COMMITTEES IN CONGRESS NOW, THE REAL WORK GETS DONE…

CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES THE MAJORITY OF WORK IN CONGRESS IS DONE VIA COMMITTEE EACH CHAMBER HAS THEIR OWN GROUP OF COMMITTEES THERE ARE FOUR TYPES OF CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES – STANDING – SELECT – JOINT – CONFERENCE

CARL LEVIN – Senate Armed Services Committee Chair DEBBIE STABENOW – Senate Agriculture Committee Chair MIKE ROGERS – House Select Committee on Intelligence Chair

STANDING COMMITTEES House – per committee) Senate – per committee) Standing Committee = PERMANENT All Committees have subcommittees to deal with specified subgroups of the committee area – Example : House Foreign Affairs Committee Africa and Global Health Asia, the Pacific, and Global Environment Europe International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight Middle East & South East Terrorism, Nonproliferation, & Trade Western Hemisphere

WHY USE COMMITTEES? CONGRESS 10,000 BILLS INTRODUCED EACH YEAR IN CONGRESS COMMITTEES ALLOW PEOPLE TO SPECIALIZE IN AREAS OF STRENGTH TO MAKE THE BEST DECISIONS EACH STANDING COMMITTEE HAS ITS OWN STAFF, WHICH DOES THE “LEGWORK” FOR THE GROUP – DRAFT LEGISLATION, GATHER INFORMATION, ORGANIZE HEARINGS

OTHER COMMITTEES SELECT CREATED FOR A SPECIFIC TIME PERIOD AND PURPOSE JOINT COMPOSED OF MEMBERS OF BOTH CHAMBERS – PERFORMS ADVISORY FUNCTIONS CONFERENCE JOINT COMMITTEE SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO IRON OUT DIFFERENCES IN A BILL BETWEEN CHAMBERS

COMMITTEE JURISDICTION When a bill comes in, it MUST be assigned to the appropriate committee that would have jurisdiction over it (1946 Legislative Reorganization Act) – “JURISDICTION” – policy area where a committee is authorized to act Jurisdiction is not always clear cut – Example: The Senate is going to introduce a bill stating due to using chemicals in labs, all college physics and chemistry professors and students must be screened as possible terrorists, and each college will have a military liason to help with securing the chemicals. WHICH COMMITTEE WOULD GET THE BILL? – (NOTE TO COGGINS – SHOW LIST IN PATTERSON BOOK, P. 301, TABLE 11- 2)

Committees often gain prestige and notoriety for their work, therefore committees will often engage in a “turf war” to try to be assigned bills HOUSE – Speaker assigns bills to committee SENATE – Jointly assigned by Senate Majority and Minority Leaders

MEMBERSHIP All congressional members sit on committees Each committee has a fixed number of seats, and the majority party of that chamber holds the majority on the committee – Most House members sit on two committees – Most Senate members sit on four committees Members often try to be seated on committees that will enhance their reelection campaign AND benefit their constituents – Older members often try to be placed on most prestigious committees EXAMPLES – Senate Foreign Relations, House Ways & Means, House Rules

MEMBERSHIP Seniority plays a HUGE role in committee membership – Senior majority member often = CHAIRPERSON – Senior minority member = RANKING MEMBER Once on a committee, you can usually stay until you lose an election or retire – However, in 1995, Republicans placed term limits on the Chairperson or Ranking. Must give up position (but stay on committee) after 6 years

COMMITTEE JOB Research and Report Committees specialize in areas, therefore they are often responsible for a piece of legislation that falls in their jurisdiction They gain information by holding public hearings – some can be very influential, most are boring as spit. If a committee/subcommittee decides a bill has merit, it will often receive full chamber discussion. If not, it will never see the “light of day” (killing the bill) – Killing a bill can be overruled by the majority of the chamber, but RARELY happens

Assignment for THURSDAY Decide which committee you would send these potential bills to, and why (you must use the current committees in Congress. We are in the 113 th Congress)…you must name ONE committee for the House and one for the Senate on each bill: – Guarantee pay and pension for all peace officers – Amendment banning handgun possession in school zones – Fixing farm produce prices during an economic depression – Change our national anthem to “America the Beautiful” – Guarantee free college to all who will give three years to the US military – Outlaw steroid use in all professional athletics – Restrict alcohol for sale on Sundays – All cars must be able to produce 50mpg minimum by 2018