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Albert Gallatin learned the realities of committee work in the Pennsylvania Legislature. "I was put on 35 committees, prepared all their reports, and drew all their bills," he noted. His labor taught him the wisdom of having legislators control the public purse. Thus, a member of the 4th U.S. Congress, he joined the struggle against Hamiltonian finance and made the first call for a standing finance committee. Strong partisan leadership from Madison and Gallatin, a movement to simplify House procedure, and a desire for the House to assert its constitutional role in public finance culminated in the creation of a permanent committee of ways and Means in 1795. Gallatin served on the committee almost continually until his appointment as Secretary of the Treasury in 1801. |
