Meeks was voted in over efforts by Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) for the committee spot and efforts by some on social media to brink up some past history of the House member….
Gregory Meeks is my House Rep. and got my vote a month ago….
He is the first Black Congressman to lead the Foreign Affairs committee in the House….
Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) will be the first African-American chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, winning a caucus-wide vote on Thursday to secure the top spot of the panel.
Meeks, who was the third-ranking member of the committee, beat out Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) in the caucus-wide vote, 148-78. Castro had run a public campaign garnering outside support from dozens of progressive groups endorsing him to lead the committee….
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Meeks will take over the chair in January that is being vacated by Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), who lost his June primary contest to his progressive challenger, Rep.-elect Jamaal Bowman.
Opponents of Meeks had criticized the New York lawmaker as disconnected from the committee, saying he had dedicated his time to the House Committee on Financial Services and put his weight behind legislation on that panel over his commitment to the Foreign Affairs committee.
But supporters note Meeks’ long history on the Foreign Affairs panel, good relationships with both Democratic members and Republicans, membership of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and commitments to progressive foreign policy positions that have gained wider support in recent years…
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