Freshman Congressman Mark Walker of North Carolina was elected to serve as the chairman of the Republican Study Committee Thursday for the 115th Congress, defeating House Freedom Caucus member Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland.
Walker will replace Chairman Bill Flores of Texas, who was termed out.
“Obviously I feel very humbled by it, serving in my first term here to be able to build those relationships and hopefully our legislative work of the past could years has proven something,” Walker told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “But our job is to hopefully work with a unified Senate, a unified House as well as our president-elect and vice president-elect, so looking forward to it.”
While the North Carolina Republican has not been in office for long, he is looking forward to advancing conservative policies.
“Well, I think immediately what the people have asked for years is certainly tax reform, we’re going to lead with some strong policy there, we’re also getting to craft a really strong repeal of Obamacare and the other thing I want to make sure we are doing is that we are protecting our religious liberties for people across the country.”
While he hasn’t reached out to Flores for guidance yet, Walker said he hopes to learn from his predecessor.
“You can always learn from people who have been in the position before and I look forward to doing so,” he said.
Flores praised the outcome of the race and thanked members for allowing him to serve.
“Congratulations to Chairman-elect Walker who will be a strong advocate for the RSC and for principled solutions to the challenges facing our great nation. I have great confidence in Mark that he will serve as an effective leader, and I look forward to working with him as he leads our organization,” Flores said in a statement. “It has been my honor and distinct privilege to serve the hard-working, committed conservatives in the RSC. As I prepare to turn over the gavel to Chairman-elect Walker, I am proud of what we have achieved during the 114th Congress.”
The RSC is the largest GOP caucus, consisting of more than 170 members.
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