Bob Goodlatte represented the Sixth Congressional District of Virginia in the United States House of Representatives from January 1993 to January 2019.

 

Bob’s service to the people of the Sixth District began in 1977 when he became District Director for former Congressman Caldwell Butler. He served in this position until 1979 when he founded his own private law practice in Roanoke. Later, he was a partner in the law firm of Bird, Kinder and Huffman, working there from 1981 until taking office in 1993.

 

From 2013 – 2019, Bob served as Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.  Throughout his tenure in Congress, Bob held a variety of leadership positions on the Committee. The Judiciary Committee has jurisdiction over a wide array of issues related to criminal law and justice, immigration and border security, intellectual property including patents copyrights and trademarks, regulatory law, constitutional law and amendments, and the federal courts.

 

In addition to serving on the Judiciary Committee, Bob also served on the House Agriculture Committee for 26 years, including as Chairman of the Committee from 2003 to 2007.  The Agriculture Committee has jurisdiction over many issues including farming and ranching, forestry and conservation, nutrition, commodities trading, animal welfare, agricultural research and rural development.  

 

Congressman Goodlatte also served at various times on the Homeland Security Committee, Education and Workforce Committee and the Ethics Committee.  During his time in Congress, Bob also made a name for himself as a leader on internet and high-tech issues. He served as Co-Chair of the Congressional Internet Caucus and the Congressional International Creativity and Theft-Prevention Caucus as well as Chairman of the House Republican Technology Working Group. He also served as a Deputy Whip. 

 

Since leaving Congress, Bob has continued to work on a variety of national issues related to government surveillance reform as Senior Policy Advisor to the Project for Privacy and Surveillance Accountability and to Protect The 1st, where he works on issues related to freedom of speech, religion and the press.  He is also a noted advocate for legal reform and for promoting intellectual property as the engine that encourages creativity and grows our economy.  He also serves on the boards of the United States Association of Former Members of Congress and Sweet Briar College.  He has worked with the parliaments of several countries including Nepal, Tunisia and North Macedonia.  He continues to lecture on a variety of subjects including immigration reform, criminal justice reform, the Supreme Court and the federal judiciary, and topics on the Congress.

 

Bob is a graduate of Washington and Lee University School of Law. His undergraduate degree in Government was earned at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.   He has been awarded honorary degrees from Liberty University and Southern Virginia University.  In his free time, he enjoys reading, tennis, hiking and travel, having visited more than 125 countries.  He resides in Roanoke with his wife of over 45 years, Maryellen. They have two adult children and two granddaughters.