(WASHINGTON) - U.S. Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-IL), chairman of the House International Relations Committee, announced on Friday the departure of a senior member of the staff of the Committee on International Relations and a reorganization of the staff of the Committee.

Jonathan “Jock” Scharfen, who has served with distinction as Chief Counsel and Deputy Staff Director, will be departing at the end of the month to assume the important post of Deputy Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Jock has made a tremendous contribution to the work of the Committee and we wish him well in his new responsibilities at the Department of Homeland Security.

Tom Mooney, who served as Staff Director and General Counsel at the Judiciary Committee prior to coming to International Relations Committee, will remain General Counsel and Chief of Staff to the Committee and continues to provide overall guidance to the staff. The Committee, which has legislative and oversight responsibility concerning the foreign relations policies of the United States, has fifty Members of Congress in its ranks.

I have also promoted Hillel Weinberg, currently a full committee Senior Professional Staff Member and Counsel, as the new Staff Director. Hillel has been with the Committee since October, 1994, and was Republican Staff Consultant to the Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East during the 1980s. He served in the State Department during the Administration of President George H. W. Bush and in several Senate and House offices and was engaged in the private practice of law.

Another Senior Professional Staff Member of the Committee, Kristen Gilley, will become the new Deputy Staff Director. Kristen has been with the Committee since 1993 and has been responsible for the legislative and oversight work of the Committee concerning the Department of State's operations and budget, public diplomacy and exchange programs, and, in addition, for our work on South Asia. She is an expert on the legislative process and I will be relying on her to help move several important bills through to the President's desk.

Additionally, Kirsti Garlock is being named Chief Counsel and Committee Spokesperson. Kirsti served under my Chairmanship on the Judiciary Committee and has continued to focus on matters of oversight, counter-terrorism and critical national security issues. Her legal background includes several years in private practice and judicial service as a Magistrate and Acting Judge in Ohio.

And rounding out our staff changes, Barton Forsyth becomes Deputy Chief Counsel. After graduating magna cum laude from Washington and Lee Law School, Bart clerked for the Honorable Judge Tehrune Miller. He has served as Counsel to the Committee on International Relations for the past year.