The Committee on Education and Labor is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. Until recently, it was known as the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

History of the Committee

Attempts were made to create a congressional committee on education and labor since the early congresses but issues over Congress's constitutional ability to oversee such issues delayed the committee's formation. Finally, on March 21, 1867, the Committee on Education and Labor was founded following the end of the Civil War and during the rapid industrialization of America. On December 19, 1883, the committee was divided into two, the House Committee on Education and the House Committee on Labor. The committees again merged on January 2, 1947, after the passage of the Legislative Reorganization Act, becoming the Committee on Education and Labor. On January 4, 1995, when the Republicans took over the House, the Committee was renamed the Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities. It was renamed again as the Committee on Education and the Workforce on January 7, 1997. On January 4, 2007, with the Democrats once again in the majority, the Committee's name was changed back to Committee on Education and Labor.

Jurisdiction

From the Official Committee Webpage:

The Education and Labor Committee's purpose is to ensure that Americans' needs are addressed so that students and workers may move forward in a changing school system and a competitive global economy.

The committee and its five subcommittees oversee education and workforce programs that affect all Americans, from early learning through secondary education, from job training through retirement.

The Education and Labor Committee Democrats' goal is to keep America strong by increasing education opportunities for students, by making it easier to send young adults to college, and by helping workers find job training and retirement security for a better future. The following education issues are under the jurisdiction of the Education and Labor Committee:

Education. The Committee on Education and Labor oversees federal programs and initiatives dealing with education at all levels -- from preschool through high school to higher education and continuing education. These include:

• Elementary and secondary education initiatives, including the No Child Left Behind Act, school choice for low-income families, special education (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), teacher quality & teacher training, scientifically-based reading instruction, and vocational and technical education;
• Higher education programs (the Higher Education Act), to support college access for low and middle-income students and help families pay for college;
• Early childhood & preschool education programs including Head Start;
• School lunch and child nutrition programs;
• Financial oversight of the U.S. Department of Education;
• Programs and services for the care and treatment of at-risk youth, child abuse prevention, and child adoption;
• Educational research and improvement;
• Adult education; and
• Anti-poverty programs, including the Community Services Block Grant Act and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).

Labor. The Committee on Education and Labor also holds jurisdiction over workforce initiatives aimed at strengthening health care, job training, and retirement security for workers. Workforce issues in the jurisdiction of the Education and the Labor Committee include:

• Pension and retirement security for U.S. workers;
• Access to quality health care for working families and other employee benefits;
• Job training, adult education, and workforce development initiatives, including those under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), to help local communities train and retrain workers;
• Continuing the successful welfare reforms of 1996;
• Protecting the democratic rights of individual union members;
• Worker health and safety, including occupational safety and health;
• Providing greater choices and flexibility (including "comp time" or family time options) to working women and men;
• Equal employment opportunity and civil rights in employment;
• Wages and hours of labor, including the Fair Labor Standards Act;
• Workers' compensation, and family and medical leave;
• All matters dealing with relationships between employers and employees.

Members, 111th Congress

The current chairman is George Miller of California and the Ranking Member is John Kline, from Minnesota. The committee is also organized into five subcommittees.

Democrats

Republicans

George Miller, California, Chairman Dale E. Kildee, Michigan Donald M. Payne, New Jersey Rob Andrews, New Jersey Bobby Scott, Virginia Lynn Woolsey, California Rubén Hinojosa, Texas Carolyn McCarthy, New York John F. Tierney, Massachusetts Dennis Kucinich, Ohio David Wu, Oregon Rush D. Holt, Jr., New Jersey Susan Davis, California Raúl Grijalva, Arizona Timothy Bishop, New York Joe Sestak, Pennsylvania David Loebsack, Iowa Mazie Hirono, Hawaii Jason Altmire, Pennsylvania Phil Hare, Illinois Yvette Clarke, New York Joe Courtney, Connecticut Carol Shea-Porter, New Hampshire Marcia Fudge, Ohio Jared Polis, Colorado Paul Tonko, New York Pedro Pierluisi, Puerto Rico Gregorio Sablan, Northern Mariana Islands Dina Titus, Nevada Judy Chu, California

John Kline, Minnesota, Ranking Member Tom Petri, Wisconsin Howard "Buck" McKeon, California Peter Hoekstra, Michigan Michael N. Castle, Delaware Mark Souder, Indiana Vern Ehlers, Michigan Judy Biggert, Illinois Todd Russell Platts, Pennsylvania Joe Wilson, South Carolina Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Washington Tom Price, Georgia Virginia Foxx, North Carolina Rob Bishop, Utah Brett Guthrie, Kentucky Bill Cassidy, Louisiana Tom McClintock, California Duncan D. Hunter, California Phil Roe, Tennessee Glenn "G.T." Thompson, Pennsylvania

Sources:

• electing minority members to standing committees.
• electing majority members to standing committees.

Subcommittees

Subcommittee	Chair	Ranking Member
Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education	Dale Kildee (D-MI)	Michael Castle (R-DE)
Healthy Families and Communities	Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY)	Todd Russell Platts (R-PA)
Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness	Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX)	Brett Guthrie (R-KY)
Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions	Rob Andrews (D-NJ)	Tom Price (R-GA)
Workforce Protections	Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)	Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)

Chairs

1867-1883

Chair	Party	State	Start of Service	End of Service
Jehu Baker	Republican	IL	1867	1869
Samuel M. Arnell	Republican	TN	1869	1871
Legrand Perce	Republican	MS	1871	1873
James Monroe	Republican	OH	1873	1875
Gilbert C. Walker	Democratic	VA	1875	1877
John Goode, Jr.	Democratic	VA	1877	1881
Jonathan T. Updegraff	Republican	OH	1881	1882
John C. Sherwin	Republican	IL	1882	1883

1947-present

Chair	Party	State	Start of Service	End of Service
Fred A. Hartley	Republican	NJ	1947	1949
John Lesinski, Sr.	Democratic	MI	1949	1950
Graham A. Barden	Democratic	NC	1950	1953
Samuel K. McConnell	Republican	NY	1953	1955
Graham A. Barden	Democratic	NC	1955	1961
Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.	Democratic	NY	1961	1967
Carl D. Perkins	Democratic	KY	1967	1984
Gus Hawkins	Democratic	CA	1984	1991
William D. Ford	Democratic	MI	1991	1995
William F. Goodling	Republican	PA	1995	2001
John Boehner	Republican	OH	2001	2006
Buck McKeon	Republican	CA	2006	2007
George Miller	Democratic	CA	2007	present

References

1. Chapter 9. Records of the Committees on Education and Labor, Guide to the Records of the U.S. House of Representatives at the National Archives, 1789-1989 (Record Group 233), National Archives and Records Administration
2. Gregorio Sablan is an Independent who caucus with Democrats, and counts as a Democrat for committee purposes.

See also

• Employee Free Choice Act

External links

• Official Homepage