House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Wednesday named veteran Rep. Charlie Stenholm (D-Texas) to the Armed Services Committee.

Stenholm, facing a serious re-election challenge after 13 terms in the House, is the ranking member on the Agriculture Committee. He is also a leader and founder of the conservative Blue Dog Democrat Coalition.

[IMGCAP(1)] The Steering and Policy Committee and the full Democratic Caucus confirmed Pelosi’s choice Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.

“Charlie will be a strong voice on the committee for our men and women in uniform and America’s veterans,” Pelosi said. “Charlie is an extremely talented Member and he will be an outstanding addition to the committee.”

Roemer’s Tips. The Partnership for Public Service will host a briefing with 9/11 commission member Tim Roemer today in the Rayburn House Office Building.

Roemer, former Democratic House Member from Indiana, will discuss the commission’s findings concerning the role of the federal workforce in winning the war on terror. He also will outline what Congress can do to help the federal government face the “challenges” of a post-9/11 world.

Some suggestions Roemer has for Congress are to speed up the appointment process for federal job candidates who require Senate confirmation, to designate one federal agency to be responsible for performing and maintaining security clearances, and to enact legislative flexibilities for agencies to shorten the amount of time it takes the human resources department to contact an applicant.

The briefing will take place at 2:30 p.m. in Room 2247.

Ubl’s New Post. Health care lobbyist Stephen Ubl is leaving his post as executive vice president for government relations at the Advanced Medical Technology Association to open a firm called Ubl Health Solutions LLC.

Ubl had most recently been chief lobbyist for the Federation of American Hospitals. Before that, he was an aide to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who now chairs the Senate Finance Committee. Ubl was finance director during Grassley’s 1992 re-election campaign.

— Erin P. Billings, Jennifer Lash and Louis Jacobson