Committee on Ways and Means, History

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JURISDICTION OF THE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS
and HISTORICAL NOTE, FROM:

2000
106th Congress, 2nd Session
House of Representatives
H. Rept. 106-1036
December 21, 2000

I. JURISDICTION OF THE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS

A. U.S. CONSTITUTION

Article I, section 7, of the Constitution of the United States provides as follows:

All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.

In addition, Article I, Section 8, Constitution of the United States provides the following:

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imports and Excises, to pay the Debts and * * * To borrow Money on the credit of the United States.

B. RULE X, CLAUSE 1, RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Rule X, clause 1(s), of the Rules of the House of Representatives, in effect during the 106th Congress, provides for the jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means, as follows:

(s) Committee on Ways and Means.

(1) Customs, collection districts, and ports on entry and delivery.

(2) Reciprocal trade agreements.

(3) Revenue measures generally.

(4) Revenue measures relating to the insular possessions.

(5) The bonded debt of the United States, subject to the last sentence of clause 4(f) of this rule). [The last sentence of clause 4(f) requires the Committee on Ways and Means to include in its annual report to the Committee on the Budget a specific recommendation, made after holding public hearings, as to the appropriate level of the public debt that should be set forth in the concurrent resolution on the budget and serve as the basis for an increase or decrease in the statutory limit on the debt.]

(6) The deposit of public moneys.

(7) Transportation of dutiable goods.

(8) Tax-exempt foundations and charitable trusts.

(9) National Social Security (except health care and facilities programs that are supported from general revenues as opposed to payroll deductions and except work incentive programs).

C. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF COMMITTEE'S JURISDICTION

The foregoing recitation of the provisions of House Rule X, clause 1, paragraph (s), does not convey the comprehensive nature of the jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means. The following summary provides a more complete description:

(1) Federal revenue measures generally.--The Committee on Ways and Means has the responsibility for raising the revenue required to finance the Federal Government. This includes individual and corporate income taxes, excise taxes, estate taxes, gift taxes, and other miscellaneous taxes.

(2) The bonded debt of the United States.--The Committee on Ways and Means has jurisdiction over the authority of the Federal Government to borrow money. Title 31 of Chapter 31 of the U.S. Code authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to conduct any necessary public borrowing subject to a maximum limit on the amount of borrowing outstanding at any one time. This statutory limit on the amount of public debt ("the debt ceiling") currently is $5.95 trillion. The committee's jurisdiction also includes conditions under which the Department of the Treasury manages the Federal debt, such as restrictions on the conditions under which certain debt instruments are sold.

(3) National Social Security programs.--The Committee on Ways and Means has jurisdiction over most of the programs authorized by the Social Security Act, which includes not only those programs that are normally referred to colloquially as "Social Security" but also social insurance programs and a whole series of grant-in-aid programs to State governments for a variety of purposes. The Social Security Act, as amended, contains 20 titles (a few of which have either expired or have been repealed). The principal programs established by the Social Security Act and under the jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means in the 106th Congress can be outlined as follows:

(a) Old-age, survivors, and disability insurance (title II)--At present, there are approximately 154 million workers in employment covered by the program, and as of December 1999, $386 billion in benefits were being paid annually to 45 million individuals.

(b) Medicare (title XVIII)--Provides hospital insurance benefits to 33.6 million persons over the age of 65 and to 5.3 million disabled persons. Voluntary supplementary medical insurance is provided to 32.4 million aged persons and 4.6 million disabled persons. Expenditures under these programs were $212 billion in fiscal year 1999.

(c) Supplemental security income (title XVI)--The SSI program was inaugurated in January 1974 under the provisions of Public Law 92-603, as amended. It replaced the former Federal-State programs for the needy aged, blind, and disabled. In fiscal year 1999, 6.6 million persons received federally administered benefits under the SSI program. Of these 6.6 million persons, approximately 1.3 million received benefits on the basis of age, and 5.2 million on the basis of blindness or disability. Total federally administered payments during fiscal year 1999 amounted to approximately $30.9 billion, of which $26.8 billion were basic Federal benefits and $3.3 billion were federally administered State supplements to the payments.

(d) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) (part A of title IV)--The TANF program is a block grant of about $16.5 billion awarded to States to provide income assistance to poor families, to end dependency on welfare benefits, to prevent nonmarital births, and to encourage marriage. TANF also includes incentive funds for States that achieve the overall program goals and additional incentive funds for States that are successful in reducing nonmarital births. In most cases, TANF benefits for individuals are limited to five years and individuals must work to maintain their eligibility. In December of 1999, about 2.4 million families and 6.3 million individuals received benefits from the TANF program. In fiscal year 1999, federal administrative expenditures totaled $2.7 billion for the Child Support Enforcement Program. Child support collections for that year totaled $15.8 billion.

(e) Social services (title XX)--Title XX authorizes the Federal Government to reimburse the States for money spent to provide persons with various services. Generally, the specific services provided are determined by each State. The statutory ceiling on Federal matching funds available to the States for fiscal year 2000 was $2.4 billion and $1.8 billion was appropriated for fiscal year 2000. These funds are allocated on the basis of population.

(f) Unemployment compensation programs (titles II, IX, etc.)--These titles include the State unemployment compensation programs and the permanent extended benefits program. In fiscal year 2000, an estimated $21.6 billion was paid in unemployment compensation benefits, with approximately 7.0 million workers receiving unemployment benefits.

(g) Child welfare, foster care and adoption assistance (parts B and E of title IV)--Provides funds to States for child welfare services, for abused and neglected children; foster care for AFDC children and adoption assistance for children with special needs. In fiscal year 2000, Federal expenditures for child welfare services totaled $292 million. Federal expenditures for foster care were approximately $4.5 billion.

(4) Trade and tariff legislation.--The Committee on Ways and Means has responsibility over legislation relating to tariffs, import trade, and trade negotiations. In the early days of the Republic, tariff and customs receipts were major sources of revenue for the Federal Government. As the committee with jurisdiction over revenue-raising measures, the Committee on Ways and Means thus evolved as the primary committee responsible for international trade policy.

The Constitution vests the power to levy tariffs and to regulate international commerce specifically in the Congress as one of its enumerated powers. Any authority to regulate imports or to negotiate trade agreements must therefore be delegated to the executive branch through legislative action. Statutes including the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Acts beginning in 1934, the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, the Trade Act of 1974, the Trade Agreements Act of 1979, the Trade and Tariff Act of 1984, the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988, the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, and the Uruguay Round Agreements Act provide the basis for U.S. bargaining with other countries to achieve the mutual reduction of tariff and nontariff trade barriers under reciprocal trade agreements.

The committee's jurisdiction includes the following authorities and programs:

(a) The tariff schedules and all tariff preference programs, such as the Generalized System of Preferences and the Caribbean Basin Initiative;

(b) Laws dealing with unfair trade practices, including the antidumping law, countervailing duty law, section 301, and section 337;

(c) Other laws dealing with import trade, including section 201 (escape clause), section 232 national security controls, section 22 agricultural restrictions, international commodity agreements, textile restrictions under section 204, and any other restrictions or sanctions affecting imports;

(d) General and specific trade negotiating authority, as well as implementing authority for trade agreements and the grant of normal-trade-relations (NTR) status;

(e) General and NAFTA-related trade adjustment assistance programs for workers, and trade adjustment assistance for firms;

(f) Customs administration and enforcement, including rules of origin and country-of origin marking, customs classification, customs valuation, customs user fees, and U.S. participation in the World Customs Organization (WCO);

(g) Authorization of the budget for the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), the U.S. Customs Service, and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR).

D. REVENUE ORIGINATING PREROGATIVE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

The Constitutional Convention debated adopting the British model in which the House of Lords could not amend revenue legislation sent to it from the House of Commons. Eventually, however, the Convention proposed and the States later ratified the Constitution providing that "All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives, but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other bills." (Article 1, Section 7, clause 1.)

In order to pass constitutional scrutiny under this "origination clause," a tax bill must be passed first by the House of Representatives. After the House has completed action on a bill and approved it by a majority vote, the bill is transmitted to the Senate for formal action. The Senate may have already reviewed issues raised by the bill before its transmission. For example, the Senate Committee on Finance frequently holds hearings on tax legislative proposals before the legislation embodying those proposals is transmitted from the House of Representatives. On occasion, the Senate will consider a revenue bill in the form of a Senate or "S." bill, and then await passage of a revenue ("H.R.") bill from the House. The Senate then will add or substitute provisions of the "S." bill as an amendment to the "H.R." bill and send the "H.R." bill back to the House of Representatives for its concurrence or for conference on the differing provisions.

* * * *

SECTION E. THE HOUSE'S EXERCISE OF ITS CONSTITUTIONAL PREROGATIVE: 'BLUE-SLIPPING';
F. PREROGATIVE UNDER THE RULES OF THE HOUSE OVER "REVENUE MEASURES GENERALLY;" AND
SECTION G. POINT OF ORDER -- HOUSE RULE XXI, CLAUSE 5, PARAGRAPH (a) CHRONOLOGICAL LIST

(These section are being omitted.)

II. HISTORICAL NOTE

The Committee on Ways and Means was first established as an ad hoc committee in the first session of the First Congress, on July 24, 1789. Mr. Fitzsimons, from Pennsylvania, in commenting on the report of a select committee concerning appropriations and revenues, pointed out the desirability of having a committee to review the expenditure needs of the Government and the resources available, as follows:

The finances of America have frequently been mentioned in this House as being very inadequate to the demands. I have never been of a different opinion, and do believe that the funds of this country, if properly drawn into operation, will be equal to every claim. The estimate of supplies necessary for the current year appears very great from a report on your table, and which report has found its way into the public newspapers. I said, on a former occasion, and I repeat it now, notwithstanding what is set forth in the estimate, that a revenue of $3 million in specie, will enable us to provide every supply necessary to support the Government, and pay the interest and installments on the foreign and domestic debt. If we wish to have more particular information on these points, we ought to appoint a Committee of Ways and Means, to whom, among other things, the estimate of supplies may be referred, and this ought to be done speedily, if we mean to do it this session.

After discussion, the motion was agreed to and a committee consisting of one member from each State (North Carolina and Rhode Island had not yet ratified the Constitution) was appointed as follows: Messrs. Fitzsimons (Pennsylvania), Vining (Delaware), Livermore (New Hampshire), Cadwalader (New Jersey), Laurance (New York), Wadsworth (Connecticut), Jackson (Georgia), Gerry (Massachusetts), Smith (Maryland), Smith (South Carolina), and Madison (Virginia).

While there does not appear to be any direct relationship, it is interesting to note that the appointment of this ad hoc committee came within a few weeks after the House, in Committee of the Whole, had spent a good part of the months of April, May, and June in wrestling with the details involved in writing bills "for laying a duty on goods, wares, and merchandises imported into the United States" and for imposing duties on tonnage. Tariffs, of course, became a prime revenue source for the new government.

However, the results of this ad hoc committee are not clear. It existed for a period of only 8 weeks, being dissolved on September 17, 1789, with the following order:

That the Committee on Ways and Means be discharged from further proceeding on the business referred to them, and that it be referred to the Secretary of the Treasury to report thereon.

It has also been suggested by one student that the committee was dissolved because Alexander Hamilton had become Secretary of the newly created Department of the Treasury, and thus it was presumed that the Treasury Department could provide the necessary machinery for developing information which would be needed. During the next 6 years there was no Ways and Means Committee or any other standing committee for the examination of estimates. Rather, ad hoc committees were appointed to draw up particular pieces of legislation on the basis of decisions made in the Committee of the Whole House. On November 13, 1794, a rule was adopted providing that:

All proceedings touching appropriations of money shall be first moved and discussed in a Committee on the Whole House.

In the next Congress historians have suggested that the House was determined to curtail Secretary Hamilton's influence by first setting up a Committee on Ways and Means and requiring that committee to submit a report on appropriations and revenue measures before consideration in the Committee of the Whole House. It was also said that this Ways and Means Committee was put on a more or less standing basis since such a committee appeared at some point in every Congress until it was made a permanent committee.

In the first session of the 7th Congress, Tuesday, December 8, 1801, a resolution was adopted as follows:

Resolved, That a standing Committee of Ways and Means be appointed, whose duty it shall be to take into consideration all such reports of the Treasury Department, and all such propositions, relative to the revenue as may be referred to them by the House; to inquire into the state of the public debt, of the revenue, and of the expenditures; and to report, from time to time, their opinion thereon.

The following Members were appointed: Messrs. Randolph (Virginia), Griswold (Connecticut), Smith (Vermont), Bayard (Delaware), Smilie (Pennsylvania), Read (Massachusetts), Nicholson (Maryland), Van Rensselaer (New York), Dickson (Tennessee).

On Thursday, January 7, 1802, the House agreed to standing rules which, among other things, provided for standing committees, including the Committee on Ways and Means. The relevant part of the rules in this respect read as follows:

A Committee of Ways and Means, to consist of seven members;

* * * * * * *

It shall be the duty of the said Committee of Ways and Means to take into consideration all such reports of the Treasury Department, and all such propositions relative to the revenue, as may be referred to them by the House; to inquire into the state of the public debt, of the revenue, and of the expenditures, and to report, from time to time, their opinion thereon; to examine into the state of the several public departments, and particularly into the laws making appropriations of moneys, and to report whether the moneys have been disbursed conformably with such laws; and also to report, from time to time, such provisions and arrangements, as may be necessary to add to the economy of the departments, and the accountability of their officers.

It has been said that the jurisdiction of the committee was so broad in the early 19th century that one historian described it as follows:

It seemed like an Atlas bearing upon its shoulders all the business of the House.

The jurisdiction of the committee remained essentially the same until 1865 when the control over appropriations was transferred to a newly created Committee on Appropriations and another part of its jurisdiction was given to a newly created Committee on Banking and Currency. This action followed rather extended discussion in the House, too lengthy to review here.

During the course of that discussion, however, the following observations are of some historical interest. Mr. Cox, who was handling the motion to divide the committee, gave a very picturesque discussion of the many varied and heavy duties which had fallen on the committee over the years. He observed:

And yet, sir, powerful as the committee is constituted, even their powers of endurance, physical and mental, are not adequate to the great duty which has been imposed by the emergencies of this historic time. It is an old adage, that "whoso wanteth rest will also want of might"; and even an Olympian would faint and flag if the burden of Atlas is not relieved by the broad shoulders of Hercules.

He continued:

I might give here a detailed statement of the amount of business

thrown upon that committee since the commencement of the war. But I prefer to append it to my remarks. Whereas before the war we scarcely expended more than $70 million a year, now, during the five sessions of the last two Congresses, there has been an average appropriation of at least $800 million per session. The statement which I hold in my hand shows that during the first and extra session of the 37th Congress there came appropriation bills from the Committee on Ways and Means amounting to $226,691,457.99. I say nothing now of the loan and other fiscal bills emanating from that committee. * * * During the present session I suppose it would be a fair estimate to take the appropriations of the last session of the 37th Congress, say $900 million.

These are appropriation bills alone. They are stupendous, and but poorly symbolize the immense labors which the internal revenue, tariff, and loan bills imposed on the committee. * * * And this business of appropriations is perhaps not one-half of the labor of the committee. There are various and important matters upon which they act, but upon which they never report. Their duties comprehend all the varied interests of the United States; every element and branch of industry, and every dollar or dime of value. They are connected with taxation, tariffs, banking, loan bills, and ramify to every fiber of the body-politic. All the springs of wealth and labor are more or less influenced by the action of this committee. Their responsibility is immense, and their control almost imperial over the necessities, comforts, homes, hopes, and destinies of the people. All the values of the United States, which in the census of 1860 (page 194) amount to nearly $17 billion, or, to be exact, $16,159,616,068, are affected by the action of that committee, even before their action is approved by the House. Those values fluctuate whenever the head of the Ways and Means rises in his place and proposes a measure. The price of every article we use trembles when he proposes a gold bill or a loan bill, or any bill to tax directly or indirectly. * * *

* * * the interests connected with these economical questions are of all questions those most momentous for the future. Parties, statesmanship, union, stability, all depend upon the manner in which these questions are dealt with.

Congressman Morrill (who was subsequently appointed chairman of the Ways and Means Committee in the succeeding Congress, and who still later became chairman of the Senate Finance Committee after he became a Senator) observed as follows:

I am entirely indifferent as to the disposition which shall be made of this subject by the House. So far as I am myself concerned, I have never sought any position upon any committee from the present or any other Speaker of the House, and probably never shall. I have no disposition to press myself hereafter for any position. In relation to the proposed division of the Committee on Ways and Means, the only doubt that I have is the one expressed by my colleague on that committee, Mr. Stevens, in regard to the separation of the questions of revenue from those relating to appropriations. In ordinary times of peace I should deem it almost indispensable and entirely within their power that this committee should have the control of both subjects, in order that they might make both ends meet, that is, to provide a sufficient revenue for the expenditures. That reason applies now with greater force; but it may be that the committee is overworked. It is true that for the last 3 or 4 years the labors of the Committee on Ways and Means have been incessant, they have labored not only days but nights; not only weekends but Sundays. If gentlemen suppose that the committee have permitted some appropriations to be reported which should not have been permitted they little understand how much has been resisted.

The influence the committee emanated came not only from the nature of its jurisdiction but also because for many years the chairman of the committee was also ad hoc majority floor leader of the House.

When the revolt against Speaker Cannon took place, and the Speaker's powers to appoint the members of committees were curtailed, the Majority Members on the Committee on Ways and Means became the Committee on Committees. Subsequently, this power was disbursed to the respective party caucuses, beginning in the 94^th Congress.

Throughout its history, many famous Americans have served on the Committee on Ways and Means. The long and distinguished list includes 8 Presidents of the United States, 8 Vice Presidents, 4 Justices of the Supreme Court, 34 Cabinet members, and quite interestingly, 21 Speakers of the House of Representatives. This latter figure represents nearly one-half of the 51 Speakers who have served since 1789 through the end of the 106th Congress. See the alphabetical list which follows for names.

Major positions held by former members of the Committee on Ways and Means

President of the United States:

George H. W. Bush, Texas
Millard Fillmore, New York
James A. Garfield, Ohio
Andrew Jackson, Tennessee
James Madison, Virginia
William McKinley, Jr., Ohio
James K. Polk, Tennessee
John Tyler, Virginia

Vice President of the United States:

John C. Breckinridge, Kentucky
George H. W. Bush, Texas
Charles Curtis, Kansas
Millard Fillmore, New York
John N. Garner, Texas
Elbridge Gerry, Massachusetts
Richard M. Johnson, Kentucky
John Tyler, Virginia

Justice of the Supreme Court:

Philip P. Barbour, Virginia
Joseph McKenna, California
John McKinley, Alabama
Fred M. Vinson, Kentucky (Chief Justice)

Speaker of the House of Representatives:

Nathaniel P. Banks, Massachusetts
Philip P. Barbour, Virginia
James G. Blaine, Maine
John G. Carlisle, Kentucky
Langdon Cheves, South Carolina
James B. (Champ) Clark, Missouri
Howell Cobb, Georgia
Charles F. Crisp, Georgia
John N. Garner, Texas
John W. Jones, Virginia
Michael C. Kerr, Indiana
Nicholas Longworth, Ohio
John W. McCormack, Massachusetts
James K. Polk, Tennessee
Henry T. Rainey, Illinois
Samuel J. Randall, Pennsylvania
Thomas B. Reed, Maine
Theodore Sedgwick, Massachusetts
Andrew Stevenson, Virginia
John W. Taylor, New York
Robert C. Winthrop, Massachusetts

Cabinet Member:

Secretary of State:

James G. Blaine, Maine
William J. Bryan, Nebraska
Cordell Hull, Tennessee, (Recipient of Nobel Peace Prize in 1945.)
Louis McLane, Delaware
John Sherman, Ohio

Secretary of the Treasury:

George W. Campbell, Tennessee
John G. Carlisle, Kentucky
Howell Cobb, Georgia
Thomas Corwin, Ohio
Charles Foster, Ohio
Albert Gallatin, Pennsylvania
Samuel D. Ingham, Pennsylvania
Louis McLane, Delaware
Ogden L. Mills, New York
John Sherman, Ohio
Philip F. Thomas, Maryland
Fred M. Vinson, Kentucky

Attorney General:

James P. McGranery, Pennsylvania
Joseph McKenna, California
A. Mitchell Palmer, Pennsylvania
Caesar A. Rodney, Delaware

Postmaster General:

Samuel D. Hubbard, Connecticut
Cave Johnson, Tennessee
Horace Maynard, Tennessee
William L. Wilson, West Virgina

Secretary of the Navy:

Thomas W. Gilmer, Virginia
Hilary A. Herbert, Alabama
Victor H. Metcalf, California
Claude A. Swanson, Virginia

Secretary of the Interior:

Rogers C. B. Morton, Maryland
Jacob Thompson, Mississippi

Secretary of Commerce and Labor:

Victor H. Metcalf, California

Secretary of Commerce

Rogers C. B. Morton, Maryland

Secretary of Agriculture

Clinton P. Anderson, New Mexico

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