As chairman of that committee's Subcommittee on Communications and Technology in the previous Congress, Walden was a strong supporter of HR 1301, the Amateur Radio Parity Act (see previous story) and helped guide it to unanimous passage in the House.
According to the ARRL Letter, Walden's elevation to the full committee chairmanship may have been in recognition of his success in protecting the Republican Party's House majority in the last election as chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. He defeated two more senior members in a closed-door vote by the House GOP Steering Committee.
