Republican Congressman Roger Williams has been chosen to serve as chairman of the Small Business Committee as the U.S. House of Representatives gets down to business following last week’s tumultuous election of Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House.
Williams represents the recently redrawn 25th Congressional District, which stretches west from Arlington and Fort Worth and includes a number of rural counties east of Abilene. He had been serving as ranking member of the committee and became positioned to assume the chairmanship when his party won control of the House of Representatives in the November midterm elections.
“As a lifelong small business owner, I am both humbled and honored to serve as Chairman of the House Committee on Small Business,” Williams said in a statement. “From out-of-control inflation to broken supply chains, I have firsthand experience dealing with the current problems facing America’s job creators. As the Republican majority works on solutions to these pressing issues, it is essential we have a small business owner at the helm of this committee to be the voice for Main Street America.”
“Under my leadership, the committee will be a fierce advocate for free market principles and pro-growth policies that have been stifled during the past two years of the Democrats’ one-party rule,” said Williams, a successful North Texas car dealer for more than 50 years.
“The committee will conduct rigorous oversight over the Biden Administration and the costly regulations wreaking havoc on the hard-working men and women across this great nation,” Williams added. “My colleagues and I will work to highlight the American Dream and the many success stories of our small business owners, entrepreneurs, and innovators from all corners of the country. I look forward to leading this charge to work on behalf of America’s job creators.”
A native of the Fort Worth area, Williams was an All-Southwest Conference baseball player at Texas Christian University and was named to TCU’s All-Decade Team for the 1960s. He later served as TCU’s head baseball coach.
Before being elected to Congress in 2012, Williams was appointed by Gov. Rick Perry serve as Texas Secretary of State and helped usher in unprecedented economic growth to the state. He also served as the state’s Chief Liaison for the Texas Border and Mexican Affairs.