House Rookies Boast Business Experience

A minimum of political experience but a strong private-sector background is one feature of the new House Republican class,  The Wall Street Journal reports. The 87 GOP House members being sworn in today include several with extensive business resumes, and as committee members many will be in a position to oversee industries they know well.

"My background will be very helpful," said Rep. Bill Flores (pictured), a Texas oil and gas industry veteran. Flores plans to use his seat on the Natural Resources Committee to push for a reversal of the Obama administration's ban on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

Rep. Steve Fincher, a Tennessee farmer, has landed on the Agriculture Committee. Rep. Joe Walsh, a business consultant from suburban Chicago, joins the Small Business Committee.

Then there's Rep. Michael Grimm of New York City, who is bringing a Wall Street background of sorts to his role on the Financial Services Committee: As an FBI agent, Grimm posed undercover as a hedge-fund employee to break up an illegal trading scheme.

The probe led to several convictions but also convinced Grimm that most Wall Streeters are honest and hard-working, and could use an advocate in Congress.