The Committee Process
One of the major characteristics of the Congress is the dominant role committees play in its proceedings. Committees have assumed their present-day importance by evolution, not by constitutional design, since the Constitution makes no provision for their establishment. The committee system began in 1789 when House members found themselves bogged down in endless discussions of proposed new laws. The first committees dealt with Revolutionary War claims, post roads and territories, and trade with other countries. Throughout the years, committees have formed and disbanded in response to political, social, and economic changes. For example, there is no longer any need for a Revolutionary War claims committee, but both houses of Congress have a Veterans’ Affairs committee.
In 2013 the Senate had 15 standing (or permanent) committees and 70 subcommittees; the House of Representatives had 21 committees and 104 subcommittees. Each specializes in specific areas of legislation: foreign affairs, defense, banking, agriculture, commerce, appropriations, and other fields. Almost every bill introduced in either house is referred to a committee for study and recommendation. The committee may approve, revise, kill, or ignore any measure referred to it. It is nearly impossible for a bill to reach the House or Senate floor without first winning committee approval. In the House, a petition to release a bill from a committee to the floor requires the signatures of 218 members; in the Senate, a majority of all members is required. In practice, such discharge motions only rarely receive the required support.
The majority party in each house controls the committee process. Committee chairpersons are selected by a caucus of party members or specially designated groups of members. Minority parties are proportionally represented on the committees according to their strength in each house.
Bills are introduced by a variety of methods. Some are drawn up by standing committees; some by special committees created to deal with specific legislative issues; and some may be suggested by the president or other executive officers. Citizens and organizations outside the Congress may suggest legislation to members, and individual members themselves may initiate bills.
For each bill — the draft of a law that comes before Congress — the appropriate committee is responsible for conducting a thorough investigation of the proposal. The committee usually conducts hearings to obtain testimony from expert witnesses, who can include members of Congress who are not on the committee, executive branch officials, representatives of private-sector organizations, and individual citizens. Public hearings to permit presentation of views by persons who support or oppose the legislation. The hearing process, which can last several weeks or months, opens the legislative process to public participation.
After all the facts are gathered, the committee decides whether to report a new bill favorably or with a recommendation that it be passed with amendments. Sometimes the bill will be set aside, or tabled, which effectively ends its consideration. When bills are reported out of committee and passed by the full House or Senate, however, another committee goes into action ironing out any differences between the House and Senate versions of the same bill.
This “conference committee,” consisting of members of both houses, completes a bill to all members’ satisfaction, then sends it to the House and Senate floors for final discussion and a vote. If passed, the bill goes to the president to be signed.
One virtue of the committee system is that it permits members of Congress and their staffs to amass a considerable degree of expertise in various legislative fields. In the early days of the republic, when the population was small and the duties of the federal government were narrowly defined, such expertise was not as important. Each representative was a generalist and dealt knowledgeably with all fields of interest. The complexity of national life today calls for special knowledge, which means that elected representatives often acquire expertise in one or two areas of public policy.
This process is known as "regular order". In 2017 the House accomplished something that hadn’t been done since 2006. All twelve appropriations bills were passed through both their respective subcommittees, full committee and on the House Floor before the Fiscal Year 2018 deadline of September 30th. An understanding of the need for regular order helped propel the passage of this legislation.
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