LAWTON – U.S. Representative Tom Cole is excited to take the leadership gavel of the House Appropriations Committee.
He announced April 10, on his website cole. house.gov that the full House Republican Conference ratified him as chairman of the powerful federal committee, which is responsible for appropriating funding for most of the functions of the federal government. Cole’s congressional District 4 includes Lawton, Duncan and other southwest Oklahoma communities.
“I am proud to announce that I was ratified by the House Republican Conference this morning as the new Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. I would like to thank the Conference for their support and ensure them that I am committed to conversing with them all to make sure that we are working to benefit their constituents, as well as properly utilizing our budget to defend our country and meet legitimate domestic needs,” Cole said. “I am excited to hit the ground running and get to work for this great nation.”
The chairman seat became available when Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) announced last November that she would be stepping down. Granger was Fort Worth’s first female mayor, the first Republican congresswoman from Texas and the first female Republican Appropriations Chair.
Cole, the first House Appropriations Committee Chairman from Oklahoma, is a fifth-generation Oklahoman, who lives in Moore and was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2002. He was appointed to the House Appropriations Committee in 2009. In 2013, he was appointed to the House Rules Committee. He also serves as a Deputy Whip for the Republican Conference and sits on the House Republican Steering Committee.
Prior to his election to Congress, Cole served as the State Chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party, District Director to former Congressman Mickey Edwards, was a member of the Oklahoma State Senate and as Oklahoma’s Secretary of State. He also served as Executive Director of the National Republican Congressional Committee in 1992. In the 2000 election cycle Cole served as Chief of Staff for the Republican National Committee. In 2008, he was Chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Cole is an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation and is one of only five Native Americans currently serving in Congress, noted his biography on his website. Since 2009, he has served as the Republican Co-Chair of the Congressional Native American Caucus. He was inducted into the Chickasaw Hall of Fame in 2004.
Cole’s late mother, Helen, was also a member of the Chickasaw Hall of Fame and served as a state representative, state senator and the mayor of Moore. His father, John, served 20 years in the U.S. Air Force and also worked many years as a civilian federal employee at Tinker Air Force Base.
Congressional District No. 4 includes roughly 25,000 federal employees, according to a report from the Congressional Research Service. Cole noted on his website that one of the largest employers in the district is Fort Sill Army Base.