After a dozen years as a rising state legislator from southwest Tarrant County, incoming Congressman Craig Goldman, R-Fort Worth, makes his debut in the U.S. House of Representatives Jan. 3 with his top priority already in sight.
Elected to replace outgoing congressional titan Kay Granger in the 12th Congressional District, the 56-year-old Fort Worth businessman-turned-lawmaker says his first goal as a congressman will be to enact a federal version of Molly’s Law, the state law he pushed through the Texas Legislature in 2019 to crack down on sexual predators.
Texas House Bill 3106 was named after Molly Jane Matheson, a college student who was raped and strangled to death in her Tarrant County apartment. The law requires Texas law enforcement to enter information into an FBI database for every sex offense they investigate. Since then, the number of cases submitted into the national database has surged by almost 3,000% between 2018 and 2023, largely due to laws in Texas and Georgia.
“It’s the most important piece of legislation I ever passed,” Goldman recently told the Report. “I want to make it law in the United States.”
Goldman’s proposed federal law would duplicate the cornerstone of his state law by creating a database enabling law enforcement agencies to more quickly gather DNA and other evidence to swiftly track sexual abusers. Matheson’s assailant, Reginald Kimbro, was linked to assaults on victims in Plano and South Padre Island, authorities said.
“This will enable law enforcement access to information on potential serial rapists and sexual offenders in the future. No more should we ever again have a Molly Jane Matheson,” Gov. Greg Abbott said as he signed the bill into law in September 2019.
Republicans will control the majority of both chambers when the 119th Congress is sworn in Friday. The first duty, even before Goldman and other members take their oath, will be to return Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson to his powerful leadership post, barring any stunning surprise.
During his decade-plus tenure representing Texas House District 97, Goldman rose to become the House majority leader in 2023. He seized on the chance to advance to Washington when Granger announced that she planned to step down after 28 years in the U.S. House. Granger, who has already returned to Fort Worth amid health challenges, officially leaves office with the outgoing 118th Congress.
“She’s given me great advice,” Goldman said in discussing his preparations for the transfer of power. “She is so highly respected and beloved up there by her fellow members of Congress.”
Goldman, who chaired the House Energy Resources Committee in Austin, said his choices for potential committees in Washington are still evolving. He acknowledges that a heavyweight committee like appropriations, which Granger ultimately chaired as she became a dominant architect in shaping government spending, is out of reach — possibly for years.
“I’ve done enough of my homework to understand that it’s a very hard committee to be put on,” he said. “It’s a marathon, not a sprint. And whatever committee, or committees, I get on, I will be extremely happy to serve on those and work my tail off for the people I represent.”
Like other freshman members, Goldman went through a multiday orientation in Washington after the November election and has spent much of the time prepping for his arrival in the nation’s capital.
He will be headquartered in Room 716 on the top story of the Longworth House Office Building — one of the three house buildings across from the U.S. Capitol — and will have a staff of around 10. Zachary Weidlich, a former top staffer for Alabama Republican Rep. Jerry Carl, will serve as his chief of staff. Jennifer Schwarzbach, who served for eight years as his legislative district director, will remain in Fort Worth as district director of his congressional office.
Goldman said there’s no comparison to his anticipation as he prepares to make his official entry into the 435-member House of Representatives.
“It’s extremely exciting,” he said. “It’s overwhelmingly humbling to represent this congressional district.”
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.