Southwest Georgia's congressman says he thinks the Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives could lead to more federal money for Southwest Georgia.

ALBANY — Congressman Sanford Bishop says with his re-election and the Democrats taking a firm hold of the House of Representatives, he's in a much stronger position to help aim federal funding Southwest Georgia's way. Bishop, D-Georgia, said he's not sure if he will get into the jockeying and politicking to take charge of the House Appropriations Committee — often regarded as the most powerful committee in the House — or any of its subcommittees, but he will be a more powerful voice within the committee. "Right now I'm 120 out of 435 in the House in seniority," Bishop said, and as undecided elections across the nation are decided, his seniority could improve. Bishop said the change of power in the House will force a reorganization of the committee's leadership. "Those positions are all based on seniority," he said. But regardless of whether he chairs or just sits on the committee, his power as a long-standing Democrat means more money could come Southwest Georgia's way. Bishop said he, since he joined the committee in 2003, has helped bring $11 billion in education, law enforcement, military, transportation, agriculture and other project funding. Beyond working on the Appropriations Committee, Bishop said he's eager to get back to work with the Organization Study Investigation, a committee tasked with writing the rules of operation for the Democratic Caucus and now the House of Representatives as a whole. Bishop predicted many changes in House operations, including more open and public discussions and work by committees and the writing and passing of legislation. "We've been working in this for several months. It gives integrity to House rules to protect the legislative process from the hijacking of the past six years," Bishop said. He said the legislation writing and passage process has been more in the hands of special interest groups than the committees, and negotiations have been done in "back rooms" rather than on the House floor or other public arenas. He predicted Congressional processes as a whole will be more friendly and accessible to the American public and Congress will resume its constitutional duty to check the power of the president. Bishop said the Republican-controlled House and Senate were not providing enough oversight over President George Bush's programs, initiatives and decisions. "They've been trying to not offend the executive branch because they were of the same party," Bishop said. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Moultrie, said he expects party politics to block the passage of substantive bills over the next two years. "The Democrats have a different agenda than what we as Republicans have been promoting over the past several years," and partisan politics could come into play, Chambliss said. "With the majority comes privileges," such as pushing the party's agenda and initiatives, Chambliss said. Chambliss called Bishop a "close and personal friend" over the years and he said he expects that relationship to remain strong. Chambliss said Bishop's position and seniority on the Appropriations Committee should result in more money coming to the state, and "As long as they send money to Southwest Georgia, I'm happy." David Bridges, president of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College said "Bishop has always been a friend to agriculture," one of the driving industries of Southwest Georgia. Bridges hesitated to say whether Bishop's advancement in rank will improve funding for agriculture, but said he felt he could count on Bishop to support farmers and the farming industry. As of about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Democrats were slated to control 229 of 435 seats to the Republicans' 196 in the House, with 10 races from Tuesday still undecided. They also held 50 Senate seats, versus the Republicans' 49, with one race still undecided. The the final number of seats controlled by each party will not be official until all elected officials are sworn in in January.

Aaron Bensonhaver - Albany Herald Newspaper