EXCLUSIVE: A senior Republican lawmaker is getting creative with his campaign to chair the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Commission next year.
Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., gives fellow lawmakers chips from the Berlin Wall, according to a photo provided by a source to Fox News Digital.
An inscription near the chip suggests that Wilson himself received the pieces nearly 35 years ago, an indirect confirmation of his decades of work in foreign affairs. “This symbolizes the collapse of totalitarian communism and the success of democratic capitalism,” the elaborate display reads.
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Rep. Joe Wilson is one of four Republicans running for the gavel of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. (Getty Images/Fox News Digital)
It said the chip “was secured by State Senator Joe Wilson at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany on June 12, 1990.”
“Senator Wilson returned from duty as a member of the U.S. observation delegation of the June 10, 1990 parliamentary elections in the Republic of Bulgaria, that country’s first free elections after 59 years of Nazi and Communist dictatorship,” the report said.
The race for the gavel of the House Foreign Affairs Committee is one of the most critical events leading up to the 119th Congress.
This role will be particularly important in US relations with the rest of the world next year, when Republicans will control all major power. levers of power in Washington, DC
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A photo provided to Fox News Digital shows a chip from the Berlin Wall attached to an elaborate display. (Fox News digital)
Wilson is on the run against fellow committee members Reps. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., and Darrell Issa, R-Calif. The chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight & Accountability, Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., is also in the race.
Wilson chairs the panel’s subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia.
Current Speaker Michael McCaul, R-Texas, is stepping aside to adhere to House Republicans’ internal conference rules, which require a lawmaker to serve no more than three terms in the top spot on a committee.
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Current Chairman Michael McCaul is stepping aside in accordance with House GOP conference rules. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
“It has been an honor to serve as your chairman and leader for the past six years,” McCaul wrote to colleagues in a message obtained by Fox News Digital. “Out of respect for the will of the Conference, I intend to abide by these rules and support new leadership.”
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“Serving as Speaker has truly been the most rewarding highlight of my career in Congress! I want to thank all of you for your hard work and patriotism as we tackle the major challenges we face around the world.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Wilson’s office for comment.
