Magna Carta News
Monday, January 19, 2004
Oklahoma House of Representatives
Media Division
January 20, 2004
OKLAHOMA CITY - State Rep. Kris Steele has been promoted to co-leader of a committee dedicated to the study and review of legislation pertaining to state military issues.
Steele, R-Shawnee, was appointed by House Speaker Larry E. Adair to be vice chairman of the House Committee on Veterans and Military Affairs. "I would like to express my gratitude to Speaker Adair for this honor," Steele said. "The Speaker could have selected someone other than me for this committee assignment. This is a fine example of bipartisanship."
A Baptist minister and public school teacher, Steele will help the committee chairman, Rep. Ray McCarter, D-Marlow, set an agenda for considering new bills for the 10-member panel. Committee members will hear presentations from legislators about measures relating to veterans and military affairs. They will vote whether to pass bills out of the committee and schedule them to be heard in the chamber before the full
House of Representatives.
"Our veterans are the heroes of this great nation," Steele said. "It is a privilege to be in a position to assist with issues pertaining to our state and all military personnel."
As vice chairman of the committee, Steele succeeds former state Rep. Hopper Smith, R-Tulsa, a lieutenant colonel and a 23-year veteran in the Army National Guard's 45th Infantry Brigade. Smith resigned from the Oklahoma House of Representatives late last year after receiving orders for the battalion he commands to be deployed in Afghanistan.
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Scott Hancock
Media Specialist
Oklahoma House of Representatives
1-800-522-8502 ext 422
