Rep. Towns to Chair Black Caucus
Rep. Edolphus (Ed) Towns, a liberal Democrat from Brooklyn, N. Y., on Wednesday was elected chairman of the Black Caucus for the 102nd Congress.
“It’s official. You can give me your condolences,” Towns joked after the vote.
He will succeed Rep. Ronald V. Dellums (D-Berkeley).
Towns, 56, elected to a fifth term in the House last month, said the caucus will meet early in the new session and discuss its goals.
“The civil rights bill will be something we will push very hard very early in the Congress,” he said. The bill was defeated this year when the Senate fell one vote short of overriding President Bush’s veto.
Towns noted that the caucus will have 26 members next year, the most since it was founded in 1970. In addition, it will have its first Republican representative: Gary Franks of Connecticut.
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