The United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) generally considers matters relating to these issues. Its jurisdiction also extends beyond these issues to include several more specific areas, as defined by Senate rules. While currently known as the HELP Committee, the committee was originally founded on January 28, 1869, as the Committee on Education. Its name was changed to the Committee on Education and Labor on February 14, 1870, when petitions relating to labor were transferred to its jurisdiction from the Committee on Naval Affairs. The committee’s jurisdiction at the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries focused largely on issues relating to federal employees’ working conditions and federal education aid. Prominent action considered by the committee in the 1910s and 1920s included the creation of a

national minimum wage The National Minimum Wage Act 1998 creates a minimum wage across the United Kingdom.. E McGaughey, ''A Casebook on Labour Law'' (Hart 2019) ch 6(1) From 1 April 2022 this was £9.50 for people age 23 and over, £9.18 for 21- to 22-year-olds, £6 ...

, the establishments of a

Department of Labor The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...

, a

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

, and a Children’s Bureau. During the 1930s, the committee took action on the

National Labor Relations Act The National Labor Relations Act of 1935, also known as the Wagner Act, is a foundational statute of United States labor law that guarantees the right of private sector employees to organize into trade unions, engage in collective bargaining, and ...

, the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act of 1936 and the

Fair Labor Standards Act The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) is a United States labor law that creates the right to a minimum wage, and "time-and-a-half" overtime pay when people work over forty hours a week. It also prohibits employment of minors in "oppres ...

of 1938. In 1944, the jurisdiction of the

Public Health Service In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

was transferred from the Commerce Committee to the Committee on Education and Labor, adding issues relating to public health matters to its jurisdiction. The committee's name was changed during the

80th Congress The 80th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1947, ...

to the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare as part of the

Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (also known as the Congressional Reorganization Act, ch. 753, , enacted August 2, 1946) was the most comprehensive reorganization of the United States Congress in history to that date. Background The n ...

(Public Law 79-601). The act further expanded the committee's oversight to include the rehabilitation, health, and education of veterans. Mine safety was also added to the committee’s jurisdiction in 1949. During the Administration of President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

, the committee took the lead in shaping legislation as part of Johnson's

War on Poverty The war on poverty is the unofficial name for legislation first introduced by United States President Lyndon B. Johnson during his State of the Union address on January 8, 1964. This legislation was proposed by Johnson in response to a national p ...

, resulting in the

Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 () authorized the formation of local Community Action Agencies as part of the War on Poverty. These agencies are directly regulated by the federal government. "It is the purpose of The Economic Opportunity Ac ...

. Through the

Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 () was an act of the United States Congress to "improve the operation of the legislative branch of the Federal Government, and for other purposes." The act focused mainly on the rules that governed congres ...

(Public Law 91-510), certain issues pertaining to veterans were transferred to the newly created Committee on Veterans Affairs. In the

95th Congress The 95th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1977, ...

, 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 The 96th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 1979 ...

by S. Res. 30 to 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 committee was given its current name, the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, on January 19, 1999, by 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 Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...

*Aging *

Agricultural college This article lists agricultural universities and colleges around the world, by continent and country. Africa Algeria * Higher National Agronomic School (French name: Ecole Nationale Supérieure Agronomique) Benin * Agricultural University of ...

s *Arts and humanities *

Biomedical research Medical research (or biomedical research), also known as experimental medicine, encompasses a wide array of research, extending from "basic research" (also called ''bench science'' or ''bench research''), – involving fundamental scientif ...

and development *

Child labor Child labour refers to the exploitation of children through any form of work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such e ...

* Convict labor and the entry of goods made by convicts into

interstate commerce The Commerce Clause describes an enumerated power listed in the United States Constitution ( Article I, Section 8, Clause 3). The clause states that the United States Congress shall have power "to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among ...

*Domestic activities of the

American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...

Equal employment opportunity Equal employment opportunity is equal opportunity to attain or maintain employment in a company, organization, or other institution. Examples of legislation to foster it or to protect it from eroding include the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity ...

Gallaudet University Gallaudet University ( ) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing. It was founded in 1864 as a grammar school for both deaf and blind children. It was the first sc ...

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...

, and St. Elizabeths Hospital in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

*Individuals with

disabilities Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, se ...

*Labor standards and labor statistics *

Mediation Mediation is a structured, interactive process where an impartial third party neutral assists disputing parties in resolving conflict through the use of specialized communication and negotiation techniques. All participants in mediation are ...

and

arbitration Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) that resolves disputes outside the judiciary courts. The dispute will be decided by one or more persons (the 'arbitrators', 'arbiters' or 'arbitral tribunal'), which renders the ' ...

labor dispute A labor dispute is a disagreement between an employer and employees regarding the terms of employment. This could include disputes regarding conditions of employment, fringe benefits, hours of work, tenure, and wages to be negotiated during ...

s *

Occupational Safety and Health Administration The Occupational Safety and Health Administration'' (OSHA ) is a large regulatory agency of the United States Department of Labor that originally had federal visitorial powers to inspect and examine workplaces. Congress established the agenc ...

, including the welfare of miners. *

Mine Safety and Health Administration The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) () is a large agency of the United States Department of Labor which administers the provisions of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (Mine Act) to enforce compliance with mandatory safet ...

*Private

pension A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...

plans *

Public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

*Railway labor and retirement *Regulation of foreign laborers *

Student loan A student loan is a type of loan designed to help students pay for post-secondary education and the associated fees, such as tuition, books and supplies, and living expenses. It may differ from other types of loans in the fact that the interest r ...

s *Wages and hours of labor, including the

federal minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...

Members, 117th Congress

Subcommittees

Historical members

110th Congress

111th Congress

The Committee was chaired by

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

until his death on August 25, 2009. Under

seniority Seniority is the state of being older or placed in a higher position of status relative to another individual, group, or organization. For example, one employee may be senior to another either by role or rank (such as a CEO vice a manager), or by ...

rules, Acting Chairman

Christopher Dodd Christopher John Dodd (born May 27, 1944) is an American lobbyist, lawyer, and Democratic Party politician who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1981 to 2011. Dodd is the longest-serving senator in Connecticut's histor ...

was next in line, but Dodd chose instead to remain chairman of the

Senate Banking Committee The United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs (formerly the Committee on Banking and Currency), also known as the Senate Banking Committee, has jurisdiction over matters related to banks and banking, price controls, ...

Tom Harkin Thomas Richard Harkin (born November 19, 1939) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as a United States senator from Iowa from 1985 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously was the U.S. representative for Iowa' ...

, next in line by seniority, assumed the chairmanship on September 9, 2009, vacating his post as chairman of the

Senate Agriculture Committee The Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry is a committee of the United States Senate empowered with congressional oversight, legislative oversight of all matters relating to the nation's agriculture industry, farming programs, forest ...

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Mike Enzi Michael Bradley Enzi ( ; February 1, 1944 – July 26, 2021) was an American politician who served in the United States Senate from Wyoming as a member of the Republican Party from 1997 to 2021. Prior to his tenure in the United States Senate ...

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

continued to serve as

Ranking Member In United States politics, a ranking member is the most senior member of a congressional or state legislative committee from the minority party. On many committees the ranking minority member, along with the Chair, serve as ''ex officio'' members ...

. Source: ,

112th Congress

Source:

113th Congress

Source: to 297

114th Congress

Source Source: to 68

115th Congress

116th Congress

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 (R-IA) 1869 * Charles D. Drake (R-MO) 1869–1870

Education and Labor, 1870 – 1947

Frederick Sawyer Frederick Adolphus Sawyer (December 12, 1822July 31, 1891) was a United States senator from South Carolina. Born in Bolton, Massachusetts, he attended the public schools, graduated from Harvard University in 1844, taught school in New England fr ...

(R-SC) 1870–1873 * James W. Flanagan (R-TX) 1873–1875 * Orris S. Ferry (R-CT) 1875 *

John J. Patterson John James "Honest John" Patterson (August 8, 1830September 28, 1912) was a businessman and United States Senator from South Carolina. He was a Republican. Biography Born and raised in Waterloo, a populated place in Juniata County, Pennsylvania ...

(R-SC) 1875–1877 *

Ambrose Burnside Ambrose Everett Burnside (May 23, 1824 – September 13, 1881) was an American army officer and politician who became a senior Union general in the Civil War and three times Governor of Rhode Island, as well as being a successful inventor ...

(R-RI) 1877–1879 *

James E. Bailey James Edmund Bailey (August 15, 1822December 29, 1885) was an American United States Democratic Party, Democratic United States Senate, United States Senator from Tennessee from 1877 to 1881. Early life and education Bailey was born in Montgome ...

(D-TN) 1879–1881 *

Henry W. Blair Henry William Blair (December 6, 1834March 14, 1920) was a United States representative and Senator from New Hampshire. During the American Civil War, he was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Union Army. A Radical Republican in his earlier political ...

(R-NH) 1881–1891 *

Joseph M. Carey Joseph Maull Carey (January 19, 1845February 5, 1924) was an American lawyer, rancher, judge, and politician, who was active in Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by ...

(R-WY) 1891–1893 *

James H. Kyle James Henderson Kyle (February 24, 1854July 1, 1901) was an American politician. One of the most successful members of the Populist Party (United States), Populist Party, he served for 10 years as a member of the United States Senate from South ...

(PO-SD) 1893–1895 * George Shoup (R-ID) 1895–1897 *

(PO-SD) 1897–1901 *

Louis McComas Louis Emory McComas (October 28, 1846 – November 10, 1907) was an American attorney, politician, and jurist who served as a member of both branches of the United States Congress and as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the District o ...

(R-MD) 1901–1905 *

Boies Penrose Boies Penrose (November 1, 1860 – December 31, 1921) was an American lawyer and Republican politician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After serving in both houses of the Pennsylvania legislature, he represented Pennsylvania in the United ...

(R-PA) 1905 *

Jonathan P. Dolliver Jonathan Prentiss Dolliver (February 6, 1858October 15, 1910) was a Republican orator, U.S. Representative, then U.S. Senator from Iowa at the turn of the 20th century.Thomas Richard Ross, ''Jonathan Prentiss Dolliver: A Study in Political Inte ...

(R-IA) 1905–1909 *

William E. Borah William Edgar Borah (June 29, 1865 – January 19, 1940) was an outspoken Republican United States Senator, one of the best-known figures in Idaho's history. A progressive who served from 1907 until his death in 1940, Borah is often con ...

(R-ID) 1909–1913 *

Hoke Smith Michael Hoke Smith (September 2, 1855November 27, 1931) was an American attorney, politician, and newspaper owner who served as United States secretary of the interior (1893–1896), 58th governor of Georgia (1907–1909, 1911), and a United S ...

(D-GA) 1913–1919 * William S. Kenyon (R-IA) 1919–1922 *

(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 Hugo Lafayette Black (February 27, 1886 – September 25, 1971) was an American lawyer, politician, and jurist who served as a U.S. Senator from Alabama from 1927 to 1937 and as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1937 to 1971. ...

(D-AL) 1937 *

Elbert D. Thomas Elbert Duncan Thomas (June 17, 1883February 11, 1953) was a Democratic Party politician from Utah. He represented Utah in the United States Senate from 1933 until 1951. He served as the Chair of the Senate Education Committee. Biography Thomas ...

(D-UT) 1937–1945 *

James E. Murray James Edward Murray (May 3, 1876March 23, 1961) was an American politician and United States Senator from Montana, and a liberal leader of the Democratic Party. He served in the United States Senate from 1934 until 1961. Background Born on a f ...

(D-MT) 1945–1947

Labor and Public Welfare, 1947–1977

Robert A. Taft Robert Alphonso Taft Sr. (September 8, 1889 – July 31, 1953) was an American politician, lawyer, and scion of the Republican Party's Taft family. Taft represented Ohio in the United States Senate, briefly served as Senate Majority Leade ...

(R-OH) 1947–1949 *

(D-UT) 1949–1951 *

(D-MT) 1951–1953 * H. Alexander Smith (R-NJ) 1953–1955 *

Lister Hill Joseph Lister Hill (December 29, 1894 – December 20, 1984) was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Alabama in the U.S. Congress for more than forty-five years, as both a U.S. Representative (1923–1938) a ...

(D-AL) 1955–1969 *

Ralph Yarborough Ralph Webster Yarborough (June 8, 1903 – January 27, 1996) was an American politician and lawyer. He was a Texas Democratic politician who served in the United States Senate from 1957 to 1971 and was a leader of the progressive wing of his p ...

(D-TX) 1969–1971 *

Harrison A. Williams, Jr. Harrison Arlington "Pete" Williams Jr. (December 10, 1919November 17, 2001) was an American politician and lawyer. He was a Democrat who represented New Jersey in the United States House of Representatives (1953–1957) and the United States Senat ...

(D-NJ) 1971–1977

Human Resources, 1977–1979

(D-NJ) 1977–1979

Labor and Human Resources, 1979–1999

(D-NJ) 1979–1981 *

Orrin G. Hatch Orrin Grant Hatch (March 22, 1934 – April 23, 2022) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Utah from 1977 to 2019. Hatch's 42-year Senate tenure made him the longest-serving Republican U.S. senator ...

(R-UT) 1981–1987 *

(D-MA) 1987–1995 *

Nancy Kassebaum Nancy Jo Kassebaum Baker (née Landon; born July 29, 1932) is an American politician who represented the State of Kansas in the United States Senate from 1978 to 1997. She is the daughter of Alf Landon, who was Governor of Kansas from 1933 to 19 ...

(R-KS) 1995–1997 *

James M. Jeffords James Merrill Jeffords (May 11, 1934 – August 18, 2014) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a U.S. senator from Vermont. Sworn into the Senate in 1989, he served as a Republican until 2001, when he left the party to become ...

(R-VT) 1997–1999

Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, 1999–present

(R-VT) 1999–2001 *

(D-MA) 2001 *

(R-VT) 2001 *

(D-MA) 2001–2003 *

Judd Gregg Judd Alan Gregg (born February 14, 1947) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 76th governor of New Hampshire from 1989 to 1993 and was a United States senator from New Hampshire; in the Senate, Gregg served as chairman of the ...

(R-NH) 2003–2005 *

Michael Enzi Michael Bradley Enzi ( ; February 1, 1944 – July 26, 2021) was an American politician who served in the United States Senate from Wyoming as a member of the Republican Party from 1997 to 2021. Prior to his tenure in the United States Senate ...

(R-WY) 2005–2007 *

(D-MA) 2007–2009 *

(D-IA) 2009–2015 *

Lamar Alexander Andrew Lamar Alexander Jr. (born July 3, 1940) is a retired American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 2003 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he also was the 45th governor of Tennessee fro ...

(R-TN) 2015–2021 *

Patty Murray Patricia Lynn Murray (; born October 11, 1950) is an American politician and educator who is the senior United States senator from Washington since 1993. A member of the Democratic Party, Murray was in the Washington State Senate from 1988 to ...

(D-WA) 2021–present

References

External links

Official Committee PageArchive

Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee
Legislation activity and reports, Congress.gov. {{DEFAULTSORT:United States Senate Committee On Health, Education, Labor And Pensions Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Health in the United States Education in the United States Retirement in the United States 1869 establishments in the United States Labor in the United States Parliamentary committees on Healthcare