FroshUpdate: Ribble Gets New Appt; Rigell Keeps Carrier in VA

Scott Rigell scores a victory yesterday when the House Armed Services Cmte adopted his proposal to cancel the transfer of a US Navy carrier from Norfolk to Florida, while Reid Ribble gets a new appointment - to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Rick Berg is just a freshman, and is already looking to higher office. Republicans expect him to announce a run for Senate next week. And, Justin Amash's Facebook habits get profiled. This is FroshUpdate for May 12, 2011.

JUSTIN AMASH (R-FACEBOOK): Roll Call’s Rachel Bade profiles Rep. Justin Amash (MI-3), known not only as ‘Dr. No’, for his Ron Paul-esque dedication to and interpretation of constitutionality, but for an incredible amount of outreach to constituents through Facebook. In fact, he explains his every vote on the social networking site: http://bit.ly/krmTQd

BERG TO RUN FOR SENATE: Freshman Rep. Rick Berg is expected to announce his run for Senate next week http://bit.ly/lAKq7s, http://politi.co/lOOAcA

RIGELL PREVENTS CARRIER MOVE: Rep. Scott Rigell (VA-02) scored a major victory yesterday when the House Armed Services Committee, on which he serves, adopted his proposal to cancel the transfer of a US Navy carrier from the naval base at Norfolk to a new facility in Florida. The move would have required a $30 million upgrade for the Florida facility, and the committee accepted Rigell's proposal to slash funding. Vote headed to the House floor for consideration later this month. http://bit.ly/inl3eQ

RIBBLE RECEIVES NEW APPT: Yesterday was also good to Rep. Reid Ribble (WI-08), who received an appointment to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. http://bit.ly/jlyAEI

AFGHAN TRIP BOOSTS HARTLER’S RESOLVE: Rep. Vicky Hartzler (MO-04), fresh off a Congressional trip to Afghanistan, told the Missourinet yesterday that American efforts to rebuild Afghan civil society were finally bearing fruit, and that "it would be a mistake to withdraw from Afghanistan before the job is done." Hartzler said that the death of Osama bin Laden had greatly boosted Afghan and American morale. http://bit.ly/mUP4RS

PALAZZO REMEMBERS: Rep. Steve Palazzo (MS-04) took a trip down to the National World War II Memorial yesterday to meet with veterans from the Mississippi Gulf Coast Honor Flight. Palazzo said that seeing the veterans was like "stealing a glimpse of his grandfather," a World War II vet who died when Palazzo was young. The meeting was, in Palazzo's words, "a small token of our appreciation as a nation." http://bit.ly/lKybEU

QUAYLE SLAMS PREZ ON BORDER: Rep. Ben Quayle (AZ-03) said the US-Mexican border is unsafe: "It was also absurd for the president to state that the border fence was nearly complete because that's actually untrue." http://bit.ly/kSVXts

EMILY’S LIST TARGETS CHARLIE BASS: On Twitter: “Ouch. Cong. Charlie Bass’s poll numbers are plummeting. Time to get a Democratic woman in that seat to get the job done.” Links to a poll with a -16% favorable/unfavorable rating. http://bit.ly/lHqDGm