Ellington

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi Republican U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran is chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations.

The U.S. Senate on Thursday approved an organization resolution that, among other things, affirmed committee chairmanships for the new Congress. Cochran's selection was initiated by Republican members of the Appropriations Committee on Wednesday.

Cochran, 77, was re-elected to a seventh term in November.

Cochran was in charge during the last two years of the previous GOP majority in 2005-2006.

He was a driving force behind more than $100 billion in funding to help Gulf Coast states recover from Hurricane Katrina. He was also a big practitioner of earmarks, those home-state goodies such as highway projects, economic development grants and university research dollars.

At the same time as Cochran's win, Republican Sen. Roger Wicker has been named chairman of the Senate seapower subcommittee.

The announcement was made Thursday by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz.

The Subcommittee on Seapower is responsible for Navy and Marine Corps programs and procurement, maritime issues, and strategic lift programs for the Department of Defense

Wicker says the subcommittee's duty is provide the greatest value to the taxpayers while ensuring our sea services remain the best trained, best-equipped, and most professional maritime force in the world.

Wicker was later named chairman of Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet.

The subcommittee oversees issues related to the telecommunications industry including the Federal Communications Commission, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.