Waxman voted House chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce

WASHINGTON Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on Thursday was voted in as chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce for the House of Representatives, which oversees all legislation surrounding health and health services, including food and drug.

“I am honored by the vote of the Democratic Caucus,” Waxman stated. “We are at a unique moment and have an opportunity that comes only once in a generation.  I will work with all parts of our Caucus and across the aisle to deliver the change that the American public expects us to deliver.”

“Some of the most important challenges we face—energy, climate change and health—are under the jurisdiction of the Commerce Committee,” Waxman wrote earlier this month in a statement explaining his pursuit of the Commerce Committee Chair. “In large measure, our success as Congress will depend on how the Commerce Committee performs. Enacting comprehensive energy, climate and health care reform will not be easy. But my record shows that I have the skill and ability to build consensus and deliver legislation that improves the lives of all Americans.”

Waxman helped engineer the generics industry as co-author of the Hatch-Waxman Act, which promotes generics while leaving in tact a financial incentive the research and development of branded pharmaceuticals. And while Waxman may be a fan of the generics industry, he has not in the past supported dietary supplements. Waxman has repeatedly called for greater regulation of dietary supplements and has proposed revisiting the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, which governs how supplements are regulated.

However, outgoing chairman Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., was also critical of the dietary supplement industry, having in the past partnered with Waxman on several pieces of legislation regarding regulation of dietary supplements.