Congressman-elect Chris Gibson [of Kinderhook] is a 24-year military [veteran], but his top choice for a committee assignment is Agriculture.

“In order, Agriculture, and the House Armed Services Committee,” Gibson said in an interview earlier this week. “There is no guarantees. Obviously I’d be a good fit for the House Armed Services Committee given my background. I would like to see that as a third committee; that’s unusual, to get three committees, but not unprecedented. I want to serve on Agriculture, on Energy & Commerce, because I want to be involved in removing the impediments to growth — taxes, regulation and health care costs — and I want to be involved to try to help our farmers. So I derive my priorities for committee assignment based on campaign goals that I enunciated and where I can best position myself to make a difference.”

Gibson spoke at multiple farm events about the need to improve milk pricing mechanisms in the 2012 Farm Bill. Rep. Scott Murphy, the Glens Falls Democrat who Gibson defeated, serves on the Agriculture and Armed Services.