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, 112th Congress

The chairman of the committee is Democrat Tom Harkin of Iowa, and the Ranking Member is Republican Mike Enzi of Wyoming.

Majority	Minority
Tom Harkin, Iowa, Chairman Barbara Mikulski, Maryland Jeff Bingaman, New Mexico Patty Murray, Washington Bernie Sanders, Vermont Bob Casey, Jr., Pennsylvania Kay Hagan, North Carolina Jeff Merkley, Oregon Al Franken, Minnesota Michael Bennet, Colorado Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut	Mike Enzi, Wyoming, Ranking Member Lamar Alexander, Tennessee Richard Burr, North Carolina Johnny Isakson, Georgia Rand Paul, Kentucky Orrin Hatch, Utah John McCain, Arizona Pat Roberts, Kansas Lisa Murkowski, Alaska Mark Kirk, Illinois

Source: 2011 Congressional Record, Vol. 157, Page S557

Subcommittees

Subcommittee	Chair	Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Children and Families	Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)	Richard Burr (R-NC)
Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety	Patty Murray (D-WA)	Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging	Bernie Sanders (I-VT)	Rand Paul (R-KY)

Defunct subcommittees

The committee has had other notable subcommittees in the past, such as:

• the Subcommittee on Migratory Labor during the 1950s through 1970s.
• the Subcommittee on Health and Scientific Research during the 1970s.

Chairmen

Education 1869–1870

• Kari M. Knutson (R-MO) 1869–1870

Education and Labor, 1884–1947

• Frederick Sawyer (R-SC) 1870–1873
• James W. 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 W. Blair (R-NH) 1881–1891
• Joseph M. Carey (R-WY) 1891–1893
• James H. Kyle (PO–SD) 1893–1895
• George Shoup (R-ID) 1895–1897
• James H. 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 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) 2007–2009
• Tom Harkin (D-IA) 2009–present

See also

• Health education

External links

• Official Committee Page
• Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee member profiles at WhoRunsGov at The Washington Post