Overview:
The purpose of this committee is to write the legislation that allocates federal funds (the revenue from public taxes) to agencies, departments, and organizations to support the running of the Government and the services it provides. Congress has the sole "power of the purse" and, since the Civil War, the workload of allocating funds has increased immensely and thus a committee and 12 subcommittees are needed to distribute the workload. Today the Appropriations Committee is compromised of 60 members who are responsible for an average of 12 annual appropriations bills.
The Current Committee:
The current Chairman of the Appropriations Committee is David Obey, a Wisconsin Democrat. He has been a member of the House of Representatives since 1969, and has been chair of the Appropriations Committee from 1994 to 1995 and then as chairman from 2007 to 2010; totaling a number of 5 years as chair and 8 years as ranking member of the Committee. Obey has decided not to run for reelection this year. The Ranking Member of the Appropriations is Jerry Lewis of California. The second-ranking Democrat of the Committee, who is likely to take the Chair if Democrats win majority, is Norman Dicks of Wisconsin. There are currently 60 committee members, 37 of whom are Democrats and 23 of whom are Republicans. There are also currently 12 subcommittees. The chairs of the subcommittees include Rose DeLauro of Connecticut (Agriculture), José Serrano of New York (Financial Services), Norman Dicks of Washington (Defense), and David Price of North Carolina (Homeland Security). Another notable member, Ed Pastor, is of our home state – Arizona (4th District).
Current Pending Bills (of September 2010):
H.R.5424 - Reform Americans Can Afford Act of 2010: To repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 and enact the Common Sense Health Care Reform and Affordability Act.
H.R.6096 - To rescind certain amounts appropriated to the Bureau of the Census, to reduce the Federal budget deficit, and for other purposes.
H.R.6599 - Military Construction - Veterans Affairs Appropriations Bill
Current Pending Bills (of September 2010):
H.R.5424 - Reform Americans Can Afford Act of 2010: To repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 and enact the Common Sense Health Care Reform and Affordability Act.
H.R.6096 - To rescind certain amounts appropriated to the Bureau of the Census, to reduce the Federal budget deficit, and for other purposes.
H.R.6599 - Military Construction - Veterans Affairs Appropriations Bill
