serve as the Chairman of the powerful House Committee on Rules for the 113th Congress.
I am honored to be nominated by Speaker Boehner to once again join his leadership team in the 113th Congress and feel privileged to serve the American people as the Chairman of the House Committee on Rules.
I will strive to maintain (previous) Chairman Dreiers consummate professionalism and leadership that I have seen first-hand during my 14 years on the committee including the past two years as his Vice Chairman Sessions said.
I look forward to working with the Speaker and all of my colleagues to ensure that Chairman Dreiers charge to make the Rules Committee transparent and accountable continues.
Sessions appointment occurs on a day in which Texas now-senior Senator John Cornyn was also elected to the number-two ranking position of Minority Whip for Republicans in the U.S. Senate.
The Committee on Rules is amongst the oldest standing committees in the House having been first formally 
constituted on April 2 1789. The Committee is commonly known as The Speakers Committee" because it is the mechanism that the Speaker uses to maintain control of the House Floor and was chaired by the Speaker until 1910.
Because of the vast power wielded by the Rules Committee its ratio has traditionally been weighted in favor of the majority party and has been in its 2 to 1 1" (9 majority and 4 minority members) configuration since the late 1970s.
The Committee has the authority to do virtually anything during the course of consideration of a measure including deeming it passed.
