HOUSE COMMITTEE JURISDICTIONS

HOUSE COMMITTEE JURISDICTIONS
House Rule X broadly outlines the jurisdiction of each of the standing committees of the House of Representatives. Most of Rule X was drawn from 19th and 20th century precedents and codified in the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946. Although the rule underwent modest revisions in 1974 and 1980, as well as more extensive changes in the 104th Congress, topic omissions and a lack of clarity, as well as overlaps among committees in areas of jurisdiction, still exist. In the 109th Congress, Rule X was modified to create a standing Committee on Homeland Security with legislative and oversight jurisdiction.
Committee jurisdiction over measures introduced in the House, and the subsequent referral of those measures is a complex process. The formal provisions of the rule are supplemented by an intricate series of precedents and informal agreements governing the referral of legislation. Precedent dictates that once a measure is referred to a committee it remains the responsibility of that committee. After the legislation is enacted into law any amendments to that law are most often considered to be within the jurisdiction of that same committee. In addition, formal agreements, usually in the form of memorandums of understanding, between committees determining the boundaries of their respective jurisdictions are usually respected by the Parliamentarian and the Speaker in the referral process. These memorandums are sometimes memorialized through printing in the Congressional Record.
As proscribed by Rule 10 (particularly clause 1), committee jurisdictions are as follows:
Committee on Agriculture

Adulteration of seeds, insect pests, and protection of birds and animals in forest reserves.
Agriculture generally.
Agricultural and industrial chemistry.
Agricultural colleges and experiment stations.
Agricultural economics and research.
Agricultural education extension services
Agricultural production and marketing and stabilization of prices of agricultural products, and commodities (not including distribution outside of the United States).
Animal industry and diseases of animals.
Commodity exchanges.
Crop insurance and soil conservation.
Dairy industry.
Entomology and plant quarantine.
Extension of farm credit and farm security.
Inspection of livestock, poultry, meat products, and seafood and seafood products.
Forestry in general and forest reserves other than those created from the public domain.
Human nutrition and home economics.
Plant industry, soils, and agricultural engineering.
Rural electrification.
Rural development
Water conservation related to activities of the Department of Agriculture.

Committee on Appropriations

Appropriation of the revenue for the support of the Government.
Rescissions of appropriations contained in appropriation Acts.
Transfers of unexpended balances.
Bills and joint resolutions reported by other committees that provide new entitlement authority as defined in section 3(9) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and referred to the committee under clause 4(a)(2).

Committee on Armed Services

Ammunition depots; forts; arsenals; and Army, Navy, and Air Force reservations and establishments.
Common defense generally.
Conservation, development, and use of naval petroleum and oil shale reserves.
The Department of Defense generally, including the Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, generally.
Interoceanic canals generally, including measures relating to the maintenance, operation, and administration of interoceanic canals.
Merchant Marine Academy and State Maritime Academies.
Military applications of nuclear energy.
Tactical intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the Department of Defense.
National security aspects of merchant marine, including financial assistance for the construction and operation of vessels, maintenance of the U.S. shipbuilding and ship repair industrial base, cabotage,cargo preference, and merchant marine officers and seamen as these matters relate to the national security.
Pay, promotion, retirement, and other benefits and privileges of members of the armed forces.
Scientific research and development in support of the armed services.
Selective service.
Size and composition of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force.
Soldiers' and sailors' homes.
Strategic and critical materials necessary for the common defense.

Committee on the Budget

Concurrent resolutions on the budget (as defined in section 3(4) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974), other matters required to be referred to the committee under titles III and IV of that Act, and other measures setting forth appropriate levels of budget totals for the United States Government.
Budget process generally.
Establishment, extension, and enforcement of special controls over the Federal budget, including the budgetary treatment of off-budget Federal agencies and measures providing exemption from reduction under any order issued under part C of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

Committee on Education and the Workforce

Child labor.
Gallaudet University and Howard University and Hospital.
Convict labor and the entry of goods made by convicts into interstate commerce.
Food programs for children in schools.
Labor standards and statistics.
Education or labor generally.
Mediation and arbitration of labor disputes.
Regulation or prevention of importation of foreign laborers under contract.
Workers' compensation.
Vocational rehabilitation.
Wages and hours of labor.
Welfare of miners.
Work incentive programs.

Committee on Energy and Commerce

Biomedical research and development.
Consumer affairs and consumer protection.
Health and health facilities (except health care supported by payroll deductions).
Interstate energy compacts.
Interstate and foreign commerce generally.
Exploration, production, storage, supply, marketing, pricing, and regulation of energy resources, including all fossil fuels, solar energy, and other unconventional or renewable energy resources.
Conservation of energy resources.
Energy information generally.
The generation and marketing of power (except by federally chartered or Federal regional power marketing authorities); reliability and interstate transmission of, and ratemaking for, all power; and siting of generation facilities (except the installation of interconnections between Government waterpower projects).
General management of the Department of Energy and management and all functions of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
National energy policy generally.
Public health and quarantine.
Regulation of the domestic nuclear energy industry, including regulation of research and development reactors and nuclear regulatory research.
Regulation of interstate and foreign communications.
Travel and tourism.
The committee shall have the same jurisdiction with respect to regulation of nuclear facilities and of use of nuclear energy as it has with respect to regulation of nonnuclear facilities and of use of nonnuclear energy.

Committee on Financial Services

Banks and banking, including deposit insurance and Federal monetary policy.
Economic stabilization, defense production, renegotiation, and control of the price of commodities, rents, and services.
Financial aid to commerce and industry (other than transportation).
Insurance generally.
International finance.
International financial and monetary organizations.
Money and credit, including currency and this issuance of notes and redemption thereof; gold and silver, including the coinage thereof; valuation and revaluation of the dollar.
Public and private housing.
Securities and exchanges.
Urban development.

Committee on Government Reform

Federal civil service, including intergovernmental personnel; and the status of officers and employees of the United States, including their compensation, classification, and retirement.
Municipal affairs of the District of Columbia in general (other than appropriations).
Federal paperwork reduction.
Government management and accounting measures generally.
Holidays and celebrations.
Overall economy, efficiency, and management of government operations and activities, including Federal procurement.
National archives
Population and demography generally, including the Census.
Postal service generally, including transportation of the mails.
Public information and records.
Relationship of the Federal Government to the States and municipalities generally.
Reorganizations in the executive branch of the Government.

Committee on Homeland Security

Overall homeland security policy
Organization and adminstration of the Department of Homeland Security.
Functions of the Department of Homeland Security to include:
-Border and port security (except immigration policy and non-border enforcement).
-Customs (except customs revenue).
-Integration, analysis, and dissemination of homeland security infomration.
-Domestic preapredness for and collective response to terrorism.
-Research and development.
-Transportation security.

Committee on House Administration

Appropriations from accounts for committee salaries and expenses (except for the Committee on Appropriations); House Information Resources; and allowance and expenses of Members, Delegates, the Resident Commissioner, officers, and administrative offices of the House.
Auditing and settling of all accounts described in subparagraph (1).
Employment of persons by the House, including staff for Members, Delegates, the Resident Commissioner, and committees; and reporters of debates, subject to rule VI.
Except as provided in paragraph (q)(11), the Library of Congress, including management thereof; the House Library; statuary and pictures; acceptance or purchase of works of art for the Capitol; the Botanic Garden; and purchase of books and manuscripts.
The Smithsonian Institution and the incorporation of similar institutions (except as provided in paragraph (q)(11)).
Expenditure of accounts described in subparagraph (1).
Franking Commission.
Printing and correction of the Congressional Record.
Accounts of the House generally.
Assignment of office space for Members, Delegates, the Resident Commissioner, and committees.
Disposition of useless executive papers.
Election of the President, Vice President, Members, Senators, Delegates, or the Resident Commissioner; corrupt practices; contested elections; credentials and qualifications; and Federal elections generally.
Services to the House, including the House Restaurant, parking facilities, and administration of the House Office Buildings and of the House wing of the Capitol.
Travel of Members, Delegates, and the Resident Commissioner.
Raising, reporting, and use of campaign contributions for candidates for office of Representative, of Delegate, and of Resident Commissioner.
Compensation, retirement, and other benefits of the Members, Delegates, the Resident Commissioner, officers, and employees of Congress.

Committee on International Relations

Relations of the United States with foreign nations generally.
Acquisition of land and buildings for embassies and legations in foreign countries.
Establishment of boundary lines between the United States and foreign nations.
Export controls, including nonproliferation of nuclear technology and nuclear hardware.
Foreign loans.
International commodity agreements (other than those involving sugar), including all agreements for cooperation in the export of nuclear technology and nuclear hardware.
International conferences and congresses.
International education.
Intervention abroad and declarations of war.
Diplomatic service.
Measures to foster commercial intercourse with foreign nations and to safeguard American business interests abroad.
International economic policy.
Neutrality.
Protection of American citizens abroad and expatriation.
The American National Red Cross.
Trading with the enemy.
United Nations organizations.

Committee on the Judiciary

The judiciary and judicial proceedings, civil and criminal.
Administrative practice and procedure.
Apportionment of Representatives.
Bankruptcy, mutiny, espionage, and counterfeiting.
Civil liberties.
Constitutional amendments.
Federal courts and judges, and local courts in the Territories and possessions.
Immigration and naturalization.
Interstate compacts generally.
Claims against the United States.
Meetings of Congress; attendance of Members, Delegates, and the Resident Commissioner; and their acceptance of incompatible offices.
National penitentiaries.
Patents, the Patent and Trademark Office, copyrights, and trademarks.
Presidential succession.
Protection of trade and commerce against unlawful restraints and monopolies.
Revision and codification of the Statutes of the United States.
State and territorial boundary lines.
Subversive activities affecting the internal security of the United States.

Committee on Resources

Fisheries and wildlife, including research, restoration, refuges, and conservation.
Forest reserves and national parks created from the public domain.
Forfeiture of land grants and alien ownership, including alien ownership of mineral lands.
Geological Survey.
International fishing agreements.
Interstate compacts relating to apportionment of waters for irrigation purposes.
Irrigation and reclamation, including water supply for reclamation projects and easements of public lands for irrigation projects; and acquisition of private lands when necessary to complete irrigation projects.
Native Americans generally, including the care and allotment of Native American lands and general and special measures relating to claims that are paid out of Native American funds.
Insular possessions of the United States generally (except those affecting the revenue and appropriations).
Military parks and battlefields, national cemeteries administered by the Secretary of the Interior, parks within the District of Columbia, and the erection of monuments to the memory of individuals.
Mineral land laws and claims and entries thereunder.
Mineral resources of public lands.
Mining interests generally.
Mining schools and experimental stations.
Marine affairs, including coastal zone management (except for measures relating to oil and other pollution of navigable waters).
Oceanography.
Petroleum conservation on public lands and conservation of the radium supply in the United States.
Preservation of prehistoric ruins and objects of interest on the public domain.
Public lands generally, including entry, easements, and grazing thereon.
Relations of the United States with Native Americans and Native American tribes.
Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline (except ratemaking).

Committee on Rules

Rules and joint rules (other than those relating to the Code of Official Conduct) and the order of business of the House.
Recesses and final adjournments of Congress.

Committee on Science

All energy research, development, and demonstration, and projects therefor, and all federally owned or operated nonmilitary energy laboratories.
Astronautical research and development, including resources, personnel, equipment, and facilities.
Civil aviation research and development.
Environmental research and development.
Marine research.
Commercial application of energy technology.
National Institute of Standards and Technology, standardization of weights and measures, and the metric system.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
National Space Council.
National Science Foundation.
National Weather Service.
Outer space, including exploration and control thereof.
Science scholarships.
Scientific research, development, and demonstration, and projects therefor.

Committee on Small Business

Assistance to and protection of small business, including financial aid, regulatory flexibility, and paperwork reduction.
Participation of small-business enterprises in Federal procurement and Government contracts.

Committee on Standards of Official Conduct

The Code of Official Conduct.

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

Coast Guard, including lifesaving service, lighthouses, lightships, ocean derelicts, and the Coast Guard Academy.
Federal management of emergencies and natural disasters.
Flood control and improvement of rivers and harbors.
Inland waterways.
Inspection of merchant marine vessels, lights and signals, lifesaving equipment, and fire protection on such vessels.
Navigation and laws relating thereto, including pilotage.
Registering and licensing of vessels and small boats.
Rules and international arrangements to prevent collisions at sea.
The Capitol Building and the Senate and House Office Buildings.
Construction or maintenance of roads and post roads (other than appropriations therefor).
Construction or reconstruction, maintenance, and care of buildings and grounds of the Botanic Garden, the Library of Congress, and the Smithsonian Institution.
Merchant marine (except for national security aspects thereof).
Purchase of sites and construction of post offices, customhouses, Federal courthouses, and Government buildings within the District of Columbia.
Oil and other pollution of navigable waters, including inland, coastal, and ocean waters.
Marine affairs, including coastal zone management, as they relate to oil and other pollution of navigable waters.
Public buildings and occupied or improved grounds of the United States generally.
Public works for the benefit of navigation, including bridges and dams (other than international bridges and dams).
Related transportation regulatory agencies.
Roads and the safety thereof.
Transportation, including civil aviation, railroads, water transportation, transportation safety (except automobile safety), transportation infrastructure, transportation labor, and railroad retirement and unemployment (except revenue measures related thereto).
Water power.

Committee on Veterans' Affairs

Veterans' measures generally.
Cemeteries of the United States in which veterans of any war or conflict are or may be buried, whether in the United States or abroad (except cemeteries administered by the Secretary of the Interior).
Compensation, vocational rehabilitation, and education of veterans.
Life insurance issued by the Government on account of service in the Armed Forces.
Pensions of all the wars of the United States, general and special.
Readjustment of servicemen to civil life.
Soldiers' and sailors' civil relief.
Veterans' hospitals, medical care, and treatment of veterans.

Committee on Ways and Means

Customs, collection districts, and ports of entry and delivery.
Reciprocal trade agreements.
Revenue measures generally.
Revenue measures relating to insular possessions.
Bonded debt of the United States, subject to the last sentence of clause 4(f).
Deposit of public monies.
Transportation of dutiable goods.
Tax exempt foundations and charitable trusts.
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).

Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

The Central Intelligence Agency, the Director of Central Intelligence, and the National Foreign Intelligence Program as defined in section 3(6) of the National Security Act of 1947.
Intelligence and intelligence-related activities of all other departments and agencies of the Government, including the tactical intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the Department of Defense.
The organization or reorganization of a department or agency of the Government to the extent that the organization or reorganization relates to a function or activity involving intelligence or intelligence-related activities.
Authorizations for appropriations, both direct and indirect, for the following:
- The Central Intelligence Agency, the Director of Central Intelligence, and the National Foreign Intelligence Program as defined in section 3(6) of the National Security Act of 1947.
- Intelligence and intelligence-related activities of all other departments and agencies of the Government, including the tactical intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the Department of Defense.
- A department, agency, subdivision, or program that is a successor to an agency or program named or referred to in (i) or (ii).