Congressional Committees
Chapter 5 Sec. 4
3 main purposes of committees
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Allows members of congress to divide their
work among many smaller groups.
Committees pick those few bills that are to
receive further consideration.
Through investigations and holding hearings,
committees help the public learn about key
issues & problems facing the nation (ex.
organized crime, drugs, airline safety)
4 Types of Committees
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Standing
Select
Joint
Conference
What are standing committees?
Permanent/temporary?
Permanent groups to oversee bills that deal with
certain type of issues
How many Standing Committees in house & Senate?
List 3 of each
 19 House of Rep.
 16 Senate
 House: Agriculture, Appropriations, Armed Services
 Senate: Foreign relations, veterans affair, Judiciary
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What are Subcommittees?
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Part of Standing Committees
specializing in a subcategory of that Standing
Committee’s responsibilities
Select Committees
Temporary committees created by both houses of
congress to study one specific issue and to report
their findings to the Senate or the House
Some Select Comm. Issues:
 Matters of great public concern (E-coli)
 Overlooked problems (homelessness, hunger)
 Problems of interest groups:
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Joint Committees
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Made up from members of both houses
Usually act as study groups with
responsibility for reporting their findings back
to the Senate & the House
Examples: Joint Economic Committee, Joint
Committee on Library of Congress, Joint
Committee on Printing
Conference Committees
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A temporary committee set up when the
House & Senate have passed different
versions of the same bill.
Membership: members from both houses
from the standing committees working on the
bill
The title of the leaders of committees
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The Chairpersons
A very powerful position in both houses:
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Make key decisions about the work of the comm.
(which bills to consider, when to meet & how long)
When hearings held: who’ll speak for/against bill
They control the committee budget
They manage debates that take place on the bills
that come from their committees
Seniority system
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The unwritten rule of seniority tradition has
guided the selection of chairpersons
Chairperson position is usually given to
members of the majority party with the
longest uninterrupted service on a particular
committee
Importance of Committee membership
3 Main reasons why:
 Membership on the right one can increase that
rep./senator’s chances for reelection
 can mean the lawmaker will be able to influence
national policy making (education, budget, health,
foreign policy)
 Some enable a member to exert influence over other
lawmakers because they deal with matters important
to everyone ex. Taxation/appropriation, Rules comm.
What does “Majority Party” mean?
Advantages?
The party with the largest membership in congress is
known as the Majority Party
 The rest of the members belong to the Minority Party
Advantages to being Majority Party:
 It will write the rules in congress
 Assigns committee membership, makes up majority
of its membership
 Picks the chair of the committees
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