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Sen. Kay Hagan will oversee the military and education.

The Greensboro Democrat was named to the Senate Armed Services and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committees Tuesday.

The Armed Services Committee has oversight of military research and development and veterans benefits, a natural fit for a senator from a state with several military bases. The HELP committee has jurisdiction over a hodgepodge of domestic policy issues.

Hagan said the military post would be important, noting that her father and brother served in the Navy and her husband, Chip, is a Vietnam veteran.

"I'm looking forward to working with our military leaders and our soldiers to ensure we have a 21st century military," she said. "We need to find ways to support the next generation of professional soldiers, with programs such as the 21st Century G.I. Bill, and ensure that they have the equipment and training they need and deserve to help keep our country safe."

She also cited her experience in the North Carolina legislature funding programs such as Learn and Earn to help high-school students get college credit.

Hagan got half of what she wanted. She had requested the same committee assignments as predecessor Sen. Elizabeth Dole, who served on Armed Services and the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.

During the campaign, she had strongly criticized Dole's tenure on the banking committee.

U.S. Rep. David Price said he is hopeful that the United States can soon finish an agreement with Vietnam on international adoptions in the wake of a breakdown between the two countries this year.

Vietnam ended its agreement with the United States this fall after the U.S. embassy in Hanoi said it had found cases of child trafficking and corruption in the country’s adoption processes, Barb Barrett reports. Vietnam denied any wrongdoing.

The decision left many American families in limbo waiting for children, including constituents of Price, a Chapel Hill Democrat.

"There are dozens of heart-breaking cases we’ve been working on," Price said.

The United States has said it wants to be sure that all children adopted from Vietnam are freely given up by parents or are true orphans, and not adopted through pressure or bribery.

Price traveled to Vietnam recently and spoke with officials there about a new agreement now being negotiated between the two countries. Immigration issues fall under the oversight of Price’s congressional spending subcommittee on Homeland Security.

He said he and the other members of Congress on the trip did not try to negotiate details of the agreement, but that he wanted to reiterate his support.

"We heard expressions of goodwill and a willingness to work this out," Price said. "I don’t want to be critical of the Vietnamese government. I know this is a difficult issue for them, but we need assurances that these adoptions are on the up and up."

He said he thought a new agreement could be worked out within a few months.

U.S. Rep. David Price is heading to Southeast Asia this week.

The Chapel Hill Democrat will lead a bipartisan delegation to monitor the work of the Department of Homeland Security in the Phillippines, Hong Kong and Vietnam.

The trip is designed to give members of Congress a better understanding of the department's coordination with foreign governments to secure U.S.-bound cargo and work on anti-terrorism efforts and international adoption issues.

The delegation includes Democratic Reps. Sam Farr, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Mike Honda and Mazie Hirono as well as Republican Rep. John Carter.

Most of the members sit on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, which Price chairs.

They were scheduled to meet with Phillippines president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, among other foreign leaders, during the trip.

U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge headed to the Pacific for his winter break travels.

Etheridge, a Lillington Democrat, joined a congressional delegation for a 12-day visit to Hawaii, Guam, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand, Barb Barrett reports.

The group received a briefing from military leaders at the U.S. military’s Pacific Command in Hawaii. In Guam, they looked at infrastructure in place to receive 8,000 Marines being moved there from Okinawa, Japan, as part of an Army restructuring.

In Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand, Etheridge met with prime ministers and foreign ministers to discuss economic development and agricultural trade issues.

The group returned Friday.