United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

 

The United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) generally considers matters relating to health, education, labor, and pensions. Its jurisdiction extends beyond these issues to include several more specific areas, as defined by Senate rules.

Jurisdictional areas

• Measures relating to education, labor, health, and public welfare
• Aging
• Agricultural colleges
• Arts and humanities
• Biomedical research and development
• Child labor
• Convict labor and the entry of goods made by convicts into interstate commerce
• Domestic activities of the American Red Cross
• Equal employment opportunity
• Gallaudet University, Howard University, and St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C.
• Individuals with disabilities
• Labor standards and labor statistics
• Mediation and arbitration of labor disputes
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration
• Mine Safety and Health Administration
• Private pension plans
• Public health
• Railway labor and retirement
• Regulation of foreign laborers
• Student loans
• Wages and hours of labor, including the federal minimum wage

Members, 110th Congress

The Committee is chaired by Democrat Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts. The Ranking Minority Member is Republican Mike Enzi of Wyoming.

Majority Member State   Ted Kennedy, Chairman Massachusetts   Chris Dodd, Vice Chairman Connecticut   Tom Harkin Iowa   Barbara Mikulski Maryland   Jeff Bingaman New Mexico   Patty Murray Washington   Jack Reed Rhode Island   Hillary Rodham Clinton New York   Barack Obama Illinois   Bernie Sanders* Vermont   Sherrod Brown Ohio

Minority Member State   Mike Enzi, Ranking Minority Member Wyoming   Judd Gregg New Hampshire   Lamar Alexander Tennessee   Richard Burr North Carolina   Johnny Isakson Georgia   Lisa Murkowski Alaska   Orrin Hatch Utah   Pat Roberts Kansas   Wayne Allard Colorado   Tom Coburn Oklahoma

*Sanders is an independent, but caucuses with the Democrats and counts as a Democrat for the purposes of committee assignments.

Subcommittees

These are subcommittees for the 110th Congress.

Subcommittee	Chair	Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Children and Families	Chris Dodd (D-CT)	Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety	Patty Murray (D-WA)	Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
Subcommittee on Retirement and Aging	Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)	Richard Burr (R-NC)

The committee has had other notable subcommittees in the past, such as the Subcommittee on Migratory Labor during the at least 1950s through 1970s.

Chairmen

Education 1869-1870

• Charles Drake (R-MO) 1869-1870

Education and Labor, 1884-1947

• Frederick Sawyer (R-SC) 1870-1873
• James Flanagan (R-TX) 1873-1875
• John J. Patterson (R-SC) 1875-1877
• Ambrose Burnside (R-RI) 1877-1879
• James E. Bailey (D-TN) 1879-1881
• Henry Blair (R-NH) 1881-1891
• Joseph M. Carey (R-WY) 1891-1893
• James Kyle (PO-SD) 1893-1895
• George Shoup (R-ID) 1895-1897
• James Kyle (PO-SD) 1897-1901
• Louis McComas (R-MD) 1901-1905
• Jonathan P. Dolliver (R-IA) 1905-1909
• William E. Borah (R-ID) 1909-1913
• Hoke Smith (D-GA) 1913-1919
• William S. Kenyon (R-IA) 1919-1922
• William E. Borah (R-ID) 1922-1924
• Lawrence C. Phipps (R-CO) 1924-1926
• James Couzens (R-MI) 1926-1929
• Jesse H. Metcalf (R-RI) 1929-1933
• David I. Walsh (D-MA) 1933-1937
• Hugo L. Black (D-AL) 1937
• Elbert D. Thomas (D-UT) 1937-1945
• James E. Murray (D-MT) 1945-1947

Labor and Public Welfare, 1947-1977

• Robert A. Taft (R-OH) 1947-1949
• Elbert D. Thomas (D-UT) 1949-1951
• James E. Murray (D-MT) 1951-1953
• H. Alexander Smith (R-NJ) 1953-1955
• Lister Hill (D-AL) 1955-1969
• Ralph Yarborough (D-TX) 1969-1971
• Harrison A. Williams, Jr. (D-NJ) 1971-1977

Human Resources, 1977-1979

• Harrison A. Williams, Jr. (D-NJ) 1977-1979

Labor and Human Resources, 1979-1999

• Harrison A. Williams, Jr. (D-NJ) 1979-1981
• Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT) 1981-1987
• Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) 1987-1995
• Nancy Landon Kassebaum (R-KS) 1995-1997
• James M. Jeffords (R-VT) 1997-1999

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, 1999-present

• James M. Jeffords (R-VT) 1999-2001
• Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) 2001
• James M. Jeffords (R-VT) 2001
• Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) 2001-2003
• Judd Gregg (R-NH) 2003-2005
• Michael Enzi (R-WY) 2005-2007
• Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) 2007-Present

External links

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• Official Committee Page

Current United States Congressional committees
House (list)	Agriculture • Appropriations • Armed Services • Budget • Education and Labor • Energy and Commerce • Financial Services • Foreign Affairs • Homeland Security • House Administration • Intelligence (Permanent Select) • Judiciary • Natural Resources • Oversight and Government Reform • Rules • Science and Technology • Small Business • Standards of Official Conduct • Transportation and Infrastructure • Veterans' Affairs • Ways and Means • (Whole)
Senate (list)	Aging (Special) • Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry • Appropriations • Armed Services • Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs • Budget • Commerce, Science and Transportation • Energy and Natural Resources • Ethics (Select) • Environment and Public Works • Finance • Foreign Relations • Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions • Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs • Indian Affairs • Intelligence (Select) • Judiciary • Narcotics Control • Rules and Administration • Small Business and Entrepreneurship • Veterans' Affairs
Joint (list)	(Conference) • Economic • Library • Printing • Taxation Defunct committees

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