Standing Rules of the Senate
RULE XXV
STANDING COMMITTEES
1. The following standing committees shall be appointed at the
commencement of each Congress, and shall continue and have the power to act
until their successors are appointed, with leave to report by bill or otherwise
on matters within their respective jurisdictions:
(a)(1) Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, to which
committee shall be referred all proposed legislation, messages, petitions, memorials,
and other matters relating primarily to the following subjects:
1. Agricultural economics and research.
2. Agricultural extension services and experiment stations.
3. Agricultural production, marketing, and stabilization of prices.
4. Agriculture and agricultural commodities.
5. Animal industry and diseases.
6. Crop insurance and soil conservation.
7. Farm credit and farm security.
8. Food from fresh waters.
9. Food stamp programs.
10. Forestry, and forest reserves and wilderness areas other than
those created from the public domain.
11. Home economics.
12. Human nutrition.
13. Inspection of livestock, meat, and agricultural products.
14. Pests and pesticides.
15. Plant industry, soils, and agricultural engineering.
16. Rural development, rural electrification, and watersheds.
17. School nutrition programs.
(2) Such committee shall also study and review, on a comprehensive
basis, matters relating to food, nutrition, and hunger, both in the United States
and in foreign countries, and rural affairs, and report thereon from time to
time.
(b) Committee on Appropriations, to which committee shall be referred
all proposed legislation, messages, petitions, memorials, and other matters
relating to the following subjects:
1. Appropriation of the revenue for the support of the Government,
except as provided in subparagraph (e).
2. Rescission of appropriations contained in appropriation Acts
(referred to in section 105 of title 1, United States Code).
3. The amount of new spending authority described in section 401(c)(2)
(A) and (B) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 which is to be effective
for a fiscal year.
4. New spending authority described in section 401(c)(2)(C) of
the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 provided in bills and resolutions referred
to the committee under section 401(b)(2) of that Act (but subject to the provisions
of section 401(b)(3) of that Act).
(c)(1) Committee on Armed Services, to which committee shall be
referred all proposed legislation, messages, petitions, memorials, and other
matters relating to the following subjects:
1. Aeronautical and space activities peculiar to or primarily
associated with the development of weapons systems or military operations.
2. Common defense.
3. Department of Defense, the Department of the Army, the Department
of the Navy, and the Department of the Air Force, generally.
4. Maintenance and operation of the Panama Canal, including administration,
sanitation, and government of the Canal Zone.
5. Military research and development.
6. National security aspects of nuclear energy.
7. Naval petroleum reserves, except those in Alaska.
8. Pay, promotion, retirement, and other benefits and privileges
of members of the Armed Forces, including overseas education of civilian and
military dependents.
9. Selective service system.
10. Strategic and critical materials necessary for the common
defense.
(2) Such committee shall also study and review, on a comprehensive
basis, matters relating to the common defense policy of the United States, and
report thereon from time to time.
(d)(1) Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, to which
committee shall be referred all proposed legislation, messages, petitions, memorials,
and other matters relating to the following subjects:
1. Banks, banking, and financial institutions.
2. Control of prices of commodities, rents, and services.
3. Deposit insurance.
4. Economic stabilization and defense production.
5. Export and foreign trade promotion.
6. Export controls.
7. Federal monetary policy, including Federal Reserve System.
8. Financial aid to commerce and industry.
9. Issuance and redemption of notes.
10. Money and credit, including currency and coinage.
11. Nursing home construction.
12. Public and private housing (including veterans' housing).
13. Renegotiation of Government contracts.
14. Urban development and urban mass transit.
(2) Such committee shall also study and review, on a comprehensive
basis, matters relating to international economic policy as it affects United
States monetary affairs, credit, and financial institutions; economic growth,
urban affairs, and credit, and report thereon from time to time.
(e)(1) Committee on the Budget, to which committee shall be referred
all concurrent resolutions on the budget (as defined in section 3(a)(4) of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974) and all other matters required to be referred
to that committee under titles III and IV of that Act, and messages, petitions,
memorials, and other matters relating thereto.
(2) Such committee shall have the duty
(A) to report the matters required to be reported by it under
titles III and IV of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974;
(B) to make continuing studies of the effect on budget outlays
of relevant existing and proposed legislation and to report the results of such
studies to the Senate on a recurring basis;
(C) to request and evaluate continuing studies of tax expenditures,
to devise methods of coordinating tax expenditures, policies, and programs with
direct budget outlays, and to report the results of such studies to the Senate
on a recurring basis; and
(D) to review, on a continuing basis, the conduct by the Congressional
Budget Office of its functions and duties.
(f)(1) Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, to
which committee shall be referred all proposed legislation, messages, petitions,
memorials, and other matters relating to the following subjects:
1. Coast Guard.
2. Coastal zone management.
3. Communications.
4. Highway safety.
5. Inland waterways, except construction.
6. Interstate commerce.
7. Marine and ocean navigation, safety, and transportation, including
navigational aspects of deepwater ports.
8. Marine fisheries.
9. Merchant marine and navigation.
10. Nonmilitary aeronautical and space sciences.
11. Oceans, weather, and atmospheric activities.
12. Panama Canal and interoceanic canals generally, except as
provided in subparagraph (c).
13. Regulation of consumer products and services, including testing
related to toxic substances, other than pesticides, and except for credit, financial
services, and housing.
14. Regulation of interstate common carriers, including railroads,
buses, trucks, vessels, pipelines, and civil aviation.
15. Science, engineering, and technology research and development
and policy.
16. Sports.
17. Standards and measurement.
18. Transportation.
19. Transportation and commerce aspects of Outer Continental Shelf
lands.
(2) Such committee shall also study and review, on a comprehensive
basis, all matters relating to science and technology, oceans policy, transportation,
communications, and consumer affairs, and report thereon from time to time.
(g)(1) Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which committee
shall be referred all proposed legislation, messages, petitions, memorials,
and other matters relating to the following subjects:
1. Coal production, distribution, and utilization.
2. Energy policy.
3. Energy regulation and conservation.
4. Energy related aspects of deepwater ports.
5. Energy research and development.
6. Extraction of minerals from oceans and Outer Continental Shelf
lands.
7. Hydroelectric power, irrigation, and reclamation.
8. Mining education and research.
9. Mining, mineral lands, mining claims, and mineral conservation.
10. National parks, recreation areas, wilderness areas, wild and
scenic rivers, historical sites, military parks and battlefields, and on the
public domain, preservation of prehistoric ruins and objects of interest.
11. Naval petroleum reserves in Alaska.
12. Nonmilitary development of nuclear energy.
13. Oil and gas production and distribution.
14. Public lands and forests, including farming and grazing thereon,
and mineral extraction therefrom.
15. Solar energy systems.
16. Territorial possessions of the United States, including trusteeships.
(2) Such committee shall also study and review, on a comprehensive
basis, matters relating to energy and resources development, and report thereon
from time to time.
(h)(1) Committee on Environment and Public Works, to which committee
shall be referred all proposed legislation, messages, petitions, memorials,
and other matters relating to the following subjects:
1. Air pollution.
2. Construction and maintenance of highways.
3. Environmental aspects of Outer Continental Shelf lands.
4. Environmental effects of toxic substances, other than pesticides.
5. Environmental policy.
6. Environmental research and development.
7. Fisheries and wildlife.
8. Flood control and improvements of rivers and harbors, including
environmental aspects of deepwater ports.
9. Noise pollution.
10. Nonmilitary environmental regulation and control of nuclear
energy.
11. Ocean dumping.
12. Public buildings and improved grounds of the United States
generally, including Federal buildings in the District of Columbia.
13. Public works, bridges, and dams.
14. Regional economic development.
15. Solid waste disposal and recycling.
16. Water pollution.
17. Water resources.
(2) Such committee shall also study and review, on a comprehensive
basis, matters relating to environmental protection and resource utilization
and conservation, and report thereon from time to time.
(i) Committee on Finance, to which committee shall be referred
all proposed legislation, messages, petitions, memorials, and other matters
relating to the following subjects:
1. Bonded debt of the United States, except as provided in the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
2. Customs, collection districts, and ports of entry and delivery.
3. Deposit of public moneys.
4. General revenue sharing.
5. Health programs under the Social Security Act and health programs
financed by a specific tax or trust fund.
6. National social security.
7. Reciprocal trade agreements.
8. Revenue measures generally, except as provided in the Congressional
Budget Act of 1974.
9. Revenue measures relating to the insular possessions.
10. Tariffs and import quotas, and matters related thereto.
11. Transportation of dutiable goods.
(j)(1) Committee on Foreign Relations, to which committee shall
be referred all proposed legislation, messages, petitions, memorials, and other
matters relating to the following subjects:
1. Acquisition of land and buildings for embassies and legations
in foreign countries.
2. Boundaries of the United States.
3. Diplomatic service.
4. Foreign economic, military, technical, and humanitarian assistance.
5. Foreign loans.
6. International activities of the American National Red Cross
and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
7. International aspects of nuclear energy, including nuclear
transfer policy.
8. International conferences and congresses.
9. International law as it relates to foreign policy.
10. International Monetary Fund and other international organizations
established primarily for international monetary purposes (except that, at the
request of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, any proposed
legislation relating to such subjects reported by the Committee on Foreign Relations
shall be referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs).
11. Intervention abroad and declarations of war.
12. Measures to foster commercial intercourse with foreign nations
and to safeguard American business interests abroad.
13. National security and international aspects of trusteeships
of the United States.
14. Oceans and international environmental and scientific affairs
as they relate to foreign policy.
15. Protection of United States citizens abroad and expatriation.
16. Relations of the United States with foreign nations generally.
17. Treaties and executive agreements, except reciprocal trade
agreements.
18. United Nations and its affiliated organizations.
19. World Bank group, the regional development banks, and other
international organizations established primarily for development assistance
purposes.
(2) Such committee shall also study and review, on a comprehensive
basis, matters relating to the national security policy, foreign policy, and
international economic policy as it relates to foreign policy of the United
States, and matters relating to food, hunger, and nutrition in foreign countries,
and report thereon from time to time.
(k)(1) Committee on Governmental Affairs, to which committee shall
be referred all proposed legislation, messages, petitions, memorials, and other
matters relating to the following subjects:
1. Archives of the United States.
2. Budget and accounting measures, other than appropriations,
except as provided in the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
3. Census and collection of statistics, including economic and
social statistics.
4. Congressional organization, except for any part of the matter
that amends the rules or orders of the Senate.
5. Federal Civil Service.
6. Government information.
7. Intergovernmental relations.
8. Municipal affairs of the District of Columbia, except appropriations
therefor.
9. Organization and management of United States nuclear export
policy.
10. Organization and reorganization of the executive branch of
the Government.
11. Postal Service.
12. Status of officers and employees of the United States, including
their classification, compensation, and benefits.
(2) Such committee shall have the duty of
(A) receiving and examining reports of the Comptroller General
of the United States and of submitting such recommendations to the Senate as
it deems necessary or desirable in connection with the subject matter of such
reports;
(B) studying the efficiency, economy, and effectiveness of all
agencies and departments of the Government;
(C) evaluating the effects of laws enacted to reorganize the legislative
and executive branches of the Government; and
(D) studying the intergovernmental relationships between the United
States and the States and municipalities, and between the United States and
international organizations of which the United States is a member.
(l) Committee on the Judiciary, to which committee shall be referred
all proposed legislation, messages, petitions, memorials, and other matters
relating to the following subjects:
1. Apportionment of Representatives.
2. Bankruptcy, mutiny, espionage, and counterfeiting.
3. Civil liberties.
4. Constitutional amendments.
5. Federal courts and judges.
6. Government information.
7. Holidays and celebrations.
8. Immigration and naturalization.
9. Interstate compacts generally.
10. Judicial proceedings, civil and criminal, generally.
11. Local courts in the territories and possessions.
12. Measures relating to claims against the United States.
13. National penitentiaries.
14. Patent Office.
15. Patents, copyrights, and trademarks.
16. Protection of trade and commerce against unlawful restraints
and monopolies.
17. Revision and codification of the statutes of the United States.
18. State and territorial boundary lines.
(m)(1) Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, to
which committee shall be referred all proposed legislation, messages, petitions,
memorials, and other matters relating to the following subjects:
1. Measures relating to education, labor, health, and public welfare.
2. Aging.
3. Agricultural colleges.
4. Arts and humanities.
5. Biomedical research and development.
6. Child labor.
7. Convict labor and the entry of goods made by convicts into
interstate commerce.
8. Domestic activities of the American National Red Cross.
9. Equal employment opportunity.
10. Gallaudet College, Howard University, and Saint Elizabeths
Hospital.
11. Individuals with disabilities.
12. Labor standards and labor statistics.
13. Mediation and arbitration of labor disputes.
14. Occupational safety and health, including the welfare of miners.
15. Private pension plans.
16. Public health.
17. Railway labor and retirement.
18. Regulation of foreign laborers.
19. Student loans.
20. Wages and hours of labor.
(2) Such committee shall also study and review, on a comprehensive
basis, matters relating to health, education and training, and public welfare,
and report thereon from time to time.
(n)(1) Committee on Rules and Administration, to which committee
shall be referred all proposed legislation, messages, petitions, memorials,
and other matters relating to the following subjects:
1. Administration of the Senate Office Buildings and the Senate
wing of the Capitol, including the assignment of office space.
2. Congressional organization relative to rules and procedures,
and Senate rules and regulations, including floor and gallery rules.
3. Corrupt practices.
4. Credentials and qualifications of Members of the Senate, contested
elections, and acceptance of incompatible offices.
5. Federal elections generally, including the election of the
President, Vice President, and Members of the Congress.
6. Government Printing Office, and the printing and correction
of the Congressional Record, as well as those matters provided for under rule
XI.
7. Meetings of the Congress and attendance of Members.
8. Payment of money out of the contingent fund of the Senate or
creating a charge upon the same (except that any resolution relating to substantive
matter within the jurisdiction of any other standing committee of the Senate
shall be first referred to such committee).
9. Presidential succession.
10. Purchase of books and manuscripts and erection of monuments
to the memory of individuals.
11. Senate Library and statuary, art, and pictures in the Capitol
and Senate Office Buildings.
12. Services to the Senate, including the Senate restaurant.
13. United States Capitol and congressional office buildings,
the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution (and the incorporation
of similar institutions), and the Botanic Gardens.
(2) Such committee shall also
(A) make a continuing study of the organization and operation
of the Congress of the United States and shall recommend improvements in such
organization and operation with a view toward strengthening the Congress, simplifying
its operations, improving its relationships with other branches of the United
States Government, and enabling it better to meet its responsibilities under
the Constitution of the United States;
(B) identify any court proceeding or action which, in the opinion
of the Committee, is of vital interest to the Congress as a constitutionally
established institution of the Federal Government and call such proceeding or
action to the attention of the Senate; and develop, implement, and update as
necessary a strategy planning process and a strategic plan for the functional
and technical infrastructure support of the Senate and provide oversight over
plans developed by Senate officers and others in accordance with the strategic
planning process.
(o)(1) Committee on Small Business, to which committee shall be
referred all proposed legislation, messages, petitions, memorials, and other
matters relating to the Small Business Administration.
(2) Any proposed legislation reported by such committee which
relates to matters other than the functions of the Small Business Administration
shall, at the request of the chairman of any standing committee having jurisdiction
over the subject matter extraneous to the functions of the Small Business Administration,
be considered and reported by such standing committee prior to its consideration
by the Senate; and likewise measures reported by other committees directly relating
to the Small Business Administration shall, at the request of the chairman of
the Committee on Small Business, be referred to the Committee on Small Business
for its consideration of any portions of the measure dealing with the Small
Business Administration, and be reported by this committee prior to its consideration
by the Senate.
(3) Such committee shall also study and survey by means of research
and investigation all problems of American small business enterprises, and report
thereon from time to time.
(p) Committee on Veterans' Affairs, to which committee shall be
referred all proposed legislation, messages, petitions, memorials, and other
matters relating to the following subjects:
1. Compensation of veterans.
2. Life insurance issued by the Government on account of service
in the Armed Forces.
3. National cemeteries.
4. Pensions of all wars of the United States, general and special.
5. Readjustment of servicemen to civil life.
6. Soldiers' and sailors' civil relief.
7. Veterans' hospitals, medical care and treatment of veterans.
8. Veterans' measures generally.
9. Vocational rehabilitation and education of veterans.
2. Except as otherwise provided by paragraph 4 of this rule, each
of the following standing committees shall consist of the number of Senators
set forth in the following table on the line on which the name of that committee
appears:
Committee / Members
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry / 18
Appropriations / 28
Armed Services / 18
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs / 18
Commerce, Science, and Transportation / 20
Energy and Natural Resources / 20
Environment and Public Works / 18
Finance / 20
Foreign Relations / 18
Governmental Affairs / 16
Judiciary / 18
H.E.L.P. / 18
3.(a) Except as otherwise provided by paragraph 4 of this rule,
each of the following standing committees shall consist of the number of Senators
set forth in the following table on the line on which the name of that committee
appears:
Committee / Members
Budget / 22
Rules and Administration / 16
Veterans' Affairs / 12
Small Business / 18
b) Each of the following committees and joint committees shall
consist of the number of Senators (or Senate members, in the case of a joint
committee) set forth in the following table on the line on which the name of
that committee appears:
Committee / Members
Aging / 18
Intelligence / 19
Joint Economic Committee / 10
(c) Each of the following committees and joint committees shall
consist of the number of Senators (or Senate members, in the case of a joint
committee) set forth in the following table on the line on which the name of
that committee appears:
Committee / Members
Ethics / 6
Indian Affairs / 14
Joint Committee on Taxation / 5
4.(a) Except as otherwise provided by this paragraph
(1) each Senator shall serve on two and no more committees listed
in paragraph 2; and
(2) each Senator may serve on only one committee listed in paragraph
3 (a) or (b).
(b)(1) Each Senator may serve on not more than three subcommittees
of each committee (other than the Committee on Appropriations) listed in paragraph
2 of which he is a member.
(2) Each Senator may serve on not more than two subcommittees
of a committee listed in paragraph 3 (a) or (b) of which he is a member.
(3) Notwithstanding subparagraphs (1) and (2), a Senator serving
as chairman or ranking minority member of a standing, select, or special committee
of the Senate or joint committee of the Congress may serve ex officio, without
vote, as a member of any subcommittee of such committee or joint committee.
(4) No committee of the Senate may establish any subunit of that
committee other than a subcommittee, unless the Senate by resolution has given
permission therefor. For purposes of this subparagraph, any subunit of a joint
committee shall be treated as a subcommittee.
(c) By agreement entered into by the majority leader and the minority
leader, the membership of one or more standing committees may be increased temporarily
from time to time by such number or numbers as may be required to accord to
the majority party a majority of the membership of all standing committees.
When any such temporary increase is necessary to accord to the majority party
a majority of the membership of all standing committees, members of the majority
party in such number as may be required for that purpose may serve as members
of three standing committees listed in paragraph 2. No such temporary increase
in the membership of any standing committee under this subparagraph shall be
continued in effect after the need therefor has ended. No standing committee
may be increased in membership under this subparagraph by more than two members
in excess of the number prescribed for that committee by paragraph 2 or 3(a).
(d) A Senator may serve as a member of any joint committee of
the Congress the Senate members of which are required by law to be appointed
from a standing committee of the Senate of which he is a member, and service
as a member of any such joint committee shall not be taken into account for
purposes of subparagraph (a)(2).
(e)(1) No Senator shall serve at any time as chairman of more
than one standing, select, or special committee of the Senate or joint committee
of the Congress, except that a Senator may serve as chairman of any joint committee
of the Congress having jurisdiction with respect to a subject matter which is
directly related to the jurisdiction of a standing committee of which he is
chairman.
(2) No Senator shall serve at any time as chairman of more than
one subcommittee of each standing, select, or special committee of the Senate
or joint committee of the Congress of which he is a member.
(3) A Senator who is serving as the chairman of a committee listed
in paragraph 2 may serve at any time as the chairman of only one subcommittee
of all committees listed in paragraph 2 of which he is a member and may serve
at any time as the chairman of only one subcommittee of each committee listed
in paragraph 3 (a) or (b) of which he is a member. A Senator who is serving
as the chairman of a committee listed in paragraph 3 (a) or (b) may not serve
as the chairman of any subcommittee of that committee, and may serve at any
time as the chairman of only one subcommittee of each committee listed in paragraph
2 of which he is a member. Any other Senator may serve as the chairman of only
one subcommittee of each committee listed in paragraph 2, 3(a), or 3(b) of which
he is a member.
(f) A Senator serving on the Committee on Rules and Administration
may not serve on any joint committee of the Congress unless the Senate members
thereof are required by law to be appointed from the Committee on Rules and
Administration, or unless such Senator served on the Committee on Rules and
Administration and the Joint Committee on Taxation on the last day of the Ninetyeighth
Congress.
(g) A Senator who on the day preceding the effective date of title
I of the Committee System Reorganization Amendments of 1977 was serving as the
chairman or ranking minority member of the Committee on the District of Columbia
or the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service may serve on the Committee
on Governmental Affairs in addition to serving on two other standing committees
listed in paragraph 2. At the request of any such Senator, he shall be appointed
to serve on such committee but, while serving on such committee and two other
standing committees listed in paragraph 2, he may not serve on any committee
listed in paragraph 3 (a) or (b) other than the Committee on Rules and Administration.
The preceding provisions of this subparagraph shall apply with respect to any
Senator only so long as his service as a member of the Committee on Governmental
Affairs is continuous after the date on which the appointment of the majority
and minority members of the Committee on Governmental Affairs is initially completed.
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