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The Committee on Ways and Means is a committee of the United States House of Representatives. It has jurisdiction over all taxation, tariffs and other revenue-raising measures, as well as a number of entitlement programs including:
- Social Security
- Unemployment benefits
- Medicare
- Enforcement of child support laws
- Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, a federal welfare program
- Foster care and adoption programs
Constitutionally all bills regarding taxation must originate in the House of Representatives, and House procedure is that all bills regarding taxation must go through this committee. This makes this house committee particularly powerful, especially in comparison with its Senate counterpart, the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance.
The Ways and Means Committee is chaired by Representative Bill Thomas, Republican of California. The ranking Democrat is Charles Rangel of New York.
History
The idea of a "Committee of Ways and Means" to handle the financial matters of a legislature is older than the Federal Congress, having been used in the English Parliament and the colonial and State legislatures in America.
The Ways and Means Committee was first established during the first Congress, in 1789. However, this initial version was disbanded after only 8 weeks; for the next several years, only ad hoc committees were formed, to write up laws on notions already debated in the whole House. A permanent committee for Ways and Means was not officially created until Thursday, January 7, 1802, consisting of seven members. Upon its original creation, it held power over both taxes and spending, until the spending power was given to the new Appropriations Committee in 1865. Three future presidents - James K. Polk, Millard Fillmore, and William McKinley - served as Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.
Role
In recent times, Ways and Means has been one of the most important committees in a policy sense, due to its wide jurisdiction. While it lacks the prospects for reelection help that come with the Appropriations Committee, it is seen as a valuable post for two reasons. First, since its range is so broad, members with a wide array of policy concerns often seek positions, simply to be able to influence policy decisions. Major issues that have gone through this committee read like a laundry list of important bills, including welfare reform, a Medicare prescription drug benefit, President George W. Bush's tax cuts, and NAFTA and other free trade agreements. Second, given the wide array of interests that are affected by the committee, a seat makes it very easy to collect campaign contributions.
Current Members
| Republicans | Democrats |
|---|---|
Subcommittees
There are six subcommittees:
- Subcommittee on Health
- Chairman: Nancy L. Johnson (R-CT)
- Ranking Member: Pete Stark (D-CA)
- Subcommittee on Human Resources
- Chairman: Wally Herger (R-CA)
- Ranking Member: Jim McDermott (D-WA)
- Subcommittee on Oversight
- Chairman: Jim Ramstad (R-MN)
- Ranking Member: John Lewis (D-GA)
- Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures
- Chairman: Dave Camp (R-MI)
- Ranking Member: Michael R. McNulty (D-NY)
- Subcommittee on Social Security
- Chairman: Jim McCrery (R-LA)
- Ranking Member: Sander Levin (D-MI)
- Subcommittee on Trade
- Chairman: E. Clay Shaw, Jr. (R-FL)
- Ranking Member: Benjamin Cardin (D-MD)
Chairmen, 1805-present
| Name | Party | State | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joseph Clay | R | PA | 1805-1807 |
| George W. Campbell | R | TN | 1807-1809 |
| John W. Eppes | R | VA | 1809-1811 |
| Ezekiel Bacon | R | SC | 1811-1812 |
| Langdon Cheves | R | SC | 1812-1813 |
| John W. Eppes | R | VA | 1813-1815 |
| William Lowndes | R | SC | 1815-1818 |
| Samuel Smith | R | MD | 1818-1822 |
| Louis McLane | R | DE | 1822-1827 |
| John Randolph | D | VA | 1827 |
| George McDuffie | D | SC | 1827-1832 |
| Gulian C. Verplanck | D | NY | 1832-1833 |
| James K. Polk | D | TN | 1833-1835 |
| Churchill C. Cambreleng | D | NY | 1835-1839 |
| John W. Jones | D | VA | 1839-1841 |
| Millard Fillmore | W | NY | 1841-1843 |
| James I. McKay | D | NC | 1843-1847 |
| Samuel F. Vinton | W | OH | 1847-1849 |
| Thomas H. Bayly | D | VA | 1849-1851 |
| George Houston | D | AL | 1851-1855 |
| Lewis D. Campbell | R | OH | 1855-1857 |
| J. Glancy Jones | D | PA | 1857-1858 |
| John S. Phelps | D | MO | 1858-1859 |
| John Sherman | R | OH | 1859-1861 |
| Thaddeus Stevens | R | PA | 1861-1865 |
| Justin Morrill | R | VT | 1865-1867 |
| Robert C. Schenck | R | OH | 1867-1871 |
| Samuel D. Hooper | D | MA | 1871 |
| Henry L. Dawes | R | MA | 1871-1875 |
| William R. Morrison | D | IL | 1875-1877 |
| Fernando Wood | D | NY | 1877-1881 |
| John R. Tucker | D | VA | 1881 |
| William D. Kelley | R | PA | 1881-1883 |
| William R. Morrison | D | IL | 1883-1887 |
| Roger Q. Mills | D | TX | 1887-1889 |
| William McKinley | R | OH | 1889-1891 |
| William M. Springer | D | IL | 1891-1893 |
| William L. Wilson | D | WV | 1893-1895 |
| Nelson Dingley, Jr. | R | ME | 1895-1899 |
| Sereno E. Payne | R | NY | 1899-1911 |
| Oscar W. Underwood | D | AL | 1911-1915 |
| Claude Kitchin | D | NC | 1915-1919 |
| Joseph Fordney | R | MI | 1919-1923 |
| William R. Green | R | IA | 1923-1928 |
| Willis C. Hawley | R | OR | 1928-1931 |
| James W. Collier | D | MS | 1931-1933 |
| Robert L. Doughton | D | NC | 1933-1947 |
| Harold Knutson | R | MN | 1947-1949 |
| Robert L. Doughton | D | NC | 1949-1953 |
| Daniel A. Reed | R | NY | 1953-1955 |
| Jere Cooper | D | TN | 1955-1957 |
| Wilbur Mills | D | AR | 1957-1975 |
| Al Ullman | D | OR | 1975-1981 |
| Dan Rostenkowski | D | IL | 1981-1994 |
| Sam Gibbons | D | FL | 1994-1995 |
| Bill Archer | R | TX | 1995-2001 |
| Bill Thomas | R | CA | 2001- |
External links
See also
"United States House Committee on Ways and Means"