1. Congressional Committees

2. Purpose Allows members to split up their work among smaller groups
Select the few bills (out of many) that are to receive further consideration
**Most bills never get beyond this
Hold public hearings and investigations

3. Kinds of Committees Standing Committees Select Committees
Joint Committees
Conference Committees

4. Standing Committees
Permanent groups to oversee bills that deal with certain kinds of issues
Agriculture, Armed Services, Budget, Appropriations, Veterans’ Affairs
Subcommittees: specialize in a subcategory of its standing committee’s responsibility
Ex. Ways and Means Committee
Health
Human Services
Social Security

5. Appropriations Committee
Approval of government spending
Both Houses have 13 subcommittees to deal with spending
Both can review the budget of the same agencies
Every year each has a budget hearing where they must request $$ needed for operations

6. Select Committees
Temporary committees that study one specific issue and report their findings back to the Senate or House
Matters of great public concern
Overlooked problems
Problems of Interest Groups

7. Joint Committees Made up of members from both the House and the Senate
Can be temporary or permanent
Examples:
Joint Economic Committee
Atomic Energy
Defense
Taxation
Deficit Spending

8. Conference Committees
Temporary committee set up when the House and Senate have passed different versions of the same bill
Resolve the differences between the 2 bills by bargaining over each section of the bill
Final compromised bill is called a conference report
Goes to floor of House and Senate for acceptance

9. Choosing Committee Members
Political parties assign members to the standing committees
Chairpersons of standing committees: Most powerful members of Congress
Make key decisions
Seniority system: gives the member of the majority party with the longest uninterrupted service on a particular committee the leadership of that committee