Carper Named to Senate Democratic LeadershipWill Serve as Moderate Voice on new Executive Committee

WASHINGTON, DC – Democratic Leader Senator Tom Daschle today announced that Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) would be joining the ranks of the Senate Democratic Leadership. Carper will join three other Senators as charter members of the Senate Democrats’ new “Executive Committee.” Committee members serve to advise the Leader and will help in devising, coordinating, and implementing strategy for the Democratic caucus. The other members include Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), and Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE). “I believe that real solutions to our common problems can be solved by focusing on the values of flexibility, opportunity, and accountability,” Carper said. “I thank Senator Daschle for this opportunity and hope to use this seat at the table to speak for the moderates in our party.” In his first two years in the Senate, Carper was named Chairmen for Best Practices at the Democratic Leadership Council and Co-Chairman of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee’s Leadership Circle. He is an active member of the New Democrat Network. Last session, Carper’s first bill (the “Charter Schools and Choice Act”) was signed into law by the President. The upcoming session, Carper will continue the work he started on the Bayh-Carper “Work and Families Act” which helped set the parameters for the debate on welfare reauthorization. The Carper-Chafee-Breaux “Clean Air Planning Act” was and will be the moderate vehicle for clean air legislation and the Carper-Specter fuel savings amendment was the centrist solution to fuel savings amendments. A former member of Amtrak’s National Board of Directors, Carper also worked and will work with Senators McCain and Hollings to create real improvements in rail security. Carper served ten years in the House of Representatives and two terms as Governor of Delaware, when he also served as Chairman of the National Governors Association.