United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

The United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is a standing committee of the United States Senate.[1] Besides having broad jurisdiction over all matters concerning interstate commerce, science and technology policy, and transportation, the Senate Commerce Committee is one of the largest of the Senate's standing committees, with 26 members in the 117th Congress. The Commerce Committee has six subcommittees. It is chaired by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) with Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) as Ranking Member. The majority office is housed in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, and the minority office is located in the Hart Senate Office Building.[1]

Senate Commerce Committee
Standing committee
Active

United States Senate
117th Congress
History
FormedFebruary 4, 1977
Leadership
ChairMaria Cantwell (D)
Since January 20, 2021
Ranking memberRoger Wicker (R)
Since January 20, 2021
Structure
Political partiesMajority (14)
  •   Democratic (14)
Minority (14)
Jurisdiction
Policy areasAviation, Coast Guard, Coastal zone management, Common carriers, Communications, Competitiveness, Consumer protection, Highways and highway safety, Inland waterways, Internet, Navigation, Interstate commerce, Marine conservation, Marine fisheries, Merchant Marine, Oceanography, Outer Continental Shelf lands, Panama Canal, Product safety and liability, Rail, Science policy of the United States, Sport, Standards of weights and measures, Tourism, Transportation generally, Weather and climate change
Oversight authorityCoast Guard, CPSC, CPB, Department of Commerce, Department of Transportation, FAA, FCC, FMCSA, FRA, FMC, FTC, MARAD, NASA, NHTSA, NOAA, NIST, NSF, NTIA, NTSB, PHMSA, STB, TSA, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
House counterpartCommittee on Energy and Commerce
Subcommittees
Meeting place
512 Dirksen Senate Building
Website
https://www.commerce.senate.gov/
Rules
    Charles Bolden, nominee for Administrator of NASA, center, and Lori Garver, right, nominee for deputy administrator of NASA, testify at their confirmation hearing before the Committee in 2009.

    History

    The Committee has its roots in the Committee on Commerce and Manufacturers, which served as a standing committee in the early-1800s. This committee was split in two in the 1820s and remained in this configuration until the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946. Under the LRA, the number of standing committees was dramatically decreased to streamline increase congressional efficiency and increase institutional strength. As a result, the Committee on Commerce, the Committee on Manufactures, the Committee on Interstate Commerce, and the Committee on Interoceanic Canals were combined into the United States Senate Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. In 1977, as a part of widespread committee reorganization, the Committee renamed the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and given additional oversight jurisdiction over nonmilitary aeronautical and space sciences, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

    The original progenitors of this committee were:

    Jurisdiction

    In accordance of Rule XXV of the United States Senate, all proposed legislation, messages, petitions, memorials, and other matters relating to the following subjects is referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation:

    1. "Coast Guard;
    2. Coastal zone management;
    3. Communications;
    4. Highway safety;
    5. Inland waterways, except construction;
    6. Interstate commerce;
    7. Marine and ocean navigation, safety, and transportation, including navigational aspects of deepwater ports;
    8. Marine fisheries;
    9. Merchant marine and navigation;
    10. Nonmilitary aeronautical and space sciences;
    11. Oceans, weather, and atmospheric activities;
    12. Panama Canal and interoceanic canals generally, except as provided in subparagraph (c);
    13. Regulation of consumer products and services, including testing related to toxic substances, other than pesticides, and except for credit, financial services, and housing;
    14. Regulation of interstate common carriers, including railroads, buses, trucks, vessels, pipelines, and civil aviation;
    15. Science, engineering, and technology research and development and policy;
    16. Sports;
    17. Standards and measurement;
    18. Transportation; and,
    19. Transportation and commerce aspects of Outer Continental Shelf lands."[2]

    The Senate Commerce Committee is also charged to "study and review, on a comprehensive basis, all matters relating to science and technology, oceans policy, transportation, communications, and consumer affairs, and report thereon from time to time."[3]

    Members, 117th Congress
    Main article: 117th United States Congress
    Majority Minority

    Subcommittees
    Subcommittee Chair Ranking Member
    Aviation and Space   Ted Cruz (R-TX)   Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ)
    Communications, Technology, Innovation and the Internet   John Thune (R-SD)   Brian Schatz (D-HI)
    Manufacturing, Trade, and Consumer Protection   Jerry Moran (R-KS)   Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)
    Science, Oceans, Fisheries, and Weather   Cory Gardner (R-CO)   Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)
    Security   Dan Sullivan (R-AK)   Ed Markey (D-MA)
    Transportation and Safety   Deb Fischer (R-NE)   Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)

    Chairs

    The committee, under its various names, has been chaired by the following senators:[4]

    Committee on Commerce and Manufactures, 1816–1825
    Chair Party State Years
    William Hunter Federalist Rhode Island 1816–1817
    Nathan Sanford Republican New York 1817–1820
    Mahlon Dickerson Republican/Crawford Republican New Jersey 1820–1825

    Committee on Commerce, 1825–1947
    Chair Party State Years
    James Lloyd Adams-Clay Republican/Adams Massachusetts 1825-1826
    Josiah Johnston Adams Louisiana 1826-1827
    Levi Woodbury Jacksonian New Hampshire 1827-1831
    John Forsyth Jacksonian Georgia 1831-1832
    William R. King Jacksonian Alabama 1832-1833
    Nathaniel Silsbee Anti-Jackson Massachusetts 1833-1835
    John Davis Anti-Jackson Massachusetts 1835-1836
    William R. King Jacksonian/Democratic Alabama 1836-1841
    Jabez Huntington Whig Connecticut 1841-1845
    William Haywood Democratic North Carolina 1845-1846
    John Dix Democratic New York 1846-1849
    Hannibal Hamlin Democratic Maine 1849-1856
    Henry Dodge Democratic Wisconsin 1856-1857
    Clement Clay Democratic Alabama 1857-1861
    William Bigler Democratic Pennsylvania 1861
    Zachariah Chandler Republican Michigan 1861-1875
    Roscoe Conkling Republican New York 1875-1879
    John B. Gordon Democratic Georgia 1879-1880
    Matt Ransom Democratic North Carolina 1880-1881
    Roscoe Conkling Republican New York 1881
    Samuel J.R. McMillan Republican Minnesota 1881-1887
    William Frye Republican Maine 1887-1893
    Matt Ransom Democratic North Carolina 1893-1895
    William P. Frye Republican Maine 1895-1911
    Knute Nelson Republican Minnesota 1911-1913
    James P. Clarke Democratic Arkansas 1913-1916
    Duncan U. Fletcher Democratic Florida 1916-1919
    Wesley L. Jones Republican Washington 1919-1930
    Hiram W. Johnson Republican California 1930-1933
    Hubert D. Stephens Democratic Mississippi 1933-1935
    Royal S. Copeland Democratic New York 1935-1939
    Josiah W. Bailey Democratic North Carolina 1939-1946

    Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, 1947–1961
    Chair Party State Years
    Wallace H. White, Jr. Republican Maine 1947-1949
    Edwin C. Johnson Democratic Colorado 1949-1953
    Charles W. Tobey Republican New Hampshire 1953
    John W. Bricker Republican Ohio 1953-1955
    Warren Magnuson Democratic Washington 1955-1961

    Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, 1958-1977
    Chair Party State Years
    Lyndon B. Johnson Democratic Texas 1958-1961
    Robert S. Kerr Democratic Oklahoma 1961-1963
    Clinton P. Anderson Democratic New Mexico 1963-1973
    Frank E. Moss Democratic Utah 1973-1977
    Wendell H. Ford Democratic Kentucky Jan. 10-Feb. 11, 1977

    Committee on Commerce, 1961–1977
    Chair Party State Years
    Warren Magnuson Democratic Washington 1961-1977

    Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, 1977–present
    Chair Party State Years
    Warren Magnuson Democratic Washington 1977–1978
    Howard Cannon Democratic Nevada 1978–1981
    Bob Packwood Republican Oregon 1981–1985
    John C. Danforth Republican Missouri 1985–1987
    Ernest F. Hollings Democratic South Carolina 1987–1995
    Larry Pressler Republican South Dakota 1995–1997
    John McCain Republican Arizona 1997–2001
    Ernest F. Hollings Democratic South Carolina 2001[5]
    John McCain Republican Arizona 2001
    Ernest F. Hollings Democratic South Carolina 2001–2003[6]
    John McCain Republican Arizona 2003–2005
    Ted Stevens Republican Alaska 2005–2007
    Daniel Inouye Democratic Hawaii 2007–2009
    John D. Rockefeller IV Democratic West Virginia 2009–2015
    John Thune Republican South Dakota 2015–2019
    Roger Wicker Republican Mississippi 2019–2021
    Maria Cantwell Democratic Washington 2021–present

    Historical committee rosters

    116th Congress
    Main article: 116th United States Congress
    Majority Minority
    Subcomittees
    Subcommittee Chair Ranking Member
    Aviation and Space   Ted Cruz (R-TX)   Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ)
    Communications, Technology, Innovation and the Internet   John Thune (R-SD)   Brian Schatz (D-HI)
    Manufacturing, Trade, and Consumer Protection   Jerry Moran (R-KS)   Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)
    Science, Oceans, Fisheries, and Weather   Cory Gardner (R-CO)   Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)
    Security   Dan Sullivan (R-AK)   Ed Markey (D-MA)
    Transportation and Safety   Deb Fischer (R-NE)   Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)

    115th Congress
    Majority Minority

    Source[7]

    References
    1. "U.S. Senate Committee On Commerce, Science, & Transportation - About". U.S. Senate Committee On Commerce, Science, & Transportation.
    2. "Rules of the United States Senate". U.S. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration. Retrieved May 31, 2019. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
    3. https://www.rules.senate.gov/rules-of-the-senate
    4. "Chairmen of Senate Standing Committees 1789-present" (PDF). Retrieved September 23, 2020.
    5. At the beginning of the 107th Congress in January 2001 the Senate was evenly divided. With a Democratic president and vice president still serving until January 20, the Democratic vice president was available to break a tie, and the Democrats thus controlled the Senate for 17 days, from January 3 to January 20. On January 3 the Senate adopted S. Res. 7 designating Democratic senators as committee chairmen to serve during this period and Republican chairmen to serve effective at noon on January 20, 2001.
    6. On June 6, 2001, the Democrats took control of the Senate after Senator James Jeffords (VT) changed from the Republican Party to Independent and announced that he would caucus with the Democrats.
    7. "U.S. Senate: Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation". www.senate.gov. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
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