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Dutch's Committees

House Appropriations Committee

In 2015, Congressman Ruppersberger resumed his post on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, which is responsible for writing the laws that fund the federal government's many responsibilities. Congressman Ruppersberger serves on the Defense and Commerce, Justice and Science subcommittees. The Appropriations Committee is responsible for allocating hundreds of billions of federal dollars each year.

These assignments are ideal match-ups for a lawmaker that represents the Baltimore region, which is home to Fort Meade, Aberdeen Proving Ground, NSA, the U.S. Cyber Command and many intelligence and defense agencies and contractors that employ hundreds of thousands of Marylanders. 

On the Committee, Congressman Ruppersberger is focused on supporting services and investments critical to American families, defeating divisive ideological policy riders and preventing government shutdowns. In a difficult economy, Congressman Ruppersberger believes we have to do more with less, and thinks that job creation, rebuilding our nation's infrastructure, education and keeping our nation safe and secure should be our top funding priorities.

Upon resuming his post on the committee, Congressman Ruppersberger said he believes that Appropriators, "share a tremendous responsibility to allocate precious tax dollars as efficiently as possible. This is a responsibility I take seriously."

Previous Assignment: House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

Congressman Ruppersberger was the first Democratic freshman ever to be appointed to the House Select Committee on Intelligence. The committee oversees the collection and analysis of intelligence information from all around the world to ensure our national security and prevent potential crisis situations — especially terrorist activity.

Congressman Ruppersberger was named Ranking Member of the Intelligence Committee in 2011. As Ranking Member, Congressman Ruppersberger was the senior-most member from the minority party and placed him on the elite "Gang of Eight," which refers to the four top members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees along with the Senate Majority Leader, Senate Minority Leader, House Speaker and House Minority Leader. By law, the President must keep the Gang of Eight informed on our country's most secret intelligence activities to maintain proper oversight.

It is important for the nation to have a robust intelligence capability and to have an effective oversight process to ensure that intelligence resources are not misused. Intelligence operations and law enforcement activities are governed by laws which are not in all cases the same. Ensuring that these laws are followed is a key component of Congress' oversight responsibilities and was the primary reason for the creation of the congressional intelligence committees. The sensitive nature of intelligence requires that its budget receive extra Congressional scrutiny.

Congressman Ruppersberger previously chaired the Technical and Tactical Intelligence Subcommittee, overseeing the country's space program, cybersecurity and signal intelligence agencies– for four years. He also served on the Terrorism, Human Intelligence, Analysis, and Counterintelligence Subcommittee and the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee.

Other Previous Committee Assignments

Armed Services Committee
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform