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List of Questions
- What is the Appropriations Committee?
- What is a Chairman? A Ranking Member?
- What are Dave's Responsibilities as Chairman?
- What are the areas of jurisdiction of the Appropriations Subcommittees?
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the Appropriations Committee?
The House Appropriations Committee sets funding priorities for every discretionary program in the federal budget. Examples include national security, education, health, environmental protection, criminal justice, housing, rural development, national parks, transportation, veterans' programs, and numerous others.
Dave serves as the Chairman of the Committee and Jerry Lewis, of California is the Ranking Member of the Committee. As such, each of them serves Ex-Officio on all 12 House Appropriations Subcommittees.
The 12 House Appropriations Subcommittees are:
- Agriculture, Rural Development, Food & Drug Administration,
and Related Agencies
- Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
- Defense
- Energy and Water Development
- Financial Services and General Government
- Homeland Security
- Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
- Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
- Legislative Branch
- Military Construction, Veterans Administration, and Related Agencies
- State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
- Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
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2. What is a Chairman? A Ranking Member?
A Committee Chairman is the top ranking member of the Committee in the Majority Party. The Ranking Member is the top ranking member of that Committee in the Minority Party.
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3. What are Dave's responsibilities as Chairman?
As Chairman, Dave coordinates the activities of the Committee and serves as the spokesperson om appropriations issues for the House. He also works closely with the Ranking Member and the minority members on the Appropriations Committee on the hundreds of issues that have no special partisan content.
In addition to serving on all 12 Subcommittees, Dave is also the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education.
On that Subcommittee Dave has a special focus on education, health, worker protection and training, and social service issues. As the Subcommittee Chairman, he works closely with Ralph Regula, the Republican Ranking Member of the Subcommittee.
The Appropriations Committee is one of the busiest committees in Congress because no matter what Congress does every year, it must approve a federal budget. Hearings on appropriations bills begin in late February and Subcommittee markups start shortly thereafter. The hearings give Committee Members the opportunity to raise whatever questions they want of cabinet members, agency heads, and other witnesses who appear before the Committee. Members of the public often testify on behalf of matters of special concern.
In the spring the House normally passes a Budget Resolution brought to the Floor by the House Budget Committee, which establishes the overall level for tax revenue and total spending for the coming fiscal year. That resolution assigns a spending ceiling to the Appropriations Committee for programs under its jurisdiction.
The Committee in turn decides how much of that funding will be allocated to each of the 12 Subcommittees. At that point, each of the Subcommittees hold what is called a markup. At the markup, Members of the Subcommittee will debate what they think should and shouldn't be in the bill and how much money each agency and program should get.
After the Subcommittees markup their bills, the Full Appropriations Committee considers each of the Subcommittee's markups where they are debated and voted on. The Full Committee may adopt amendments to a Subcommittee's bill and then report the bill as amended. That is when the bill is taken to the House Floor for debate and voted on by the full House.
As Chairman, Dave is usually the senior representative for the House in final overall budget negotiations between the Congress and the White House.
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4. What are the areas of jurisdiction of the subcommittees?
The areas of jurisdiction of the 12 Appropriations Subcommittees are:
Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration
and Related Agencies
- Department of Agriculture, except Forest Service
- Farm Credit Administration
- Farm Credit System Financial Assistance Corporation
- Commodity Futures Trading Commission
- Food and Drug Administration (HHS)
Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
- Department of Commerce
- Department of Justice
- Department of State, except International Narcotics Control; International Organizations and programs [voluntary contributions; Migration and Refugee Assistance; Nonproliferation, Anti-terrorism, Demining and Related Programs; Peacekeeping Operations [voluntary contributions]; U.S. Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Fund; Economic Support Fund.
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- National Science Foundation
- Antitrust Modernization Commission
- Commission on Civil Rights
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
- International Trade Commission
- Legal Services Corporation
- Marine Mammal Commission
- National Intellectual Property Law Enforcement Coordination Council
- National Veterans Business Development Corporation
- Office of Science and Technology Policy
- Office of the United States Trade Representative
- State Justice Institute
Defense
- Department of Defense-Military
- Departments of Army, Navy (including Marine Corps), Air Force, Office of Secretary of Defense, and Defense Agencies, except Department of Defense-related accounts and programs under the Subcommittee on Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs; and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works)
- Central Intelligence Agency
- Intelligence Community Staff
Energy and Water Development
- Department of Energy
- Department of Defense-Civil; Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers-Civil
- Department of the Interior; Bureau of Reclamation; Central Utah Project
- Appalachian Regional Commission
- Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board
- Delta Regional Authority
- Denali Commission
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission
- Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board
- Tennessee Valley Authority
Financial Services and General Government
- Department of the Treasury
- District of Columbia
- The Judiciary
- Executive Office of the President - Armstrong Resolution, Compensation of the President, Council on Economic Advisers, Executive Residence at the White House, Federal Drug Control Programs (High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program, Special Forfeiture Fund), National Security Council, Office of Administration, Office of Management and Budget, Office of National Drug Control Policy, Office of Policy Development, Official Residence of the Vice President, Special Assistance to the President, Unanticipated Needs, White House Office
- Consumer Product Safety Commission
- Election Assistance Commission
- Federal Communications Commission
- Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of Inspector General
- Federal Election Commission
- Federal Labor Relations Authority
- Federal Trade Commission
- General Services Administration
- Merit Systems Protection Board
- Morris K. Udall Scholarship and Excellence in National Environmental Policy Foundation
- National Archives and Records Administration
- National Credit Union Administration
- National Historical Publications and Records Commission
- Office of Government Ethics
- Office of Personnel Management and Related Trust Funds
- Office of Special Counsel
- Securities and Exchange Commission
- Selective Service System
- Small Business Administration
- United States Postal Service: Payment to the Postal Service Fund
- United States Tax Court
- General Provisions, Governmentwide
Homeland Security
- Department of Homeland Security
Interior, Environment and Related Agencies
- Department of Interior, except Bureau of Reclamation and Central Utah Project)
- Environmental Protection Agency
- Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
- Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (HHS)
- Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board
- Commission of Fine Arts
- Council on Environmental Quality and Office of Environmental Quality
- Forest Service (USDA)
- Indian Health Service
- Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development
- John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
- National Capital Planning Commission
- National Foundation for the Arts and the Humanities, except Institute of Museum and Library Services
- National Gallery of Art
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (HHS, formerly EPA/Superfund)
- Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation
- Presidio Trust
- Smithsonian Institution
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- White House Commission on the National Moment of Remembrance
- Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies
- Department of Education
- Department of Health and Human Services, except Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry; Food and Drug Administration; Indian Health Services and Facilities; and National Institute of Environmental Sciences (formerly EPA/Superfund)
- Department of Labor
- Committee for Purchase From People Who are Blind or Severely Disabled
- Corporation for National and Community Service
- Corporation for Public Broadcasting
- Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
- Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission
- Institute of Museum and Library Services
- Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
- National Commission on Libraries and Information Science
- National Council on Disability
- National Education Goals Panel
- National Labor Relations Board
- National Mediation Board
- Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission
- Railroad Retirement Board
- Social Security Administration
Legislative Branch
- House of Representatives
- Joint Items
- Architect of the Capitol, except Senate Items
- Botanic Garden
- Capitol Police
- Capitol Visitors Center
- Congressional Budget Office
- Government Accountability Office
- Government Printing Office
- John C. Stennis Center
- Library of Congress
- Office of Compliance
- Open World Leadership Center
- United States Capitol Preservation Commission
Military Construction, Veterans Administration, and Related Agencies
- DoD-Military Construction, Army, Navy (including Marine Corps), Air Force, and Defense Agencies and Reserved Forces
- DoD-Facilities Sustainment, Restoration and Modernization, Army, Navy (including Marine Corps), Air Force, and Guard and Reserve Forces, Chemical Demilitarization Construction, Defense-wide Military Family Housing Construction and Operation and Maintenance, Army, Navy (including Marine Corps), Air Force, and Defense-wide Family Housing Improvement Fund, Military Unaccompanied Housing Improvement Fund, Homeowners Assistance Fund, Basic Allowance for Housing, Army, Navy (including Marine Corps), Air Force, and Guard and Reserve Forces, Environmental Restoration Accounts, Base Realignment and Closure Account, NATO Security Investment Program, Defense Health Program Account
- Department of Veterans Affairs
- American Battle Monuments Commission
- Armed Forces Retirement Home
- Cemeterial Expenses, Army (DOD)
- Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
- Agency for International Development
- Department of Defense - Foreign Military Financing Program, International Military Assistance and Training
- Department of State
- Department of the Treasury: Debt Restructuring, International Affairs Technical Assistance, International Monetary Fund, Multilateral Development Banks
- Export-Import Bank
- Millennium Challenge Account
- Overseas Private Investment Corporation
- Peace Corps
- Trade and Development Agency
- African Development Foundation
- Broadcasting Board of Governors
- Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad
- Commission on International Religious Freedom
- Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
- Congressional-Executive Commission on the People's Republic of China
- HELP Commission
- Inter-American Foundation
- United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission
- United States Institute of Peace
Transportation, Housing & Urban Development, & Related Agencies
- Department of Housing and Urban Development
- Department of Transportation
- Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board
- Federal Maritime Commission
- National Transportation Safety Board
- Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation
- United States Interagency Council on Homelessness
- Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
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