By Rick Miller
Olean Times Herald

Rep. Eric Massa said Tuesday he failed to win a seat on the House Transportation Committee.

The freshman Democrat from Corning said his two assignments, the Agriculture and Armed Services committees, represented the best interests of the 29th Congressional District.

He told reporters in a telephone press conference he hadn’t sought the Armed Services Committee seat, but as a former U.S. Navy commander and a former staff member of the committee, he is expected to make a contribution there.

That’s not to say Rep. Massa - with major projects in Cattaraugus County (Route 219), Elmira and Rochester - didn’t fight hard for the Transportation Committee assignment. He lobbied House leaders including Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar of Minnesota.

Rep. Massa said his relationship with Rep. Oberstar and Utica Democrat Rep. Michael Arcuri, who is a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will assure that the 29th Congressional District’s transportation needs will be addressed.

“The voice of upstate New York will be heard loud and clear on the Transportation Committee,” he said.

Rep. Massa said various agricultural sectors across the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes will benefit from his seat on the Agriculture Committee - particularly at a time when there has been a 40 percent drop in wholesale milk futures.

“It is truly a collapse of the milk futures market,” he told reporters.

One of the first orders of business for the committee will be to see how to improve the milk export market, he said.

He said he and Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-Hudson, the only other New Yorker on the Agriculture Committee, had agreed to evenly split four committee assignments in order to best represent state agriculture interests - as well as consumers.

On the Armed Services Committee, he will sit on the Air-Land Subcommittee, which will decide on funding for refurbishing U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopters at the Chemung County Sikorsky Helicopter facility.

Rep. Massa said he had joined an upstate New York caucus led by Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-Rochester, which will first focus on high-speed rail service between Albany and Buffalo. The caucus will include members of the state Assembly and state Senate as well, he said.

“This has never been done before,” he said.

“This has never been done before,” he said.

The new congressman also joined forces with other representatives from across the country in a rural caucus. One of the caucus’ chief aims will be to see “any money for economic stimulus be targeted in a fair share for rural communities.”

Rep. Massa his first two significant votes in the 111th Congress last week were for the Lilly Ledbetter Act and Paycheck Fairness Act to bring pay equality to the workplace.

He is also a co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act, which would “amend the National Labor Relations Act to establish an efficient system to enable employees to form, join or assist labor organizations.” He said the act “is not an anti-business bill, it is a pro-America bill.”