United States House Committee on Education and Labor
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The Committee on Education and Labor is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. Until recently, it was known as the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
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[edit] History of the Committee
Attempts were made to create a congressional committee on education and labor since the early congresses but issues over Congress's constitutional ability to oversee such issues delayed the committee's formation. Finally, on March 21, 1867, the Committee on Education and Labor was founded following the end of the Civil War and during the rapid industrialization of America. On December 19, 1883, the committee was divided into two, the House Committee on Education and the House Committee on Labor. The committees again merged on January 2, 1947, after the passage of the Legislative Reorganization Act, becoming the Committee on Education and Labor. On January 4, 1995, the Committee was renamed once again the Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities and finally renamed the Committee on Education and the Workforce on January 7, 1997. On January 4, 2007, for the 110th Congress, the Committee's name was changed back to Committee on Education and Labor.[1]
[edit] Jurisdiction
From the Official Committee Webpage:
The Education and Labor Committee's purpose is to ensure that Americans' needs are addressed so that students and workers may move forward in a changing school system and a competitive global economy.
The committee and its five subcommittees oversee education and workforce programs that affect all Americans, from early learning through secondary education, from job training through retirement.
The Education and Labor Committee Democrats' goal is to keep America strong by increasing education opportunities for students, by making it easier to send young adults to college, and by helping workers find job training and retirement security for a better future. The following education issues are under the jurisdiction of the Education and Labor Committee:
Education. The Committee on Education and Labor oversees federal programs and initiatives dealing with education at all levels -- from preschool through high school to higher education and continuing education. These include:
- Elementary and secondary education initiatives, including the No Child Left Behind Act, school choice for low-income families, special education (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), teacher quality & teacher training, scientifically-based reading instruction, and vocational and technical education;
- Higher education programs (the Higher Education Act), to support college access for low and middle-income students and help families pay for college;
- Early childhood & preschool education programs including Head Start;
- School lunch and child nutrition programs;
- Financial oversight of the U.S. Department of Education;
- Programs and services for the care and treatment of at-risk youth, child abuse prevention, and child adoption;
- Educational research and improvement;
- Adult education; and
- Anti-poverty programs, including the Community Services Block Grant Act and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
Labor. The Committee on Education and Labor also holds jurisdiction over workforce initiatives aimed at strengthening health care, job training, and retirement security for workers. Workforce issues in the jurisdiction of the Education and the Labor Committee include:
- Pension and retirement security for U.S. workers;
- Access to quality health care for working families and other employee benefits;
- Job training, adult education, and workforce development initiatives, including those under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), to help local communities train and retrain workers;
- Continuing the successful welfare reforms of 1996;
- Protecting the democratic rights of individual union members;
- Worker health and safety, including occupational safety and health;
- Providing greater choices and flexibility (including "comp time" or family time options) to working women and men;
- Equal employment opportunity and civil rights in employment;
- Wages and hours of labor, including the Fair Labor Standards Act;
- Workers' compensation, and family and medical leave;
- All matters dealing with relationships between employers and employees.
[edit] Members, 110th Congress
The committee is composed of 51 members, 28 from the Democratic Party and 23 from the Republican Party, chosen by their respective party caucuses. The current Chairman is George Miller and the Ranking Member is Howard "Buck" McKeon, both from California. The committee is also organized into five subcommittees.
[edit] Subcommittees
| Subcommittee | Chair | Ranking Member |
|---|---|---|
| Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education | Dale Kildee (D-MI) | Michael Castle (R-DE) |
| Healthy Families and Communities | Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) | Todd Russell Platts (R-PA) |
| Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness | Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX) | Ric Keller (R-FL) |
| Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions | Rob Andrews (D-NJ) | John Kline (R-MN) |
| Workforce Protections | Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) | Joe Wilson (R-SC) |
[edit] Chairs
[edit] 1867-1883
| Chair | Party | State | Start of Service | End of Service |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jehu Baker | Republican | IL | 1867 | 1869 |
| Samuel M. Arnell | Republican | TN | 1869 | 1871 |
| Legrand Perce | Republican | MS | 1871 | 1873 |
| James Monroe | Republican | OH | 1873 | 1875 |
| Gilbert C. Walker | Democratic | VA | 1875 | 1877 |
| John Goode, Jr. | Democratic | VA | 1877 | 1881 |
| Jonathan T. Updegraff | Republican | OH | 1881 | 1882 |
| John C. Sherwin | Republican | IL | 1882 | 1883 |
[edit] 1947-present
| Chair | Party | State | Start of Service | End of Service |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fred A. Hartley | Republican | NJ | 1947 | 1949 |
| John Lesinski, Sr. | Democratic | MI | 1949 | 1950 |
| Graham A. Barden | Democratic | NC | 1950 | 1953 |
| Samuel K. McConnell | Republican | NY | 1953 | 1955 |
| Graham A. Barden | Democratic | NC | 1955 | 1961 |
| Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. | Democratic | NY | 1961 | 1967 |
| Carl D. Perkins | Democratic | KY | 1967 | 1984 |
| Gus Hawkins | Democratic | CA | 1984 | 1991 |
| William D. Ford | Democratic | MI | 1991 | 1995 |
| William F. Goodling | Republican | PA | 1995 | 2001 |
| John Boehner | Republican | OH | 2001 | 2006 |
| Buck McKeon | Republican | CA | 2006 | 2007 |
| George Miller | Democratic | CA | 2007 | present |
[edit] References
- ^ Chapter 9. Records of the Committees on Education and Labor, Guide to the Records of the U.S. House of Representatives at the National Archives, 1789-1989 (Record Group 233), National Archives and Records Administration
