House Judiciary chairman announces GOP subcommittee assignments

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) will chair the subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security, which is expected to be in the spotlight in the coming months after President Obama made clear his plans to make a strong push for passing comprehensive immigration reform this year. A part of that push will likely include a measure aimed at boosting the number of visas available to foreign-born engineers and recent graduates from U.S. universities with advanced degrees in math, science and engineering. The issue is a key policy agenda item for major tech companies, such as Microsoft and Intel.

{mosads}Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) will serve as the vice chairman on the Immigration subpanel.

In addition, Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) will chair the Antitrust subpanel, which has examined previous telecom mergers like the failed AT&T/T-Mobile wireless deal, while former Judiciary Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) will head up the Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations subcommittee. Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) will chair the Constitution and Civil Justice subpanel.

“I look forward to working with these members to make America more competitive and free and to exercise aggressive oversight over the executive branch,” Goodlatte said in a statement.