United States Senate Committee on Finance

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The U.S. Senate Committee on Finance (or, less formally, Senate Finance Committee) is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It concerns itself with matters relating to the bonded debt of the United States; customs, collection districts, and ports of entry and delivery; deposit of public moneys; general revenue sharing; health programs under the Social Security Act (notably Medicare and Medicaid) and health programs financed by a specific tax or trust fund; national social security; reciprocal trade agreements; revenue measures generally and those relating to the insular possessions; tariff and import quotas, and related matters thereto; and the transportation of dutiable goods.

Contents

[edit] History

The Senate Committee on Finance is one of the oldest committees in the Senate. It was first established in 1815 as a select committee. On December 10, 1816 the Committee on Finance became a standing committee. Originally, the Committee had power over both tax and spending until the forming of the Appropriations Committee in 1867.

In 1981, a Senate Resolution required the printing of the History of the Committee on Finance.[1]

[edit] Role

The role of the Committee on Finace is very similar to that of the House Committee on Ways and Means. The one exception in area of jurisdiction is that the Committee on Finance has jurisdiction over both Medicare and Medicaid, while the House Ways and Means Committee only has jurisdiction over Medicare. (The House Energy and Commerce Committee has jurisdiction over Medicaid.) The other diffence in terms of power is that all revenue raising measures must originate in the House giving the Ways and Means committee a slight edge in setting tax policy. In addition to having jurisdiction over legislation the Committee has extensive oversight powers. It has authority to investigate, review and evaluate existing laws, and the agencies that implement them.

Due to the Committee's wide jurisdiction, it is often considered an influential committee. A wide array of Senators with differing policy concerns seek membership on the Committee because of its role in setting tax, trade, and health policy.

[edit] Members, 109th Congress

Republicans Democrats
Member State Member State
Chuck Grassley, Chairman Iowa Max Baucus, Ranking Minority Member Montana
Orrin Hatch Utah Jay Rockefeller West Virginia
Trent Lott Mississippi Kent Conrad North Dakota
Olympia Snowe Maine Jeff Bingaman New Mexico
Jon Kyl Arizona John Kerry Massachusetts
Craig Thomas Wyoming Blanche Lincoln Arkansas
Rick Santorum Pennsylvania Ron Wyden Oregon
Bill Frist Tennessee Charles Schumer New York
Gordon Smith Oregon
Jim Bunning Kentucky Independent
Mike Crapo Idaho Jim Jeffords, independent Vermont

[edit] Subcommittees

[edit] Chairmen

Senator Party State Years
George W. Campbell Democratic-Republican Tennessee 1815–1818
John Wayles Eppes Democratic-Republican Virginia 1818–1819
Nathan Sanford Democratic-Republican New York 1819–1821
John Holmes Democratic-Republican Maine 1821–1822
Walter Lowrie Democratic-Republican Pennsylvania 1822–1823
Samuel Smith Crawford Republican, Jacksonian Maryland 1823–1833
Daniel Webster Anti-Jacksonian Massachusetts 1833–1836
Silas Wright Democratic, Jacksonian New York 1836–1841
Henry Clay Whig Kentucky 1841
George Evans Whig Maine 1841–1845
Levi Woodbury¹ Democratic New Hampshire 1845
John C. Calhoun Democratic South Carolina 1845–1846
Dixon H. Lewis Democratic Alabama 1846–1847
Charles G. Atherton Democratic New Hampshire 1847–1849
Daniel S. Dickinson Democratic New York 1849–1850
Robert M. T. Hunter Democratic Virginia 1850–1861
James A. Pearce Democratic Maryland 1861
William P. Fessenden Republican Maine 1861–1864
John Sherman Republican Ohio 1864–1865
William P. Fessenden Republican Maine 1865–1867
John Sherman Republican Ohio 1867–1877
Justin Smith Morrill Republican Vermont 1877–1879
Thomas F. Bayard, Sr. Democratic Delaware 1879–1881
Justin Smith Morrill Republican Vermont 1881–1893
Daniel W. Voorhees Democratic Indiana 1893–1895
Justin Smith Morrill² Republican Vermont 1895–1898
Nelson W. Aldrich Republican Rhode Island 1898–1911
Boies Penrose Republican Pennsylvania 1911–1913
Furnifold M. Simmons Democratic North Carolina 1913–1919
Boies Penrose Republican Pennsylvania 1919–1921
Porter J. McCumber Republican North Dakota 1921–1923
Reed Smoot Republican Utah 1923–1933
Pat Harrison Democratic Mississippi 1933–1941
Walter F. George Democratic Georgia 1941–1947
Eugene D. Millikin Republican Colorado 1947–1949
Walter F. George Democratic Georgia 1949–1953
Eugene D. Millikin Republican Colorado 1953–1955
Harry F. Byrd Democratic Virginia 1955–1965
Russell B. Long Democratic Louisiana 1965–1981
Bob Dole Republican Kansas 1981–1985
Bob Packwood Republican Oregon 1985–1987
Lloyd Bentsen Democratic Texas 1987–1993
Daniel Patrick Moynihan Democratic New York 1993–1995
Bob Packwood Republican Oregon 1995
William V. Roth, Jr. Republican Delaware 1995–2001
Max Baucus Democratic Montana 2001
Chuck Grassley Republican Iowa 2001
Max Baucus Democratic Montana 2001–2003
Chuck Grassley Republican Iowa 2003–present

¹ Chaired a special session of the 29th Congress, his ten day chairmanship of the committee is the shortest on record.

² Morrill holds the longest non-continuous service as Chairman at eighteen years. Russell Long holds the longest continuous service as chairman at fourteen years.

[edit] References

  1. ^ History of the Committee on Finance (pdf), via Finance.Senate.Gov

[edit] External links

Current United States Congressional committees
House
(list)		 Agriculture • Appropriations • Armed Services • Budget • Education and the Workforce • Energy and Commerce • Financial Services • Government Reform • Homeland Security • House Administration • Hurricane Katrina (Select) • Intelligence (Permanent Select) • International Relations • Judiciary • Resources • Rules • Science • 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 • Rules and Administration • Small Business and Entrepreneurship • Veterans' Affairs
Joint (Conference) • Economic • Library • Printing • Taxation  Defunct committees 
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