As the 109th Congress gets settled on Capitol Hill this week, many Senate and House committee members have changed. Notably, both the Senate and House Approriations Committees will be chaired by new Congressmen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) is taking over as Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee for Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK). Jerry Lewis (R-CA) was chosen by Republicans yesterday to chair the House Appropriations Committee. He is taking over for Representative Bill Young (R-FL). Lewis has said that one of his top priorities will be to get the annual spending bills passed "on time and under budget." Check out this article for more information. An immediate priority for these new chairmen will be to provide emergency supplemental funding to tsunami victims. It is expected right now that $350 million will be set aside for tsunami aid. The Committees may also soon be engaged in asking for increased emergency supplemental funding for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. There is current speculation that Bush will ask for $80 billion to be appropriated in funding.