WASHINGTON - As their party's influence wanes, Republicans serving West Texas said new committee leadership posts will allow them to continue working for their constituents.

San Angelo's congressman, Rep. Mike Conaway, scored his first leadership post on a committee. The Midland Republican was tapped to serve as the ranking Republican on a subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee that deals with specialty crops and rural development.

"I've moved far enough on the food chain that I have a ranking member slot," said Conaway, who ran an unsuccessful campaign for a spot on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. "The thing about being a ranking member is that helps you (get) in if there's a conference committee on a particular bill."

Conaway said that in the subcommittee job, he'll work on legislation affecting his district.

The third-term congressman also was in good spirits about a surprise appointment to the House Ethics Committee. Conaway will help investigate colleagues for ethics violations, a job he said no one seeks but for which his background as a Certified Public Accountant prepared him.

Last year, Conaway was instrumental in discovering possible mishandling of funds belonging to the fundraising committee for House Republicans.

While the ethics job won't be fun, he said it will increase the Texas delegation's clout during a session in which Republicans have dwindling power.

The $819 billion House version of President Obama's stimulus package passed Jan. 28 without the help of a single Republican vote. The number of House Republicans dropped from 202 in 2007 to 178 when the 111th Congress began in January.

The Democrats' majority in the Senate is less pronounced as they fall short of the 60 members needed to block filibusters. But Senate Republicans fell from 49 members at the start of the 110th Congress to 41 in the current session.

Several Republican senate seats may be in jeopardy in the 2010 election, one of them in Texas - Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, plans to leave her post to challenge Gov. Rick Perry in the Republican gubernatorial primary.

Paul Fabrizio, a political science professor at McMurry University in Abilene, said the Texas delegation's appointments will give them opportunities to influence legislation before it hits the House or Senate floor, where Republicans likely will have little say.

"To be on the committee at least gives you some chance at operating," Fabrizio said. "Republicans are in such a minority that they probably can't do much anyway, but they can influence things around the margin."

He said leadership roles dealing with agriculture, armed services and technology resonate with voters and that Sen. John Cornyn's new spot on the Senate Finance Committee is highly prized among senators.

Cornyn said he can influence legislation on hot-button issues relevant to Texans in light of the floundering national economy.

"Because it deals with tax issues, Medicare and Social Security, as well as trade, it really is at the center of most of the economic legislation that Congress is going to pass," Cornyn said.

To prove his point, the senator noted that the bill to reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program - which the Senate passed Jan. 29 despite Cornyn's "no" vote - originated in the Finance Committee.

Conaway said he believes partisanship will play a smaller role in committee work.

"Agriculture in particular is very us-against-the-world. As far as Republican-Democrat, not much of that goes on," he said.

He added that he hopes the Armed Services Committee will also avoid partisan division. "We may have some issues that begin to divide us, but I hope not because national defense is not Democrat or Republican," Conaway said.

Committee assignments

Committee appointments for Republicans serving West Texas in Congress:

* U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison: New member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee; will continue to serve as ranking Republican on the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and its Aviation Subcommittee; ranking member of the Appropriations Committee's Military Construction-Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee; and continues as a member of the Rules and Administration Committee.

* U.S. Sen. John Cornyn: New member of the Senate Finance Committee; will continue to serve as ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee's Immigration, Refugees and Border Security Subcommittee; and member of the Budget Committee.

* San Angelo's congressman, U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway of the 11th Congressional District: Newly appointed ranking Republican on the House Agriculture Committee's subcommittee for specialty crops, rural development and foreign agriculture; new member of the Ethics Committee; and will continue to serve on the Armed Services Committee.

* U.S. Rep. Randy Neugebauer of the 19th Congressional District: Newly appointed ranking Republican on the Agriculture Committee's Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Subcommittee; will continue to serve as deputy ranking member of the Financial Services Committee and member of the Science and Technology Committee.

* U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry of the 13th Congressional District: will continue to serve on the House Armed Services Committee and is waiting to hear whether he'll also continue on the Intelligence Committee.