Congressional Committees
This is where everything important occurs in the U.S. Congress. It is the committees that shape, amend, and debate potential bills. This is where bills go to either get passed on to the floor of Congress to get voted on or where they go to die and never come out of committee.
House Rules CommitteeA committee unique to the House of Representatives. Reviews bills coming from a House committee before they go to the floor of the House
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Standing CommitteeCommittees in each house that focus on certain policy areas. These areas include agriculture, appropriations, armed services, veterans affairs, ways and means, judiciary, homeland security, Education and Labor, etc... Each committee has several subcommittees that focus on even more specific policy areas within each policy area.
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Joint CommitteeCommittees formed with members from both houses of Congress that exist in a few policy areas, like economy and taxation.
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Conference CommitteeCommittees that are formed when each house of Congress passes a different version of the same bill. Contains members from both houses of Congress. It is here that the differences between each bill are ironed out.
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Select CommitteeThese are committees formed for a specific purpose; they are only temporary. One example was the committee formed to investigate the Watergate Scandal during Nixon's administration.
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