UPDATE: Graves selected to House Appropriations committee

A congressman representing North Georgia has been selected to a post on the House Committee on Appropriations for the upcoming 112th Congress.

U.S. Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ga., said Congress “has a clear mandate to end the reckless fiscal ways of Washington, and that process can only begin by putting a plug in the wellspring of federal spending — the Appropriations Committee.”

Graves was elected to his first full term in Congress last month. He replaced Nathan Deal who ran for governor in Georgia.

“This urgency to make spending cuts comes as the debt clock ticks toward $14 trillion,” Graves said in a news release. “Our government bears the burden of this debt, as it is a monster of our own making. We cannot ask taxpayers to bailout Congress for our inability to spend within our means.

“If America’s future is to hold the prosperity of previous generations, then the spirit of thrift and reform must guide the actions of this Committee,” Graves said. “If, in everything we do, we aim to be accountable to taxpayers and regain their trust, then fiscal solvency will be achieved.”

U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., known by some as the “Prince of Pork,” will chair the committee. He defeated U.S. Reps. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., and Jack Kingston, R-Ga., for the position.

“We are facing unprecedented times and the American people are giving us a unique opportunity to start reining in government and getting our economy back on track,” Rogers said in a statement. “My Republican colleagues and I are listening and we will fight to rein in spending, implement rigorous oversight and work together to change the culture on Capitol Hill. There is no room for failure, our nation’s security depends on us getting this right and finding a new way forward.”