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How to . . . find subcommittee membership rosters

Due to the high volume and complexity of its work, Congress divides its tasks among approximately 250 committees and subcommittees. Most subcommittees are created to hold hearings, mark up legislation, and report measures to their full committees for further action. Subcommittees work within guidelines established by their parent committee, so the number and autonomy of subcommittees varies.

You can find subcommittee membership rosters from recent Congresses in the Congressional Directory, available both in print and on the Web. Subcommittee membership rosters have been published in the Congressional Directory since the 93rd Congress (1973-1974). Since the 80th Congress in 1947, the United States Code Congressional and Administrative News, a publication of West Publishing, has included subcommittee membership rosters in its committee lists. More recent subcommittee information is also available in a number of standard reference books, including Congressional Staff Directory, Congressional Yellow Book, Carroll’s Federal Directory, and Washington Information Directory.

Web Access

GPO Access provides links to the Congressional Directory from the 104th Congress (1995-1996) onward. Select the Directory you would like to search and enter the word “subcommittees” as the search term. You will find links to “Standing Committees of the Senate” and “Standing Committees of the House.” Within those documents, members of each committee and subcommittee are listed.

Libraries

The Congressional Directory may be available in a federal depository library. The federal depository library program is made up of over 1,300 libraries that collect government documents and make them available to the public for borrowing or reading. A list of depository libraries is available on the Government Printing Office (GPO) Web site. Most depository libraries are within a university or state library, so sometimes borrowing privileges are restricted.

United States Code Congressional and Administrative News (USCCAN) is a commercially produced publication carried by many law libraries and large public or academic libraries. Check with these types of libraries in your community to see if they subscribe to USCCAN and to verify the policies on use of their facilities.

Many public and academic libraries subscribe to one or more of the print or Web versions of the Congressional Staff Directory, Congressional Yellow Book, Carroll’s Federal Directory, and Washington Information Directory. Check with libraries in your area for access to these publications.

A list of Senate committee and subcommittee assignments is published by the Legislative Clerk each congress. This list is republished irregularly during each congress to reflect major changes in committee membership. The title of this list is generally a variation of the title, List of Standing Committees and Subcommittees and Select and Special Committees and Committee Assignments. Lists are available dating from April 1, 1975.

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