Congressional Committee System
Dateline: 11/27/98
In spite of taking on Presidential impeachment hearings, the 106th US Congress will propose well over 10,000 pieces of legislation. "Legislation", when a verb, means the making and enactment of laws. In practice, lots are made, but few are enacted. Congress deals with four types of legislation: Bills, Joint Resolutions, Concurrent Resolutions, and Simple Resolutions. (Most Bills originate in the House. During the 106th Congress, 4,874 House Bills were introduced compared to 2,655 Senate Bills.)
The last Congress, the 105th (1997-1998), introduced a total of 13,882 pieces of legislation. Out of all of those, only 354 (2.6%) ended up getting a Presidential autograph to become laws.
What happened to all the rest? Some were voted down, some got vetoed, but the vast majority died in the intricate system of Congressional Committees.
Before any bill is even debated by the full membership of the House or Senate, it must first be considered and approved by the committee to which it has been referred. Currently there are 19 Standing House Committees and 16 Standing Senate Committees. In addition, four Joint Committees (members from both House and Senate) provide general oversight. Both House and Senate can also appoint special select committees to consider specific issues.
Depending on its subject and content, each proposed bill is sent to one or more related committees. For example, a bill in the House allocating federal funds for agricultural research might be sent to the Agriculture, Appropriations, and Budget Committees, plus others as deemed appropriate by the Speaker of the House.
Perhaps the busiest committee in Federal Government, the House Ways & Means Committee must consider every bill introduced in the House that in any way deals with Federal revenue. In fact, almost two-thirds of the entire annual Federal Budget requires the approval of Ways and Means.
Besides consideration of legislation, some committees take on special assignments. Currently, even with the entire Congress adjourned until January 6, 1999, the House Judiciary Committee is at work taking on the unthinkable task of a Presidential Impeachment Hearing.
While all committees have members from both the Democratic and Republican parties, the distribution is almost never equal. Generally, the majority party sets the proportion of minority members to majority members. However the exact method by which committee membership is determined is extremely complicated. For a more detailed explanation, try reading Introduction and Reference to Committee, on the House of Representatives' Web site.
Considering the number of bills and resolutions proposed, the number of committees, and the ever-present influence of party-partisan politics, it's pretty amazing that any bills ever makes it all the way to the President's desk. Maybe, it's a case of survival of the fittest. After all, the very purpose of our Congressional committee system is to make sure that only "good" laws are enacted. Does it work? Not all the time. Some good laws don't make it, while some bad laws do. Yet, without the committee system, or something like it, we could wake up to, "Good morning America! Here are your 13,882 new laws for the year."
Links to Congressional Committees
US House of Representatives Standing Committees
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US Senate Standing Committees
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Joint Committees of the US Congress
Economics
- Senate
Economics -
House
Library
of Congress
Printing
Taxation
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US Senate Select Committees
Indian
Affairs
Ethics
Intelligence
Aging
Year 2000 Technology
Problem
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Research Links
Links used to research this article and sites you might find helpful in your
own projects.
Introduction
and Reference to Committee
A very simple and complete description of the legislative committee process,
from the US House of Representatives.
The
Congressional Record - 105th US Congress
Search the daily proceedings of the 105th Congress, from the Thomas Legislative
Information System.
The
Legislative Process - Tying it All Together
A complete, yet brief, explanation of how bills go from proposal to enactment,
or not.
The United States House
of Representatives
Membership, committees, schedules, floor activities, legislative calendar,
history, email addresses. The best Web site in the US Congress.
The United States
Senate
Membership, committees, schedules, email addresses. Not bad, but not as much
information as the House's site.
Thomas
Legislative Information System
The single definitive source for legislative research. Look up the currents
status of any act. Also provides access to the Congressional Record.
Does the committee
system improve or damage the legislative process?
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