WASHINGTON — Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, was selected Wednesday as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution.

        Mr. Chabot, a lawyer who had a family law practice before being elected to Congress, will likely hold hearings this year on late-term abortions, a victims' rights amendment to the Constitution and election reform. The panel also has jurisdiction over privacy, civil liberties, private property rights and federal ethics laws.

        “As a student, as a practitioner in private practice, and as a public official, I have spent a great deal of my life actively involved in the law,” said Mr. Chabot, who is starting his fourth two-year term.

        Three Ohio lawmakers now lead full committees in the House. Rep. John Boehner of West Chester is chairman of the Education and the Workforce Committee; Rep. Michael Oxley of Findlay is chairman of the Financial Services Committee; and Bob Ney of St. Clairsville is chairman of the House Administration Committee.

        House Republicans have also chosen Rep. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, who is close to President Bush, as chairman of the House leadership and liaison to the White House.

        House Democratic leaders, meanwhile, have appointed Rep. Ken Lucas, D-Ky., to a seat on the Financial Services Committee. Mr. Lucas, a financial planner, does not yet know whether he will keep slots on the agriculture and budget committees.

        The Financial Services Committee oversees banking, insurance and securities issues.

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