Topeka ? U.S. Rep.-elect Kevin Yoder, R-Overland Park, has been appointed to the House Appropriations Committee in the next Congress.

Yoder was elected last month to represent the 3rd Congressional District, which includes east Lawrence.

He is one of three freshman congressman-elect to be picked to serve on the Appropriations Committee, which is responsible for proposing allocations of federal funds to all government agencies.

Yoder chaired the state Appropriations Committee when he served in the Kansas Legislature.

“Through my experience as chairman of the the House Appropriations Committee in the Kansas Legislature, I know what it takes to make the sometimes politically unpopular decisions in order to cut wasteful government spending,” Yoder said.