House Republicans Choose Committee Chairs

Congressman Shuster Takes Over Transportation and Infrastructure Committee This week, the House Republican Conference selected their nineteen committee chairmen for the 113th Congress.  Of the nineteen, seven will be new committee heads.  The new chairmen include Representatives Bill Shuster (Pa.) – Transportation and Infrastructure; Michael McCaul (Texas) – Homeland Security;  Ed Royce (Calif.) – Foreign Affairs; Jeb Hensarling (Texas)  – Financial Services; Robert Goodlatte (Va.) – Judiciary; Chris Smith (N.J.) – Science, Space and Technology; and Pete Sessions (Texas) – Rules.  The full list of House committee chairmen can be found here.  House Republicans are expected to make all of their committee assignments this week. The next Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee, Rep. Shuster, previously served as Chairman of the T&I Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials and as Chairman of the T&I Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management. Shuster will be “Chairman-elect” until the start of the 113th Congress in January. Shuster replaces Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) who, under House Republican term limit rules, must step down from his leadership of the panel at the end of 2012. Shuster demonstrated his desire to get a quick start in addressing issues that the T&I Committee will face in the 113th Congress by announcing the appointment of key senior staff to lead the Committee. Christopher Bertram, currently serving as the Chief Financial Officer of the U.S. Department of Transportation, will be the Committee Chief of Staff. Jim Tymon, who was the lead staff negotiator for the House during the Conference with the Senate for MAP-21, will continue to serve as senior advisor to the chairman and as the staff director of the Highways and Transit Subcommittee. In accepting the appointment, Shuster said, “Transportation issues are among the most critical that we face in Congress and as a nation. Our transportation infrastructure is the backbone that supports economic growth and global competiveness.” AGC has worked very closely with Chairman-elect Bill Shuster in the past on transportation and other infrastructure issues, and looks forward to continuing this relationship in the year ahead. For more information, please contact Sean O’Neill at (202) 547-8892 or oneills@agc.org.