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Congressional Committees
Chapter 5 : Lesson 4 Congressional Committees
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Essential Question: What purpose do congressional committees serve?
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Congress has almost an impossible job:
Make laws for a nation of 310,000,000 people. 50 states 3143 counties 38,201 cities Can you imagine the vast number of issues?
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Purposes of Committees
The committee system serves three important purposes: It allows members of Congress to divide their work among many smaller groups. Committees select which of the bills introduced into Congress are to receive further consideration. By holding public hearings and investigations, committees help the public learn about key problems facing the nation.
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Kinds of Committees Congress has four kinds of committees:
Standing committees are permanent groups that oversee bills that deal with certain kinds of issues. Subcommittees specialize in a subcategory of its standing committee’s responsibilities. Standing Committees of Congress
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Kinds of Committees (cont.)
Select committees are temporary committees that study one specific issue and report their findings to the Senate or the House.
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Kinds of Committees (cont.)
Joint committees are committees that are made up of members from both the House and the Senate. Conference committees are temporary committees that are set up when the House and Senate have passed different versions of a bill.
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Choosing Committee Members
In the House and Senate the parties must assign members to the standing committees. Each member can serve on only limited number of standing committees and subcommittees. The chairpersons of the standing committees make key decisions about the work of committees and manage floor debates that take place on bills that come from their committees.
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Choosing Committee Members (cont.)
The seniority system is the unwritten rule that implies that the majority party member with the longest uninterrupted service on a committee is the appointed leader of the committee.
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The Committee System Congress breaks all issues down into committees
Smaller groups that can focus on specific topics Education Defense Agriculture 2 Goals of committees: Go over each bill before they are voted on Oversee performance of agencies
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Committee Assignments
Some committees are very important Appropriations committee Deal with all of the $$$ Armed Services Committee Get to make decisions about military Foreign Relations Get to travel a lot! How do we pick who gets to be in charge of these committees? Seniority system Majority party picks committee “chairpersons” by length of time served in committee
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Can Congress members work on multiple committees?
Yes! Most “senior” Congress members serve on multiple committees Shows how strong they are in Congress John McCain (R) Ranking Member on the Senate Armed Services Committee Committee on Health Education Labor Pensions Homeland Security Governmental Affairs Indian Affairs
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How do Congress members make time for all of that work?
They have a personal staff to do it for them! Senators Get 100 staff members per committee H of Reps Get staff members per committee
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Review Question: Chapter 5 : Lesson 4 Read pages and answer Review Questions on page 159. Hand in Google Class Room.
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