The top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee pushed back Monday against Democrats forming a House select committee that would be tasked with dealing with AI.

“I’m concerned that a Select Committee on AI would only further delay legislation,” said Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), who is poised to assume the chairship of Energy and Commerce, and thus hold considerable sway over AI legislation, should his party retake the House in November.

Pallone’s comments come after POLITICO reported that some Democrats were considering creating a select committee on AI in a Democrat-controlled House and that the idea was presented to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

“Over the last few years, we’ve had multiple task forces, policy reports, and a Democratic Commission,” Pallone said of Democrats’ efforts thus far. “Meanwhile, artificial intelligence technologies have continued to evolve exponentially. We simply cannot allow further delays — it’s time for action.”

House select committees are usually created by a full House vote and last only for the two years of the Congress that created them, and gaining buy-in from members who sit on other committees that currently oversee AI policy, like Pallone, could prove difficult.

Spokespeople for Jeffries and Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), who was one of the members who brought the idea to Jeffries, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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