11/19/02
Virginia hasn’t had a congressman as chairman of the House Agriculture Committee since 1947, but Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-6th, said he’s highly interested in the chairmanship.
Rep. Larry Combest, R-Texas, ag committee chairman, has resigned from his congressional office, effective May 31, 2003. Goodlatte released a statement on Nov. 12 saying, “I hope to follow in the leadership of Congressman Combest as chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, and continue efforts to give agriculture and rural America fair representation in Congress.”
Goodlatte noted that the Sixth District is “a heavily agricultural district, and as the most senior subcommittee chairman, I have an appreciation for and understanding of the issues which affect not only rural America but the nation as a whole.”
On Agriculture, he is the chairman of the Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition and Forestry Subcommittee and he also serves on the Livestock and Horticulture Subcommittee.
“While other Congressmen might have moved on to other committees, Mr. Goodlatte has stuck with the ag committee through the years because of his constituents,” said Wilmer Stoneman, senior assistant director of public affairs for the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation. “He’s Virginia’s only representative on the ag committee.
“Mr. Goodlatte comes from an ag district, and he has a strong record of supporting agriculture and constituents in the Shenandoah Valley,” Stoneman added. “Most recently, he helped us get some consideration for indemnification from the USDA for avian influenza. He was very involved in the farm bill and trying to make the farm bill effective for Virginians.” Goodlatte’s seniority on the committee demonstrates his commitment to agriculture, Stoneman said. “Quite often you’ll find people who will serve on the ag committee a short time and then move on to other committees.”
A graduate of Washington and Lee University School of Law, Goodlatte began practicing law in 1979 in Roanoke and continued until he was elected to Congress in 1992. He still lives in Roanoke and “every weekend, when he goes home, he drives and sees the whole district,” said Brent Gattis, a staff director in Goodlatte’s office. “He’s active in stopping and visiting with ag constituents along the way.”
The ag committee chairman seat will be filled soon after the new Congress convenes in January, Gattis noted. John W. Flannagan Jr., a Democrat, was the most recent Virginian to head up the House Ag Committee, and that was 1945-’47.
Farm Bureau recently announced Goodlatte was among 12 members of Congress from Virginia who were going to be honored for their accessibility and the way they voted on issues related to agriculture.