DES MOINES, Iowa — Rep. Chip Cravaack, a retired pilot, has been given the number two spot on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Subcommittee on Aviation.
“I’m excited to use some of my real world experience in both military and commercial aviation in my official capacity as the Vice Chair of the Aviation Subcommittee,” Cravaack said after Transportation Chairman John Mica of Florida announced the subcommittee rosters. “I’m honored Chairman Mica has expressed his faith in both my institutional knowledge and ability to get the job done with this assignment.”
Cravaack also landed on the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation subcommittee, a post that will see him oversee legislation affecting the Port of Duluth, as well as the Water Resources and Environment subcommittee.
In a statement, Mica said Cravaack’s “experience as a pilot and dedication to serving our country make him a valuable addition to these subcommittees, and a particularly strong choice to serve as Aviation subcommittee vice chairman.”
The man Cravaack unseated in November, Jim Oberstar, had chaired the Transportation and Infrastructure for years, and was up until his defeat the only member who had once been a staffer on the committee he chaired. Oberstar was at that time a junior staffer to then-Transportation Chairman John Blatnik, whom he would later succeed as Minnesota’s 8th District congressman.
