An important phase of the legislative process is the action taken by committees. It is during committee action that the most intense consideration is given to the proposed measures; this is also the time when the people are given their opportunity to be heard. Each piece of legislation is referred to the committee that has jurisdiction over the area affected by the measure. There are approximately 250 committees and sub committees between the Senate and the House of Representatives. ASCO works with, and advocates to, six key committees, three in the Senate and three in the House with jurisdiction over healthcare matters. The following information can be found on the US Senate and House of Representatives websites.
Appropriations The Senate Appropriations Committee is the largest committee in the U.S. Senate, consisting of 28 members in the 109th Congress. Its role is defined by the U.S. Constitution, which requires "appropriations made by law" prior to the expenditure of any money from the Federal treasury. The Committee writes the legislation that allocates federal funds to the numerous government agencies, departments, and organizations on an annual basis. Appropriations are limited to the levels set by a Budget Resolution, drafted by the Senate Budget Committee.
Twelve subcommittees are tasked with drafting legislation to allocate funds to government agencies within their jurisdictions. These subcommittees are responsible for reviewing the President's budget request, hearing testimony from government officials, and drafting the spending plans for the coming fiscal year. Their work is passed on to the full Senate Appropriations Committee, which may review and modify the bills and forward them to the full Senate for consideration.
The Committee is also responsible for supplemental spending bills, which are sometimes needed in the middle of a fiscal year to compensate for emergency expenses.
The Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies works on funding for the National Institutes of Health and other health programs.
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) The Senate HELP Committee’s jurisdiction ranges from labor to aging and public health. On a periodic basis, the committee also studies, reviews and reports, on a comprehensive basis, matters relating to health, education and training, and public welfare.
Appropriations The House Appropriations Committee has broad responsibility over the Federal budget. Specifically the Committee's jurisdiction is to appropriate the revenue for the support of the Government, void appropriations when necessary and transfer unexpended balances.
The Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies has jurisdiction over programs that fall under the Department of Health and Human Services, excluding the Food and Drug Administration.
Energy and Commerce The House Energy and Commerce Committee, the oldest legislative standing committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, has served as the principal guide for the House in matters relating to the promotion of commerce and to the public’s health and marketplace interests. The Committee has developed what is arguably the broadest (non-tax-oriented) jurisdiction of any Congressional committee. Today, it maintains principal responsibility for legislative oversight relating to telecommunications, consumer protection, food and drug safety, public health, air quality and environmental health, the supply and delivery of energy, and interstate and foreign commerce in general.
The Subcommittee on Health has jurisdiction over public health and quarantine; hospital construction; mental health and research; biomedical programs and health protection in general, including Medicaid and national health insurance; food and drugs; drug abuse; and, homeland security-related aspects of the foregoing.
Ways and Means The House Ways and Means Committee has jurisdiction over taxes, the authority of the Federal Government to borrow money, trade and tariff legislation and National Social Security programs, specifically Medicare.
The Subcommittee on Health has jurisdiction over programs providing payments (from any source) for health care, health delivery systems, or health research. More specifically, the jurisdiction of the Subcommittee on Health shall include bills and matters that relate to the health care programs of the Social Security Act and, concurrent with the full Committee, tax credit and deduction provisions of the Internal Revenue Code dealing with health insurance premiums and health care costs.
