United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
The United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions generally considers matters relating to these issues. Its jurisdiction extends beyond these issues to include several more specific areas, as defined by Senate rules.
While currently known as the HELP Committee, the first iteration of this committee was founded on January 28, 1869 as the Committee on Education. The committee name was changed to the Committee on Education and Labor on February 14, 1870, when petitions relating to labor were added to their jurisdiction from the Committee on Naval Affairs.
The committee’s jurisdiction at the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries focused on issues relating to federal employees’ working conditions and federal education aid. Prominent issues considered by the committee in the 1910s and 1920s included the creation of a minimum wage, the establishments of a Department of Labor, a Department of Education, and a Children’s Bureau. During the 1930s, the committee took action on the National Labor Relations Act, the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act of 1936 and the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.
In 1944, the jurisdiction of the Public Health Service was transferred from the Commerce Committee over to the Committee on Education and Labor, resulting in the committee taking over issues relating to public health matters. The name of the committee changed during the 80th Congress to the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, which was part of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946. As part of this bill, the jurisdiction of the committee was expanded to include the issues of rehabilitation, health, and education of veterans. Mine safety legislation was also added to the committee’s jurisdiction in 1949.
During the Johnson Administration, the committee established itself as the principal committee for the legislation pertaining to the War on Poverty, as part of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. Through the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970, certain issues pertaining to veterans were transferred to the newly created Committee on Veterans Affairs. In the 95th Congress, the Senate passed S. Res. 4 which renamed the committee to be the Committee on Human Resources. However, the name was again changed in the 96th Congress in S. Res. 30 to become the Committee on Labor and Human Resources. On March 18, 1992, the committee’s jurisdiction was updated to include all of the areas listed below. The current name of the Committee, the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, was created on January 19, 1999 in S. Res. 20.
Jurisdictional areas
Under the Rule 25 of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following subject matters fall under the jurisdiction of the Committee.- 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, including the welfare of miners.
- 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, 116th Congress
| Majority | Minority |
|
Subcommittees
| Subcommittee | Chair | Ranking Member |
| Children and Families | Rand Paul | Bob Casey Jr. |
| Employment and Workplace Safety | Tim Scott | Tammy Baldwin |
| Primary Health and Retirement Security | Mike Enzi | Bernie Sanders |
Source:
Historical members
Members, 110th Congress
| Subcommittee | Chair | Ranking Member |
| Subcommittee on Children and Families | Chris Dodd | Lamar Alexander |
| Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety | Patty Murray | Johnny Isakson |
| Subcommittee on Retirement and Aging | Barbara Mikulski | Richard Burr |
Members, 111th Congress
The Committee was chaired by Democrat Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts until his death on August 25, 2009. Under seniority rules, Acting Chairman Christopher Dodd was next in line, but chose instead to remain chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. Tom Harkin, next in line for seniority, assumed the chairmanship on September 9, 2009, vacating his post as chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee.| Majority | Minority |
|
| Subcommittee | Chair | Ranking Member |
| Subcommittee on Children and Families | Chris Dodd | Lamar Alexander |
| Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety | Patty Murray | Johnny Isakson |
| Subcommittee on Retirement and Aging | Barbara Mikulski | Richard Burr |
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 |
|
| Subcommittee | Chair | Ranking Member |
| Subcommittee on Children and Families | Barbara Mikulski | Richard Burr |
| Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety | Patty Murray | Johnny Isakson |
| Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging | Bernie Sanders | Rand Paul |
Members, 113th Congress
| Majority | Minority |
|
| Subcommittee | Chair | Ranking Member |
| Children and Families | Kay Hagan | Michael Enzi |
| Employment and Workplace Safety | Bob Casey | Johnny Isakson |
| Primary Health and Aging | Bernie Sanders | Richard Burr |
Members, 114th Congress
| Majority | Minority |
|
Source: to 68
| Subcommittee | Chair | Ranking Member |
| Children and Families | Rand Paul | Bob Casey Jr. |
| Employment and Workplace Safety | Johnny Isakson | Al Franken |
| Primary Health and Retirement Security | Mike Enzi | Bernie Sanders |
Members, 115th Congress
| Majority | Minority |
|
Defunct subcommittees
The committee has had other 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.
- the Subcommittee Investigating Violations of Free Speech and the Rights of Labor, informally known as the "La Follette Civil Liberties Committee"
Chairmen
Education 1869–1870
- James Harlan 1869
- Charles D. Drake 1869–1870
Education and Labor, 1870 – 1947
- Frederick Sawyer 1870–1873
- James W. Flanagan 1873–1875
- Orris S. Ferry 1875
- John J. Patterson 1875–1877
- Ambrose Burnside 1877–1879
- James E. Bailey 1879–1881
- Henry W. Blair 1881–1891
- Joseph M. Carey 1891–1893
- James H. Kyle 1893–1895
- George Shoup 1895–1897
- James H. Kyle 1897–1901
- Louis McComas 1901–1905
- Boies Penrose 1905
- Jonathan P. Dolliver 1905–1909
- William E. Borah 1909–1913
- Hoke Smith 1913–1919
- William S. Kenyon 1919–1922
- William E. Borah 1922–1924
- Lawrence C. Phipps 1924–1926
- James Couzens 1926–1929
- Jesse H. Metcalf 1929–1933
- David I. Walsh 1933–1937
- Hugo L. Black 1937
- Elbert D. Thomas 1937–1945
- James E. Murray 1945–1947
Labor and Public Welfare, 1947–1977
- Robert A. Taft 1947–1949
- Elbert D. Thomas 1949–1951
- James E. Murray 1951–1953
- H. Alexander Smith 1953–1955
- Lister Hill 1955–1969
- Ralph Yarborough 1969–1971
- Harrison A. Williams, Jr. 1971–1977
Human Resources, 1977–1979
- Harrison A. Williams, Jr. 1977–1979
Labor and Human Resources, 1979–1999
- Harrison A. Williams, Jr. 1979–1981
- Orrin G. Hatch 1981–1987
- Ted Kennedy 1987–1995
- Nancy Kassebaum 1995–1997
- James M. Jeffords 1997–1999
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, 1999–present
- James M. Jeffords 1999–2001
- Ted Kennedy 2001
- James M. Jeffords 2001
- Ted Kennedy 2001–2003
- Judd Gregg 2003–2005
- Michael Enzi 2005–2007
- Ted Kennedy 2007–2009
- Tom Harkin 2009–2015
- Lamar Alexander 2015–present