[Himes] lands in Congress with an advantage over some other freshmen: His state's delegation includes Rep. John Larson, the newly elected chairman of the Democratic caucus, and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, co-chairwoman of the group that gives committee assignments.
On Wednesday, the all-Democrat Connecticut delegation formally welcomed him at the Capitol. "We're a small delegation," said Sen. Chris Dodd. "We need to work closely together." Sen. Joe Lieberman added, "There's a lot of power in this small delegation." And Larson joked about Himes looking to DeLauro for a committee assignment: "Jim, appropriately suck up at the right time." [...]
By December, he'll have at least one committee assignment. He's hoping to be on the Financial Services Committee and the Transportation Committee. He wants to use his 12-year Goldman Sachs finance background to weigh in immediately on the nation's economic crisis.
His family - wife, Mary, and two daughters, aged 9 and 6 - will still live in Cos Cob, though Himes said he hopes to be back home as much as he can. [...]
There's one piece of advice he's already received. His new colleagues have warned him about any notion he'll immediately fix the country's problems. He said they told him, "Shift your priorities to really serve your constituents directly."
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