When a Member of Congress is elected to the House of Representatives, there are two issues that have to be dealt with almost immediately upon their arrival in Washington, DC--selecting an office and lobbying for a good committee assignment. While a nice office is, well, a nice office, a good committee assignment can mean the difference between toiling in obscurity or having an impact.
Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives
There are 20 standing committees in the U.S. House of Representatives each with a defined jurisdiction. Examples include the Small Business Committee, the Science and Technology Committee and Natural Resources Committee. Yet, all committees are not created equal. The Energy & Commerce Committee has an extremely wide portfolio of issues under its jurisdiction ranging from the Medicare and Medicaid programs to the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts to the Internet and Wireless Spectrum. The Ways & Means Committee has the sole jurisdiction to change the tax law. The Appropriations Committee alone determines how much federal dollars are spent on each program. And the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee controls billions of dollars in a Highway Trust Fund that helps build roads, bridges and railways.
The Energy & Commerce Committee
The Energy & Commerce Committee is currently chaired by Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA). Established in 1795, it is one of the oldest committees in Congress and is a highly sought after committee assignment mainly due to its extremely broad jurisdiction. It is such a popular committee that its membership has grown tremendously over the years. In 1970, there were 31 members on the committee. Today, there are 59.
The Ways & Means Committee
If a piece of legislation raises or lowers taxes, there is only one committee in the House of Representatives through which it must pass--the Ways & Means Committee. With a history as long as the Energy & Commerce Committee, this committee helps determine how much money the federal government has to spend. Because Medicare and Social Security are funded through taxes, this committee has jurisdiction over large portions of those programs as well.
The Appropriations Committee
To spend money in Congress, two steps are supposed to occur. The spending must be authorized and then appropriated. Lots of committees can authorize spending. For example, the Science & Technology Committee can authorize $1 billion for a new spaceship. But no money actually is spent unless the Appropriations Committee spends it. In a perfect world, the Appropriations Committee would simply appropriate whatever money is authorized, but Congress authorizes a lot more spending than the federal government has to spend, so the Appropriations Committee has to make choices--and that's where the real power lies.
The Transportation & Infrastructure Committee
When someone pumps a gallon of gas, the power of the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee increases a bit because the federal taxes on gasoline go into a multi-billion dollar Highway Trust fund that the committee controls. Every few years, the committee drafts a highway bill that funds thousands of projects across the country and the members of the committee have a significant influence over where those dollars go. Earmarking is a major part of most highway bills, as Members of Congress try to fund projects in their states and/or districts.
Power and Committees
With 20 committees to choose from, Members of Congress have numerous options to seek out issues to work on that are of personal interest or of interest to their state. A Representative of from rural Iowa may prefer to sit on the Agriculture Committee or a Representative from the Cape Canaveral area of Florida may want to ensure a seat on the Science & Technology Committee. However, to be a power player on Capitol Hill, the four committees described above are the places to play.
Simon Etcher - Simon Etcher has spent the past twenty years working with and listening to America's CEOs, university leaders and top government ...
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