5. Identify and describe the types of committees and their functions (Ways and Means, Foreign Relations, Rules, etc.). What is the significance of a committee assignment for a member of Congress?
The Committee System is very important in Congress . When different versions of a bill are passed in the House and Senate, a conference committee with members of both houses meets to iron out the differences. There are four types of congressional committees:
Standing committees got their name because they continue from one Congress to the next. They are the committees to which bills are referred for consideration. They can kill bills, amend them radically, or hurry them through the process. This is the first and last places to which most bills go.
Joint committees are set up to expedite business between the houses and to help focus public attention on major matters, such as the economy, taxation, or scandals. They include members from both houses of Congress who conduct investigations or special studies.
Conference committees are special joint committees that reconcile differences in bills passed by the House and Senate. This committee is made up of those members from the House and Senate committees that originally considered the bill.
Select (or special) committees are temporary committees appointed for specific purposes. Generally such committees are established to conduct special investigations or studies and report back to the chamber that established them.
Although most committees in one house parallel those in the other, the House Committee on Rules, for which there is no counterpart in the Senate, plays a key role in the House’s law-making process. This committee reviews most bills after they come from a committee and before they go to the full chamber for consideration.
Bills can be forced out of a House committee by a discharge petition signed by a majority of the House membership. This petition gives a majority of the House of Representatives the authority to bring an issue to the floor in the face of committee inaction. Senate committees enjoy the same power over framing legislation that House committees do, but the Senate, being an institution more open to individual input than the House, gives less deference to the work done in committees. In the Senate, legislation is more likely to be rewritten on the floor, where all senators can participate and add amendments at any time.
Many legislators seeking committee assignments inform their party’s selection committee of their preferences. They often request assignments based on their own interests or expertise or on a particular committee’s ability to help their prospects for reelection. Representatives often seek committee assignments that have access to pork, legislation that allows representatives to bring money and jobs to their districts in the form of public works programs, military bases, or other programs designed to benefit their districts directly. Also, earmarks are funds in appropriations bill that provide dollars for particular purposes within a state or congressional district.
Pork isn’t the only motivator for those seeking strategic committee assignments. Some committees, such as Energy and Commerce, facilitate reelection by giving House members influence over decisions that affect large campaign contributors. Another motivator for certain committee assignments is the desire to have power and influence within the chamber. The Appropriations and Budget Committees provide that kind of reward for some members, given the monetary impact of the committees. Congress can approve programs, but unless money for them is appropriated in the budget, they are largely symbolic. In both the House and the Senate, committee membership generally reflects the party distribution within the chamber.
The actual work of Congress, both in the House and Senate, is done through committees. There are four types of committees: standing committees, select committees, joint committees, and conference committees. Standing Committees are the real workhorses of Congress. They are functionally organized in ways similar to the organization of the Executive Departments. All bills are submitted to standing committees and must go through these committees before being approved by the full House or Senate. Select Committees are created for special reasons to investigate some current issue or problem, which is not being handled by the regular standing committees. Joint Committees have members from both the House and Senate. They are created for either very important reasons such as the Joint Committee on Intelligence or very mundane reasons such as the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress. The need for secrecy motivates the first; its narrow significance the creation of the second. Conference Committees are created each time a bill is passed in different versions by the House and Senate. Conference Committees are designed to iron out the differences. Conference Committees have members from both House and Senate. They are, thus, a kind of joint committee, but they function only until a given bill is reconciled. The committee assignments that a member of Congress receives can dictate how big an impact she can make. The right assignments bring prestige, power and increased ability to help constituents. Being a member of certain committees carries a lot of prestige. The House and Senate appropriations committees, for example, are responsible for directing all federal spending, while members of the intelligence committees receive classified briefings. The right committee assignment can give a member of Congress a great deal of influence on a particular issue. A lawmaker committed to, say, development of solar power or hybrid cars could press that agenda with a seat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Committees also put members in position to deliver federal assistance to their constituents. A farm-state lawmaker can do a lot for his state from a seat on an agriculture committee. Committee assignments are made by party leaders at the beginning of each two-year congressional session. The majority party in each house gets the largest number of seats on each committee.
All standing committees are controlled by the majority party in that house. In January 2011 Republicans will control all standing committees in the House and Democrats will maintain control of all standing committees in the Senate.
The leadership of each party makes committee assignments for its party members.
The chairmen of standing committees have huge power over the future of a bill. They can decide when and if the committee will consider a certain bill. They can call and adjourn meetings at their pleasure. Chairmen were chosen by seniority for many years. Today this is still true in the Senate, but in the House chairs can only serve for six years.
An example of a famous select committee was the Senate Select Committee to Investigate Watergate.
The Committee System is very important in Congress . When different versions of a bill are passed in the House and Senate, a conference committee with members of both houses meets to iron out the differences. There are four types of congressional committees:
ReplyDeleteStanding committees got their name because they continue from one Congress to the next. They are the committees to which bills are referred for consideration. They can kill bills, amend them radically, or hurry them through the process. This is the first and last places to which most bills go.
Joint committees are set up to expedite business between the houses and to help focus public attention on major matters, such as the economy, taxation, or scandals. They include members from both houses of Congress who conduct investigations or special studies.
Conference committees are special joint committees that reconcile differences in bills passed by the House and Senate. This committee is made up of those members from the House and Senate committees that originally considered the bill.
Select (or special) committees are temporary committees appointed for specific purposes. Generally such committees are established to conduct special investigations or studies and report back to the chamber that established them.
Although most committees in one house parallel those in the other, the House Committee on Rules, for which there is no counterpart in the Senate, plays a key role in the House’s law-making process. This committee reviews most bills after they come from a committee and before they go to the full chamber for consideration.
Bills can be forced out of a House committee by a discharge petition signed by a majority of the House membership. This petition gives a majority of the House of Representatives the authority to bring an issue to the floor in the face of committee inaction. Senate committees enjoy the same power over framing legislation that House committees do, but the Senate, being an institution more open to individual input than the House, gives less deference to the work done in committees. In the Senate, legislation is more likely to be rewritten on the floor, where all senators can participate and add amendments at any time.
Many legislators seeking committee assignments inform their party’s selection committee of their preferences. They often request assignments based on their own interests or expertise or on a particular committee’s ability to help their prospects for reelection. Representatives often seek committee assignments that have access to pork, legislation that allows representatives to bring money and jobs to their districts in the form of public works programs, military bases, or other programs designed to benefit their districts directly. Also, earmarks are funds in appropriations bill that provide dollars for particular purposes within a state or congressional district.
Pork isn’t the only motivator for those seeking strategic committee assignments. Some committees, such as Energy and Commerce, facilitate reelection by giving House members influence over decisions that affect large campaign contributors. Another motivator for certain committee assignments is the desire to have power and influence within the chamber. The Appropriations and Budget Committees provide that kind of reward for some members, given the monetary impact of the committees. Congress can approve programs, but unless money for them is appropriated in the budget, they are largely symbolic. In both the House and the Senate, committee membership generally reflects the party distribution within the chamber.
The actual work of Congress, both in the House and Senate, is done through committees. There are four types of committees: standing committees, select committees, joint committees, and conference committees.
ReplyDeleteStanding Committees are the real workhorses of Congress. They are functionally organized in ways similar to the organization of the Executive Departments. All bills are submitted to standing committees and must go through these committees before being approved by the full House or Senate.
Select Committees are created for special reasons to investigate some current issue or problem, which is not being handled by the regular standing committees.
Joint Committees have members from both the House and Senate. They are created for either very important reasons such as the Joint Committee on Intelligence or very mundane reasons such as the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress. The need for secrecy motivates the first; its narrow significance the creation of the second.
Conference Committees are created each time a bill is passed in different versions by the House and Senate. Conference Committees are designed to iron out the differences. Conference Committees have members from both House and Senate. They are, thus, a kind of joint committee, but they function only until a given bill is reconciled.
The committee assignments that a member of Congress receives can dictate how big an impact she can make. The right assignments bring prestige, power and increased ability to help constituents. Being a member of certain committees carries a lot of prestige. The House and Senate appropriations committees, for example, are responsible for directing all federal spending, while members of the intelligence committees receive classified briefings. The right committee assignment can give a member of Congress a great deal of influence on a particular issue. A lawmaker committed to, say, development of solar power or hybrid cars could press that agenda with a seat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Committees also put members in position to deliver federal assistance to their constituents. A farm-state lawmaker can do a lot for his state from a seat on an agriculture committee. Committee assignments are made by party leaders at the beginning of each two-year congressional session. The majority party in each house gets the largest number of seats on each committee.
All standing committees are controlled by the majority party in that house. In January 2011 Republicans will control all standing committees in the House and Democrats will maintain control of all standing committees in the Senate.
ReplyDeleteThe leadership of each party makes committee assignments for its party members.
The chairmen of standing committees have huge power over the future of a bill. They can decide when and if the committee will consider a certain bill. They can call and adjourn meetings at their pleasure. Chairmen were chosen by seniority for many years. Today this is still true in the Senate, but in the House chairs can only serve for six years.
An example of a famous select committee was the Senate Select Committee to Investigate Watergate.