Buchanan joins Ways & Means

U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, was named to the House Ways and Means Committee yesterday. The congressman will soon join a group that influences tax policy, health care, Social Security and international trade, a release said.

“I will work on the Committee to advance a pro-growth, pro-jobs agenda that will help put people back to work,” Buchanan said in a statement. “That includes keeping taxes low, reducing overly burdensome regulations and controlling spending to reduce the deficit.”

He added: “It also means the ratification of free trade agreements, including the free trade agreement with Panama, which will increase the impact of Port Manatee on our local economy.”

Two Floridians currently sit on the Ways and Means Committee: U.S. Rep. Virginia Brown-Waite, D-Land O' Lakes, and U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Pembroke Pines. But with Waite's announced retirement, and following Meek's failed U.S. Senate bid, Buchanan will be the only Florida congressman on the committee in the 112th Congress.