Price named vice chairman of budget committee

U.S. Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., was named vice chairman of the U.S. House Committee on the Budget for the upcoming Congress.

“Congressman Tom Price has been an invaluable member of the House Budget Committee over the past two years,” U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., chairman of the committee, said in a statement. “As vice chair, he will help lead an effort to promote tax and entitlement reform to strengthen our economy and create jobs. He is committed to the American principles of limited government and free enterprise, and I look forward to working with him in his new role.”

Price, who also serves on the House Committee of Ways and Means, last month lost his bid to serve as chairman of the House Republican Conference. That post would have made him the fourth ranking Republican in the House.

“We face a very serious and growing debt crisis, and the current spending habits in Washington are simply unsustainable,” Price said in a statement. “This requires that we do what is necessary to balance our budget and pay down our national debt while helping to encourage economic growth through common sense tax reform. Our efforts must include meaningful reforms to the nation’s health and retirement programs so that we can save and strengthen the guarantees of Medicare and Social Security. I am confident we can work in a positive, bipartisan way in service to our constituents and our nation.”

Price previously served as chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee and the Republican Study Committee.