Committees and How a Bill Becomes A Law

1. Committees and How a Bill Becomes A Law

2. Committees • What are committees? • Groups of Congress people assigned to groups of specific areas of expertise

3. Purpose of Committees • Purpose of Committees • Allows work to be divided among smaller group of people • Hundreds of bills are introduced each year so this creates a system of selection • Committees listen to supporters and opponents • Work out compromises that give a bill the best chance at becoming law • Hold public hearings and investigations and help the public learn about key problems and issues

4. Committees • At least 2 committee assignments per Congress member • Meet with witnesses and experts to gain information • Leaders of Committee are in majority party • (That is another reason it is so important to be in the majority party!)

5. Types of committees • Standing Committees • Select Committees • Joint Committees • Conference Committees

6. Committees • Standing committees • Created very early in the new gov’t to oversee bills that deal with particular issues • These committees are permanent and continue from Congress to Congress • These committees also have subcommittee

7. Standing Committees: House • Agriculture • Appropriations • Armed Services • Banking and Financial Services • Budget • Commerce • Education and the Workforce • Government Reform • House Administration • International Relations • Judiciary • Resources • Rules • Science • Small Business • Standards of Official Conduct • Transportation and Infrastructure • Veterans’ Affairs • Ways and Means

8. Standing Committees: Senate • Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry • Appropriations • Armed Services • Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs • Budget • Commerce, Science, and Transportation • Energy and Natural Resources • Environment and Public Works • Finance • Foreign Relations • Governmental Affairs • Indian Affairs • Judiciary • Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions • Rules and Administration • Small Business • Veterans’ Affairs

9. Committees • Joint Committees: • Made up of members from each chamber • Exist in a few policy areas- economy and taxation • Eg.: Joint Economic Committee

10. Committees No bill can be sent from Congress to the President until both houses have passed it in identical form. • Conference • Temporary committee, formed when Senate and House pass different versions of a bill • Members of each chamber must compromise on differences and present a single bill

11. Committees • Select: • Created to study a specific issue and report findings to their chamber • Usually only created for one term of Congress • Created in both houses of Congress • ex: Senate Select Committee that investigated the Watergate Scandal

12. Committee • Rules Committee • One of the oldest and most powerful committees • Serves as the traffic officer in the House • Helps direct the flow of major legislation • After bill is approved in committee is goes to the rules committee to be processed into the House schedule

13. Membership in Committees • Congress members may only serve on a limited number of standing committees and subcommittees. • Political parties assign members to the standing committees. The majority party in Congress will be the majority in committees as well. • Committee Chairpersons of standing committees are some of the most powerful people in Congress. • Chairpersons decide when hearings will be held and who will testify for or against a bill.