Goodlatte to head 2 House committees

Sixth District Rep. Bob Goodlatte has garnered new leadership positions on the House Judiciary and House Agriculture committees while being forced to relinquish his position as ranking member on the Agriculture Committee.

Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, was forced to step down as ranking member on the Agriculture Committee because of a three-term limitation set by House Republican leadership in 1994.

However, Goodlatte has been selected as vice ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, making him the second ranking Republican member of that prestigious committee.

The congressman also has been selected to serve as ranking member on the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy and Research, and will also serve on the Agriculture Subcommittee for Livestock, Dairy and Poultry.

The congressman said he is honored to receive the Judiciary position because a third of all Congressional legislation flows through the committee, including “all constitutional amendments, anything dealing with criminal law and civil liberties and congressional oversight of courts.”

Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, the ranking member of House Judiciary, said Goodlatte, “during his tenure on the committee, has been a leading voice on issues ranging from national security and immigration enforcement to civil liberties and intellectual property.”

Of his ranking membership on the Conservation, Credit, Energy and Research Agriculture Subcommittee, Goodlatte said he is concerned “about the availability of credit” for farmers and the technology to produce more energy sources.

As a representative of a rich agriculture-producing district, Goodlatte wants to continue to push for markets for the products produced in the Sixth District.

While domestic sales of beef, poultry and dairy products are the most important, international markets are also needed, he said.

“We need to continue to find increased places where farmers can sell their products,” he said. “We are still the largest agricultural exporting nation.”

Meanwhile, Goodlatte continues to be concerned about the bailout of the auto industry. He voted against the measure in the House, and it was defeated in the Senate.

President Bush is now renewing the effort to aid the auto industry. He gave his approval to a $17 billion-plus bailout last week.

“There have to be some major changes in the way the automobile industry does business,” Goodlatte said.

He said the restructuring needs to be done to assure profitability and not a return visit to the U.S. government for more money.

“We’ve spent trillions of dollars we don’t have to prop up various industries,” he said. “Every sector of the economy is under varying degrees of pressure. The government can’t be the bailout source for every sector of the economy.”