Letter to John Boehner, Speaker of the House - Calling for Fair Committee Ratios in 114th Congress

Letter

November 12, 2014

The Honorable John A. Boehner
Speaker of the House
H-232, U.S. Capitol
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Speaker Boehner:

Congratulations on your anticipated re-election by the Republican Conference to continue your leadership as Speaker of the House. I wish you success and offer my fullest cooperation as we work together on behalf of the American people.

On behalf of the House Democrats and in the spirit of bipartisan cooperation, I am writing to ask that Democratic members be treated fairly in regards to membership on standing committees.

For the new Congress, House Democrats should have approximately 189 seats not including the delegates who serve on committees. Specifically, we are asking that the minority party receive a similar number of committee slots -- especially on Appropriations, Energy & Commerce, Financial Services, Transportation, and Ways & Means -- as we provided to the Republican minority in the 111th Congress, when your party had 178 seats.

In 2009 as Speaker, I ensured that additional seats were provided to the Republican minority at your request. Enclosed is a chart that shows how many more key committee seats were provided to the 178 seat Republican minority than is currently being provided to the 201 seat Democratic minority.

We are only asking that you treat us in similar manner as the smaller Republican minority was treated in regard to our membership on committees. By doing so, it would send a strong signal at the beginning of the new Congress that Republicans and Democrats are prepared to work better together to advance the interests of our great country.

Thank you for your leadership and your attention to this important issue.

best regards,

NANCY PELOSI

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