About the Committee

Congressman Dave Camp represents Michigan’s 4th Congressional District, the 14-county heart of mid Michigan spanning west from Saginaw to Greenville and north to Traverse City, including the Leelanau peninsula.  Throughout his tenure in the House, Camp has worked with lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to advocate for lower tax rates for American families and employers, a long term overhaul and simplification of the U.S. tax code, and trade policies that expand American exports while ensuring American workers are protected.  He authored the House GOP alternative to the Democrats’ health care law, the only health care legislation scored by the Congressional Budget Office to lower the cost of health insurance premiums for Americans. His commonsense legislation included protections for those with pre-existing conditions, tort reform to reduce lawsuit abuse as well as grants that reward states for innovative market reforms.  In the area of human resources, Camp is a nationally recognized leader in ensuring every child has a safe and loving home through adoption and foster care.

When the 112^th Congress convened in January of 2011, Camp was chosen to serve as Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means.  Created by the first U.S. House of Representatives on July 24, 1789, Ways and Means is the oldest committee of the Congress.  The responsibilities vested in the committee have placed it at the center of some of the most critical legislative decisions faced by the Congress.  The committee has jurisdiction over taxes, the management of the public debt, tariff and trade laws, and the Social Security and Medicare systems.  Camp has served on the committee since the 103^rd Congress (1993-1994).

As Chairman, Camp’s focus is on creating an environment for sustained private sector growth and job creation.  Critical to that goal is comprehensive reform of the tax code – addressing both the corporate and individual side.  Chairman Camp’s initial hearing was dedicated to the subject of tax reform and he has since worked with the U.S. Treasury Department and Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, to reduce complexities in the code that impede economic growth.  Chairman Camp was also a key architect of House Republicans’ January 2011 repeal efforts of the new health care law.  While the Senate thus far has refused to take action on full repeal of the Democrats’ 2010 health care law, Chairman Camp did lead the successful repeal of the health care law’s onerous 1099 tax reporting requirement – a burden the nation’s small businesses said would hurt their operations and ability to employ workers.

In August 2011, Chairman Camp was chosen by Speaker Boehner to serve on the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, a 12-member panel (made up of 3 House Republicans, 3 House Democrats, 3 Senate Republicans and 3 Senate Democrats) created under the Budget Control Act (PL 112-25), charged with finding solutions to reduce the deficit by at least $1.2 trillion.

After helping to conclude negotiations, in October 2011, Camp successfully passed in his first year as Chairman three job-creating trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea.  Combined these agreements have the ability to create 250,000 American jobs, add over $10 billion to U.S. gross domestic product per year and represent the largest expansion of export opportunities for American workers, businesses and consumers in over 15 years.  Additionally, Camp negotiated the largest reforms to the Trade Adjustment Assistance program since its creation and sunset the program starting in 2014 — giving Congress time to overhaul and unify a myriad of job training and unemployment programs.

In the 111^th Congress (2009-2010), Camp served as Ranking Member of the full committee.  During his tenure as Ranking Member, Camp crafted and advanced commonsense and affordable Republican alternatives to the 2009 stimulus law and 2010 health care law.  The Camp alternative to the 2009 stimulus law would have provided critical tax relief to every American family that pays income taxes and incentives to encourage small businesses to grow, hire, and invest.  Using the methodology of the President’s own economic advisors, the Camp alternative would have created twice as many jobs at half the cost of the 2009 stimulus law.  Likewise, during the 2010 debate on health care reform, Ranking Member Camp offered a more reasoned alternative that would have insured millions of Americans and reduced annual health care premiums for families by up to $3,200 per year, without raising taxes or spending $1 trillion as the 2010 health care law did.

In 2010, Camp was one of three House Republicans appointed by then-Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) to serve on the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, commonly known as the Bowles-Simpson Commission.  The Commission, formed in February 2010, was charged with identifying policies to improve the U.S. fiscal situation in the medium term, and to achieve fiscal sustainability over the long term.  While on the Commission, Camp co-led the Tax Reform Working Group and was a member of the Mandatory Spending Working Group.

In the 110^th Congress (2007-2008) and 109^th Congress (2005-2006), Camp served as Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Health, and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures, respectively.  During his tenure on the committee, he has served seven terms as a Member of the Subcommittee on Human Resources, and six terms as a Member of the Subcommittee on Trade.  As a junior Member of the committee in 1996, Camp made his mark by playing a pivotal role in the passage of historic welfare reform legislation, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996.  TIME magazine credited Camp’s contribution as the “decisive breakthrough” that led to the bill’s enactment. 

In the 108^th Congress (2003-2004), Camp was selected by Speaker Denny Hastert to serve on the Select Committee on Homeland Security, which was created by the House of Representatives on January 7, 2003.  While on the select committee Camp served as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Infrastructure and Border Security, where he played an integral role in developing policies to better secure U.S. land and maritime borders in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. 

In the 102^nd Congress (1991-1992) Camp served on the House Committee on Agriculture.  For his work on behalf of Michigan agriculture, Camp received the Golden Plow Award in 1998, the American Farm Bureau Federation’s highest honor given to only one Member of the House in each Congress.

As an attorney in private practice before his first election, Camp worked extensively with parents and children in the foster care system.  His experiences in this field gave him the background and insight to introduce the landmark Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1996, co-sponsor the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000, and author the Adoption Promotion Act of 2003.  Camp’s work in this field has led to him to become one of the House’s leading adoption and foster care proponents and experts.

Camp was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1990.  Prior to that, he represented Michigan’s 102^nd District in the State House of Representatives (1988-1990), served as Administrative Assistant to U.S. Representative Bill Schuette (MI-10) (1985-1987), and worked as a lawyer in public and private practice.  Camp graduated from H.H. Dow High School in Midland, Michigan.  He earned a B.A. from Albion College and a J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law.  He was born and raised in Midland, where he and his wife Nancy continue to reside with their three children.

*Rep. Charles Rangel, NY will serve as an ex officio member sitting on all of the subcommittees without voting rights in the 112^th Congress.
**Rep. Geoff Davis retired July 31, 2012.

The Committee on Ways and Means is the oldest committee of the United States Congress, and is the chief tax-writing committee in the House of Representatives. The Committee derives a large share of its jurisdiction from Article I, Section VII of the U.S. Constitution which declares, "All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives." 

First established as a select committee on July 24, 1789, it was discharged less than two months later.  The committee was reappointed from the first session of the Fourth Congress in 1795, and was formally listed as a standing committee in the House Rules on January 7, 1802.

Until 1865, the jurisdiction of the committee (referred to as the Committee of Ways and Means before 1880) included the critically important areas of revenue, appropriations, and banking. Since 1865, the committee has continued to exercise jurisdiction over revenue and related issues such as tariffs, reciprocal trade agreements, and the bonded debt of the United States.  Revenue-related aspects of the Social Security system, Medicare, and social services programs have come within Ways and Means’ purview in the 20th century.

The roster of committee members who have gone on to serve in higher office is impressive.  Eight Presidents and eight Vice Presidents have served on Ways and Means, as have 21 Speakers of the House of Representatives, and four Justices of the Supreme Court.

A. U.S. CONSTITUTION

Article I, Section 7, of the Constitution of the United States provides as follows:

All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.

In addition, Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution of the United States provides the following:

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and...To borrow Money on the credit of the United States.

B. RULE X, CLAUSE 1, RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Rule X, clause 1(t), of the Rules of the House of Representatives, in effect during the 110th Congress, provides for the jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means, as follows:

(t) Committee on Ways and Means.

   (1) Customs revenue, collection districts, and ports of entry and delivery.

   (2) Reciprocal trade agreements.

   (3) Revenue measures generally.

   (4) Revenue measures relating to insular possessions.

   (5) Bonded debt of the United States, subject to the last sentence of clause 4(f).

Clause 4(f) requires the Committee on Ways and Means to include in its annual report to the Committee on the Budget a specific recommendation, made after holding public hearings, as to the appropriate level of the public debt that should be set forth in the concurrent resolution on the budget.                                   

   (6) Deposit of public monies.

   (7) Transportation of dutiable goods.

   (8) Tax exempt foundations and charitable trusts.

   (9) National Social Security (except health care and facilities programs that are supported from general revenues as opposed to payroll deductions and except work incentive programs).

C. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF COMMITTEES JURISDICTION

The foregoing recitation of the provisions of House Rule X, clause 1, paragraph(t), does not convey the comprehensive nature of the jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means. The following summary provides a more complete description:

                (1) Federal revenue measures generally.--The Committee on Ways and Means has the responsibility for raising the revenue required to finance the Federal Government. This includes individual and corporate income taxes, excise taxes, estate taxes, gift taxes, and other miscellaneous taxes.

                (2) The bonded debt of the United States.--The Committee on Ways and Means has jurisdiction over the authority of the Federal Government to borrow money. Title 31 of Chapter 31 of the U.S. Code authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to conduct any necessary public borrowing subject to a maximum limit on the amount of borrowing outstanding at any one time. This statutory limit on the amount of public debt (the debt ceiling) currently is $11.315 trillion. The Committees jurisdiction also includes conditions under which the U.S. Department of the Treasury manages the Federal debt, such as restrictions on the conditions under which certain debt instruments are sold.

                (3) National Social Security programs.--The Committee on Ways and Means has jurisdiction over most of the programs authorized by the Social Security Act, which includes not only those programs that are normally referred to colloquially as Social Security but also social insurance programs and a whole series of grant-in-aid programs to State governments for a variety of purposes. The Social Security Act, as amended, contains 21 titles (a few of which have either expired or have been repealed). The principal programs established by the Social Security Act and under the jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means in the 110^th Congress can be outlined as follows:

                                (a) Old-age, survivors, and disability insurance (Title II)--At present, there are           approximately 162 million workers in employment covered by the program, and for calendar year 2005, $521 billion in benefits were paid to 48 million individuals.

                                (b) Medicare (Title XVIII)--Provides hospital insurance benefits to 35.2 million persons   over the age of 65 and to 6.7 million disabled persons. Voluntary supplementary medical   insurance is provided to 33.7 million aged persons and 6 million disabled persons. Total program outlays under these programs were $330 billion in 2005.

                                (c) Supplemental Security Income (SSI) (Title XVI)--The SSI program was inaugurated in January 1974 under the provisions of P.L. 92-603, as amended. It replaced the former Federal-State programs for the needy aged, blind, and disabled. In October 2008, 7.5 million individuals received Federal SSI benefits on a monthly basis. Of these 7.5 million persons, approximately 1.2 million received benefits on the basis of age, and nearly 6.3 million on the basis of blindness or disability. Federal expenditures for cash SSI payments in 2007 totaled $34.2 billion, while State expenditures for federally administered SSI supplements totaled $3.7 billion.

                                (d) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) (part A of Title IV)--The TANF program is a block grant of about $16.5 billion dollars awarded to States to provide income assistance to poor families, to end dependency on welfare benefits, and to prevent nonmarital births, among other purposes. In most cases, Federal TANF benefits for individuals are limited to 5 years and individuals must participate in federally-defined activities to maintain their eligibility. In June 2008, about 1.7million families and 3.9 million individuals received benefits from the TANF program.

                                (e) Child support enforcement (part D of Title IV)--In fiscal year 2007 Federal expenditures totaled nearly    $5.6 billion for the child support enforcement program. Child support collections for that year totaled $24.9 billion.

                                (f) Child welfare, foster care, and adoption assistance (parts B and E of Title IV)--Titles IV B and E provide funds to States for child welfare services for abused and neglected children; foster care for children who meet Aid to Families with Dependent Children eligibility criteria; and adoption assistance for children with special needs. In fiscal year 2007, Federal expenditures for child welfare services totaled $713 million. Federal expenditures for foster care and adoption assistance were approximately $6.5 billion.

                                (g) Unemployment compensation programs (Titles III, IX, and XII)--These titles authorize the Federal-State unemployment compensation program and the permanent extended benefits program. Between October 1, 2007, and September 30, 2008, an estimated $38.4 billion was paid in regular unemployment compensation and an additional $4.2 million for the State share of the extended benefit program. Approximately 8.8 million workers received unemployment compensation payments.

                                (h) Social services (Title XX)--Title XX authorizes the Federal Government to reimburse the States for money spent to provide persons with various services. Generally, the specific services provided are determined by each State. In fiscal year 2007, $1.7 billion was appropriated. These funds are allocated on the basis of population.

                (4) Trade and tariff legislation.--The Committee on Ways and Means has responsibility over legislation relating to tariffs, import trade, and trade negotiations. In the early days of the Republic, tariff and customs receipts were major sources of revenue for the Federal Government. As the Committee with jurisdiction over revenue-raising measures, the Committee on Ways and Means thus evolved as the primary Committee responsible for international trade policy.

                The Constitution vests the power to levy tariffs and to regulate international commerce specifically in the Congress as one of its enumerated powers. Any authority to regulate imports or to negotiate trade agreements must therefore be delegated to the executive branch through legislative action. Statutes including the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Acts beginning in 1934, Trade Expansion Act of 1962, Trade Act of 1974, Trade Agreements Act of 1979, Trade and Tariff Act of 1984, Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988, North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Implementation Act, Uruguay Round Agreements Act, and Trade Act of 2002 provide the basis for U.S. bargaining with other countries to achieve the mutual reduction of tariff and nontariff trade barriers under reciprocal trade agreements.

The Committees jurisdiction includes the following authorities and programs:

                   (a) The tariff schedules and all tariff preference programs, such as the General System of Preferences and the Caribbean Basin Initiative;

                   (b) Laws dealing with unfair trade practices, including the antidumping law, countervailing duty law, section 301, and section 337;

                   (c) Other laws dealing with import trade, including section 201 (escape clause), section 232 national security controls, section 22 agricultural restrictions, international commodity agreements, textile restrictions under section 204, and any other restrictions or sanctions affecting imports;

                  (d) General and specific trade negotiating authority, as well as implementing authority for trade agreements and the grant of normal-trade-relations (NTR) status;

                   (e) General and NAFTA-related TAA programs for workers, and TAA for firms;

                   (f) Customs administration and enforcement, including rules of origin and country-of origin marking, customs classification, customs valuation, customs user fees, and U.S. participation in the World Customs Organization (WCO);

                   (g) Trade and customs revenue functions of the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of the Treasury.

                   (h) Authorization of the budget for the International Trade Commission (ITC), functions of the Department of Homeland Security under the Committees jurisdiction, and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR).

D. REVENUE ORIGINATING PREROGATIVE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                The Constitutional Convention debated adopting the British model in which the House of Lords could not amend revenue legislation sent to it from the House of Commons. Eventually, however, the Convention proposed and the States later ratified the Constitution providing that All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives, but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other bills. (Article 1, Section 7, clause 1.)

                In order to pass constitutional scrutiny under this origination clause, a tax bill must be passed first by the House of Representatives. After the House has completed action on a bill and approved it by a majority vote, the bill is transmitted to the Senate for formal action. The Senate may have already reviewed issues raised by the bill before its transmission. For example, the Senate Committee on Finance frequently holds hearings on tax legislative proposals before the legislation embodying those proposals is transmitted from the House of Representatives. On occasion, the Senate will consider a revenue bill in the form of a Senate or S.bill, and then await passage of a revenue H.R.bill from the House. The Senate then will add or substitute provisions of the S.bill as an amendment to the H.R.bill and send the H.R.bill back to the House of Representatives for its concurrence or for conference on the differing provisions.