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BOSTON HERALD Bay State members of Congress were riding a wave of optimism last night as the looming shift in power on Capitol Hill positioned the state’s 10-member delegation to become big D.C. power brokers. With Democrats poised to reclaim control of Congress for the first time in 12 years, U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-South Boston) said the all-male delegation from the bluest of states is positioned on diverse and powerful committees, in line with careful strategies set in place decades ago by the late Bay State Rep. Joseph Moakley and House Speaker Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill Jr. “We’ve sort of got someone everywhere,” Lynch said last night. “I think that was Moakley’s idea and Tip O’Neill’s idea, to have broad coverage and we’ve certainly got that.” Lynch will likely move up on a Government Reform subcommittee and on the subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations, a crucial panel probing Halliburton and other Iraq defense contractors as well as reconstruction scandals. U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Somerville) said Massachusetts will be a chief beneficiary of the transition, especially since Rep. Barney Frank (D-Newton) will become chairman of the Financial Services Committee, which regulates banking, insurance and housing. “My constituents should be much happier with the agenda that we set and the issues that we prioritize,” said Capuano, who is also on the committee. “Determining the size of the pie is one thing but determining the size of your slice is another.” U.S. Rep. Edward Markey, who was expected to win a 16th term last night and is in his 30th year in Congress, will likely get a chairmanship under the new regime, possibly on the Homeland Security Committee, where he is currently the ranking Democrat. “I will have some decisions to make beginning (today) but they’re all good decisions and they’re all going to help Massachusetts,” Markey (D-Malden) said. |