Sherman Committee Assignments Help Business

By Congressman Brad Sherman

House leaders organized key committees as the 110th Congress took office in January. My new assignments, I am pleased to report, put me in a stronger position than ever to represent the concerns and interests of business in the San Fernando Valley.

In a new assignment, the House Steering and Policy Committee recommended me for appointment to a seat on the Judiciary Committee.

One of the oldest standing committees in Congress, the Judiciary Committee considers issues that are critically important to the motion picture, television and music industries. The entertainment industry, it goes without saying, is a major force in our Valley economy. The panel I have joined has jurisdiction over enforcement of copyright, trademark, patent and other laws that protect the intellectual property rights of studio actors, writers, directors, producers, musicians and others.

The Judiciary Committee, by the way, also has jurisdiction over presidential succession legislation, including a proposal I have authored that would clarify who takes over in the event the president and the vice president are incapacitated. The existing law may sow seeds of confusion that could leave the country more vulnerable during an era of mounting terrorist threats to our government.

I will continue to serve on the Foreign Affairs Committee. For the first time in my congressional career, however, I will wield the gavel as chairman of the subcommittee that deals with terrorism and nonproliferation. Moreover, in a change important to business, I was able to convince House leaders to expand the subcommittee's jurisdiction to include international trade matters. The added trade portfolio includes international economic policy generally as well as measures to foster commercial intercourse with foreign nations and safeguard American businesses abroad.

One issue that Valley businesses have brought to my attention is the long delays for processing licenses for the export of sensitive goods. We are not just talking about weapons sales. The lists of regulated items – the so-called Munitions List and the Commerce Control List – are long and varied. Often, companies here in the Valley that want to sell their goods overseas learn that they need a license. Many have to wait a long time for approval from the State Department or other federal agencies. During these long waits, sales can be lost.

Obviously we want to ensure that overseas sales of items that can harm our national security are heavily scrutinized. The long delays are not the result of thorough review by vigilant government employees, however. Instead, there are too few employees so applications languish. This serves neither national security nor the interests of our exporting businesses. It's the worst of both worlds. We need to ensure that our export review agencies have the staff they need to do the job quickly and thoroughly

Finally, I will continue to serve on the Financial Services Committee, a panel I joined almost a decade ago. Sitting on that important panel, I have been involved in matters involving consumer protection, banking, credit unions, real estate, credit card fees, interest rates and other matters important to business and consumers.

The Financial Services Committee also oversees the federally chartered mortgage companies known as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Obtaining affordable home loans is an issue that literally strikes close to home in the Valley, where the median price of a home is more than triple the U.S. median home price. I will use my position on the panel to champion an increase in the so-called conforming loan limit so that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae can make more low-cost mortgages available.

In addition to services that my district office in Sherman Oaks offers to businesses, I hope my assignments in Washington to the Judiciary Committee, my elevation to chairman of a Foreign Affairs subcommittee with the new trade jurisdiction, and my continued service on the Financial Services Committee will enable me to do an even more effective job working on issues that concern business.