The Members

The Committee

The Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) is one of 250 Congressional Committees. In the Senate, the HELP Committee has legislative jurisdiction over a broad range of matters from arts and humanities to biomedical research to labor disputes, to name a few. Within the HELP Committee are four subcommittees, which study and review the pertinent legislation. These subcommittees are on Aging, on Children and Families, on Employment, Safety and Training and on Public Health.

Proposed legislation enters the Senate and if under the jurisdiction of the HELP Committee, it is referred to the Committee. The Committee then decides whether or not to consider the issue. If considered, the legislation enters a process of comment, review and revision and is sent back to the full Senate chamber for further deliberation. The revised legislation is then sent back to be reconciled with the House version, if necessary.

The twenty person HELP Committee is currently led by the majority leader, Chairman James M. Jeffords with Edward M. Kennedy as the Ranking Minority Member.