United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
The United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is a standing committee of the United States Senate.[1] It is empowered with legislative oversight of the Coast Guard and Merchant Marine, interstate commerce, communications, the Internet, highways, aviation, rail, shipping, transportation security, oceans, fisheries, climate change, natural disasters, science, sports, tourism, consumer protection, economic development, technology, competitiveness, product safety, insurance, and standards and measurement. The committee also has jurisdiction over coastal zone management, inland waterways (except construction), the Panama Canal and other interoceanic canals, and commerce aspects of Continental Shelf lands.[1]
The Committee is one of the largest in the Senate with 27 members in the 115th Congress. It is composed of six subcommittees, and the Committee Chair is Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) and its Ranking Member is Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA). The majority office is housed in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, and the minority office is located in the Hart Senate Office Building.[1]
History
The Committee has its roots in the Committee on Commerce and Manufacturers, which served as a standing committee in the early-1800s. This committee was split in two in the 1820s and remained in this configuration until the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946. Under the LRA, the number of standing committees was dramatically decreased to streamline increase congressional efficiency and increase institutional strength. As a result, the Committee on Commerce, the Committee on Manufactures, the Committee on Interstate Commerce, and the Committee on Interoceanic Canals were combined into the United States Senate Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. In 1977, as a part of widespread committee reorganization, the Committee renamed the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and given additional oversight jurisdiction over nonmilitary aeronautical and space sciences, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
The original progenitors of this committee were:
- United States Senate Committee on Commerce and Manufactures (1816–1825)
- United States Senate Committee on Commerce (1825–1946, 1961–1977)
- United States Senate Committee on Manufactures (1825–1855, 1864–1946)
- United States Senate Committee on Interstate Commerce (1885–1946)
- United States Senate Committee on Interoceanic Canals (1899–1946)
- United States Senate Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce (1946–1961)
- United States Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences (1958–1977)
Jurisdiction
In accordance of Rule XXV of the United States Senate, all proposed legislation, messages, petitions, memorials, and other matters relating to the following subjects is referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation:
- "Coast Guard;
- Coastal zone management;
- Communications;
- Highway safety;
- Inland waterways, except construction;
- Interstate commerce;
- Marine and ocean navigation, safety, and transportation, including navigational aspects of deepwater ports;
- Marine fisheries;
- Merchant marine and navigation;
- Nonmilitary aeronautical and space sciences;
- Oceans, weather, and atmospheric activities;
- Panama Canal and interoceanic canals generally, except as provided in subparagraph (c);
- Regulation of consumer products and services, including testing related to toxic substances, other than pesticides, and except for credit, financial services, and housing;
- Regulation of interstate common carriers, including railroads, buses, trucks, vessels, pipelines, and civil aviation;
- Science, engineering, and technology research and development and policy;
- Sports;
- Standards and measurement;
- Transportation; and,
- Transportation and commerce aspects of Outer Continental Shelf lands."[2]
The Senate Commerce Committee is also charged to "study and review, on a comprehensive basis, all matters relating to science and technology, oceans policy, transportation, communications, and consumer affairs, and report thereon from time to time."[3]
Members, 116th Congress
Majority | Minority |
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Members, 115th Congress
Majority | Minority |
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Source[4]
Subcommittees
Chairmen
Committee on Commerce and Manufactures, 1816–1825
Chairman | Party | State | Years |
---|---|---|---|
William Hunter | Federalist | Rhode Island | 1816–1817 |
Nathan Sanford | Democratic-Republican | New York | 1817–1820 |
Mahlon Dickerson | Democratic Republican | New Jersey | 1820–1825 |
Committee on Commerce, 1825–1947
Committee on Interstate Commerce, 1887–1947
Chairman | Party | State | Years |
---|---|---|---|
Shelby M. Cullom | Republican | Illinois | 1887–1893 |
Matthew Butler | Democratic | South Carolina | 1893–1895 |
Shelby M. Cullom | Republican | Illinois | 1895–1901 |
Stephen Elkins | Republican | West Virginia | 1901–1911 |
Moses E. Clapp | Republican | Minnesota | 1911–1913 |
Francis G. Newlands | Democratic | Nevada | 1913–1917 |
Ellison D. Smith | Democratic | South Carolina | 1917–1919 |
Albert B. Cummins | Republican | Iowa | 1919–1924 |
Ellison D. Smith | Democratic | South Carolina | 1924–1925 |
James E. Watson | Republican | Indiana | 1925–1928 |
James Couzens | Republican | Michigan | 1928–1933 |
Clarence C. Dill | Democratic | Washington | 1933–1935 |
Burton K. Wheeler | Democratic | Montana | 1935–1947 |
Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, 1947–1961
Chairman | Party | State | Years |
---|---|---|---|
Wallace H. White, Jr. | Republican | Maine | 1947–1949 |
Edwin C. Johnson | Democratic | Colorado | 1949–1953 |
Charles W. Tobey | Republican | New Hampshire | 1953 |
John W. Bricker | Republican | Ohio | 1953–1955 |
Warren G. Magnuson | Democratic | Washington | 1955–1961 |
Committee on Commerce, 1961–1977
Chairman | Party | State | Years |
---|---|---|---|
Warren G. Magnuson | Democratic | Washington | 1961–1977 |
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, 1977–present
Chairman | Party | State | Years |
---|---|---|---|
Warren G. Magnuson | Democratic | Washington | 1977–1978 |
Howard W. Cannon | Democratic | Nevada | 1978–1980 |
Bob Packwood | Republican | Oregon | 1981–1985 |
John Danforth | Republican | Missouri | 1985–1987 |
Ernest F. Hollings | Democratic | South Carolina | 1987–1995 |
Larry Pressler | Republican | South Dakota | 1995–1997 |
John McCain | Republican | Arizona | 1997–2001 |
Ernest F. Hollings | Democratic | South Carolina | 2001 |
John McCain | Republican | Arizona | 2001 |
Ernest F. Hollings | Democratic | South Carolina | 2001–2003 |
John McCain | Republican | Arizona | 2003–2005 |
Ted Stevens | Republican | Alaska | 2005–2007 |
Daniel K. Inouye | Democratic | Hawaii | 2007–2009 |
Jay Rockefeller | Democratic | West Virginia | 2009–2015 |
John Thune | Republican | South Dakota | 2015–2019 |
Roger Wicker | Republican | Mississippi | 2019–present |
References
- ^ a b c "U.S. Senate Committee On Commerce, Science, & Transportation - About". U.S. Senate Committee On Commerce, Science, & Transportation.
- ^ "Rules of the United States Senate". U.S. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration. Retrieved May 31, 2019. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ https://www.rules.senate.gov/rules-of-the-senate
- ^ "U.S. Senate: Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation". www.senate.gov. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
External links
- Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation website (Archive)
- Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. Legislation activity and reports, Congress.gov.