Schrock will work for House committee on which he once served

Former U.S. representative Ed Schrock of Virginia, who abruptly announced his retirement in August over a gay sex scandal, will return to Capitol Hill next year as a staff director for a House committee on which he once served. The Virginia Beach Republican, who gave up the campaign for his House seat in the wake of allegations that he used a phone line to seek sex with men, will join the staff of the House Government Reform Committee, a committee spokesman confirmed to the Newport News, Va., Daily Press. Committee chairman Thomas M. Davis III, a fellow Virginian, agreed to hire Schrock about a week ago, spokesman Dave Marin said. Schrock will likely become a subcommittee staff director, but details have yet to be worked out, the Daily Press said in a story prepared for Friday's editions. "Mr. Schrock was a great contributor to the committee as a member," Marin said. "We're sure he'll be a great contributor on the staff." Neither Davis nor Schrock could be reached late Thursday. Schrock, 63, is a 24-year Navy veteran and former stockbroker who first won his House seat in 2000 after a brief stint in the Virginia senate. Schrock has never publicly addressed the allegations that he solicited sex from men on a gay telephone dating service. He abandoned his reelection campaign less than two weeks after the accusations were first posted on a Web site run by a gay activist.