Rod Chandler

From Les Blumenthal in our D.C. bureau:

WASHINGTON - He's been campaigning for it for weeks, but today it became official - Republican Rep. Dave Reichert was appointed to the House Ways and Means Committee.

The committee is one of the most powerful in the House, dealing with taxes, health care and trade.

Apparently Washington's 8th Congressional District has a reserved seat on the committee. Reichert's predecessors from the 8th, Jennifer Dunn and Rod Chandler, were also on the committee.

Not surprisingly, Reichert is thrilled, saying the appointment will "enable me to continue my tireless advocacy for enacting free trade agreements, keeping taxes low for families, business and individuals and ensuring access to affordable, high quality health care."

Reichert joins another Washington state representative, Democrat Jim McDermott, on the committee.

Here is another post from our McClatchy News partner Les Blumental from Washington, D.C.:

WASHINGTON — He’s been campaigning for it for weeks, but today it became official — Republican Rep. Dave Reichert was appointed to the House Ways and Means Committee.

The committee is one of the most powerful in the House, dealing with taxes, health care and trade.

Apparently Washington's 8th Congressional District has a reserved seat on the committee. Reichert's predecessors from the 8th, Jennifer Dunn and Rod Chandler, were also on the committee.

Not surprisingly, Reichert is thrilled, saying the appointment will "enable me to continue my tireless advocacy for enacting free trade agreements, keeping taxes low for families, business and individuals and ensuring access to affordable, high quality health care."

Reichert joins another Washington state representative, Democrat Jim McDermott, on the committee.

Washington has sixteen living former members of the U.S. House of Representatives: Don Bonker, Rod Chandler, John Cunningham, Tom Foley, Mike Kreidler, Mike Lowry, Mike McCormack, John Miller, Sid Morrison, George Nethercutt, Linda Smith, William Stinson, Allan Swift, Randy Tate, Jolene Unsoeld, and Rick White.  The oldest living ex-Congressman is the 86-year-old McCormack, a Democrat who served from 1975 to 1981.  He was first elected to the Washington State House of Representatives in 1956, and served in the State Senate from 1961 to 1969.  He lost his bid for re-election in 1980.