Chambliss joins Miller on agriculture panel

WASHINGTON - Senator Zell Miller is about to get some Southern help on the Agriculture Committee, and he won&#39;t even have to look beyond his own state. <br> <br> Senator-elect Saxby Chambliss was appointed to the panel Monday, putting both of Georgia&#39;s senators on the committee that determines many of the rules for crops. <br> <br> That comes as welcome news to Miller, who during the farm bill debate last year often complained there weren&#39;t enough Southerners on the panel to stick up for peanuts and the region&#39;s other staples. <br> <br> The transition should be a smooth one for Chambliss, a Republican who chaired an agriculture subcommittee last year as a member of the House. Even before joining Congress in 1994, Chambliss made his mark as an attorney who represented farmers across the South. <br> <br> Also Monday, Chambliss learned that his other two committee requests -- seats on the Intelligence and Armed Services Committees -- have been granted by the Republican leadership. That means he will retain the same three committee assignments he had in the House.