The Committee of Ways and Means is the chief tax-writing committee of the United States House of Representatives. Members of the Ways and Means Committee cannot serve on any other House Committees, though they can apply for a waiver from their party's congressional leadership. The Committee has jurisdiction over all taxation, tariffs and other revenue-raising measures, as well as a number of other programs including:

• Social Security
• Unemployment benefits
• Medicare
• Enforcement of child support laws
• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, a federal welfare program
• Foster care and adoption programs

The U.S. Constitution requires that all bills regarding taxation must originate in the House of Representatives, and House procedure is that all bills regarding taxation must go through this committee. These stipulations make this House committee particularly powerful, especially in comparison with its Senate counterpart, the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance.

The Ways and Means Committee in the 110th Congress is chaired by Representative Charles Rangel of New York.

History

The idea of a "Committee of Ways and Means" to handle the financial matters of a legislature is older than the Federal Congress, having been used in the English Parliament and the colonial and State legislatures in America.

The Committee was first established during the first Congress, in 1789. However, this initial version was disbanded after only 8 weeks; for the next several years, only ad hoc committees were formed, to write up laws on notions already debated in the whole House. It was first established as a standing committee by resolution adopted December 21, 1795, and first appeared among the list of regular standing committees on January 7, 1802. Upon its original creation, it held power over both taxes and spending, until the spending power was given to the new Appropriations Committee in 1865.

The Chairman of Ways and Means has always been one of the most powerful members of Congress. No one was more aggressive in wielding its power than Thaddeus Stevens, the Republican chairman during the Civil War and Reconstruction. Three future presidents - James Polk, Millard Fillmore, and William McKinley - served as Committee Chairman. Before the official roles of floor leader came about in the late 19th century, the Chairman of Ways and Means was considered the Majority Leader. The Chairman is one of only seven representatives to have office space within the Capitol building itself (the others being Speaker, Majority Leader, Minority Leader, Majority Whip, Minority Whip, and Appropriations Chairman).

Role

Ways and Means has always been one of the most important committees in a policy sense, due to its wide jurisdiction. While it lacks the prospects for re-election help that comes with the Appropriations Committee, it is seen as a valuable post for two reasons. First, since its range is so broad, members with a wide array of policy concerns often seek positions, simply to be able to influence policy decisions. Major issues that have gone through this committee read like a laundry list of important bills, including welfare reform, a Medicare prescription drug benefit, Social Security reform, President George W. Bush's tax cuts, and all trade agreements, including the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Second, given the wide array of interests that are affected by the committee, a seat makes it very easy to collect campaign contributions.

Current members, 110th Congress

Majority

Minority

Charles B. Rangel, Chairman, New York Pete Stark, California Sander M. Levin, Michigan Jim McDermott, Washington John Lewis, Georgia Richard E. Neal, Massachusetts Michael R. McNulty, New York John S. Tanner, Tennessee Xavier Becerra, California Lloyd Doggett, Texas Earl Pomeroy, North Dakota Mike Thompson, California John B. Larson, Connecticut Rahm Emanuel, Illinois Earl Blumenauer, Oregon Ron Kind, Wisconsin Bill Pascrell, New Jersey Shelley Berkley, Nevada Joseph Crowley, New York Chris Van Hollen, Maryland Kendrick Meek, Florida Allyson Y. Schwartz, Pennsylvania Artur Davis, Alabama

Jim McCrery, Ranking Member, Louisiana Wally Herger, California Dave Camp, Michigan Jim Ramstad, Minnesota Sam Johnson, Texas Phil English, Pennsylvania Jerry Weller, Illinois Kenny C. Hulshof, Missouri Ron Lewis, Kentucky Kevin Brady, Texas Thomas M. Reynolds, New York Paul Ryan, Wisconsin Eric Cantor, Virginia John Linder, Georgia Devin Nunes, California Pat Tiberi, Ohio Jon Porter, Nevada

Subcommittees

There are six subcommittees in the 110th Congress

Subcommittee	Chair	Ranking Member
Trade	Sander Levin (D-MI)	Wally Herger (R-CA)
Oversight	John Lewis (D-GA)	Jim Ramstad (R-MN)
Health	Pete Stark (D-CA)	Dave Camp (R-MI)
Social Security	Michael McNulty (D-NY)	Sam Johnson (R-TX)
Income Security and Family Support	Jim McDermott (D-WA)	Jerry Weller (R-IL)
Select Revenue Measures	Richard Neal (D-MA)	Phil English (R-PA)

Chairmen

#	Chair	Party	State	Start of Service	End of Service
1	Thomas Fitzsimons	Federalist	PA	1789	1789
2	William L. Smith	Federalist	SC	1794	1797
3	Robert G. Harper	Federalist	SC	1797	1800
4	Roger Griswold	Federalist	CT	1800	1801
5	John Randolph	Democratic-Republican	VA	1801	1805
6	Joseph Clay	Democratic-Republican	PA	1805	1807
7	George W. Campbell	Democratic-Republican	TN	1807	1809
8	John W. Eppes	Democratic-Republican	VA	1809	1811
9	Ezekiel Bacon	Democratic-Republican	SC	1811	1812
10	Langdon Cheves	Democratic-Republican	SC	1812	1813
11	John W. Eppes	Democratic-Republican	VA	1813	1815
12	William Lowndes	Democratic-Republican	SC	1815	1818
13	Samuel Smith	Democratic-Republican	MD	1818	1822
14	Louis McLane	Democratic-Republican	DE	1822	1827
15	John Randolph	Democratic	VA	1827	1827
16	George McDuffie	Democratic	SC	1827	1832
17	Gulian C. Verplanck	Democratic	NY	1832	1833
18	James K. Polk	Democratic	TN	1833	1835
19	Churchill C. Cambreleng	Democratic	NY	1835	1839
20	John W. Jones	Democratic	VA	1839	1841
21	Millard Fillmore	Whig	NY	1841	1843
22	James I. McKay	Democratic	NC	1843	1847
23	Samuel F. Vinton	Whig	OH	1847	1849
24	Thomas H. Bayly	Democratic	VA	1849	1851
25	George S. Houston	Democratic	AL	1851	1855
26	Lewis D. Campbell	Republican	OH	1856	1857
27	J. Glancy Jones	Democratic	PA	1857	1858
28	John S. Phelps	Democratic	MO	1858	1859
29	John Sherman	Republican	OH	1860	1861
30	Thaddeus Stevens	Republican	PA	1861	1865
31	Justin Morrill	Republican	VT	1865	1867
32	Robert C. Schenck	Republican	OH	1867	1871
33	Samuel Hooper	Republican	MA	1871	1871
34	Henry L. Dawes	Republican	MA	1871	1875
35	William R. Morrison	Democratic	IL	1875	1877
36	Fernando Wood	Democratic	NY	1877	1881
37	John R. Tucker	Democratic	VA	1881	1881
38	William D. Kelley	Republican	PA	1881	1883
39	William R. Morrison	Democratic	IL	1883	1887
40	Roger Q. Mills	Democratic	TX	1887	1889
41	William McKinley	Republican	OH	1889	1891
42	William M. Springer	Democratic	IL	1891	1893
43	William L. Wilson	Democratic	WV	1893	1895
44	Nelson Dingley, Jr.	Republican	ME	1895	1899
45	Sereno E. Payne	Republican	NY	1899	1911
46	Oscar W. Underwood	Democratic	AL	1911	1915
47	Claude Kitchin	Democratic	NC	1915	1919
48	Joseph Fordney	Republican	MI	1919	1923
49	William R. Green	Republican	IA	1923	1928
50	Willis C. Hawley	Republican	OR	1928	1931
51	James W. Collier	Democratic	MS	1931	1933
52	Robert L. Doughton	Democratic	NC	1933	1947
53	Harold Knutson	Republican	MN	1947	1949
54	Robert L. Doughton	Democratic	NC	1949	1953
55	Daniel A. Reed	Republican	NY	1953	1955
56	Jere Cooper	Democratic	TN	1955	1957
57	Wilbur Mills	Democratic	AR	1957	1975
58	Al Ullman	Democratic	OR	1975	1981
59	Dan Rostenkowski	Democratic	IL	1981	1994
60	Sam Gibbons	Democratic	FL	1994	1995
61	Bill Archer	Republican	TX	1995	2001
62	Bill Thomas	Republican	CA	2001	2007
63	Charles Rangel	Democratic	NY	2007	present

External links

• Official Committee web site

Sources

• H. Doc. 100-244, The Committee on Ways and Means a Bicentennial History 1789-1989