Committee of Detail

Examples of Committee of Detail in the following topics:

• Drafting the Final Document

  • The report from the Committee on Detail at the Constitutional Convention constituted the first draft of the United States Constitution.
  • Much of the Committee of Detail's proposal would ultimately be incorporated into the final version of the Constitution without debate.
  • The Convention adjourned from July 26 to August 6 to await the report of the Committee of Detail.
  • Many details recorded by the Committee had never been discussed during the Convention, but the Committee viewed these details as uncontroversial and unlikely to be challenged.
  • The Constitutional Convention adjourned to await the report of the Committee of Detail, which was to produce a first draft of the Constitution.

• The Constitutional Convention

  • Once the Convention had finished amending the first draft from the Committee of Detail, a new set of unresolved questions were sent to several different committees for resolution.
  • During the Convention's late July recess, the Committee of Detail had inserted language that would prohibit the federal government from attempting to ban international slave trading, and from imposing taxes on the purchase or sale of slaves.
  • This committee helped work out a compromise: In exchange for this concession, the federal government's power to regulate foreign commerce would be strengthened by provisions that allowed for taxation of slave trades in the international market and that reduced the requirement for passage of navigation acts from two-thirds majorities of both houses of Congress to simple majority.
  • The Three-Fifths Compromise was a compromise between Southern and Northern states reached during the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 in which three-fifths of the enumerated population of slaves would be counted for representation purposes regarding both the distribution of taxes and the apportionment of the members of the United States House of Representatives.
  • "Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States," by Howard Chandler Christy (1940).

• The Committee System

  • Committee membership enables members to develop specialized knowledge of the matters under their jurisdiction.
  • Since 1761, the growing autonomy of committees has fragmented the power of each congressional chamber as a unit.
  • With the growing responsibilities of the Senate, the committees gradually grew to be the key policy-making bodies of the Senate, instead of merely technical aids to the chamber.
  • By 1906, the Senate maintained 66 standing and select committees—eight more committees than members of the majority party.
  • The House relied primarily on the Committee of the Whole to handle the bulk of legislative issues.

• The Staff System

  • Congressional staff are employees of the United States Congress or individual members of Congress.
  • Congressional staff are employees of the United States Congress or individual members of Congress.
  • Each congressional committee has a staff of varying size.
  • Majority and minority members hire their own staff, with the exception of two committees in each house: the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in the House, and the Select Committee on Ethics and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in the Senate.
  • In 2000, House committees had an average of 68 staff, and Senate committees an average of 46.

• Congressional Campaign Committees

  • The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is the Democratic Hill committee for the United States House of Representatives, working to elect Democrats to that body.
  • The structure of the committee consists, essentially, of the Chairperson, their staff, and other Democratic members of Congress that serve in roles supporting the functions of the committee.
  • Of the four congressional campaign committees, the DCCC, with a staff of 25, has the largest in-house research department.
  • The position of DCCC committee chair was assumed by Rahm Emanuel after the death of the previous chair, Bob Matsui at the end of the 2004 election cycle.
  • Pete Sessions (TX-32) , and an executive committee composed of Republican members of the U.S.

• Conference Committee

  • A conference committee is a committee of Congress appointed by the House and Senate to resolve disagreements on a particular bill.
  • A conference committee is a committee of Congress appointed by the House of Representatives and Senate to resolve disagreements on a particular bill.
  • The conference committee is usually composed of the senior members of the standing committees of each house that originally considered the legislation.
  • The conference committee produces a conference report melding the work of the House and Senate into a final version of the bill.
  • Explain the function of the conference committee in the legislative process

• The First Continental Congress

  • The first Continental Congress was influenced by Correspondence Committees.
  • The Committees of Correspondence rallied opposition on common causes and established plans for collective action.
  • The group of committees was the beginning of what later became a formal political union among the colonies.
  • Committee members became the leaders of the American resistance to the British.
  • The committees gradually extended their influence to many aspects of American public life.

• The Conflict-Resolution Function

  • It is assigned a number and referred to a committee.
  • A chair who belongs to the majority party and a ranking member of the minority party lead each committee.
  • Committees may also amend the bill, but the full house holds the power to accept or reject committee amendments.
  • It begins with an enacting formula such as "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled. " Consideration of a bill requires, itself, a rule which is a simple resolution specifying the particulars of debate—time limits, possibility of further amendments, and such.
  • Committee members sit in the tiers of raised chairs, while individuals testifying and audience members sit below.

• Committee Deliberation

  • Standing committees meet at least once each month.
  • Almost all standing committee meetings for transacting business must be open to the public unless the committee votes, publicly, to close the meeting.
  • Each committee is led by a chair who belongs to the majority party and a ranking member of the minority party.
  • Committees may also amend the bill, but the full house holds the power to accept or reject committee amendments.
  • In this respect, this is how bills "die" in committees.

• The Cost of Maintaining the Government

  • The cost of maintaining the United States government is a lengthy budgetary process, requiring approval from many governmental committees.
  • Harding, established The Bureau of the Budget, OMB's predecessor, as a part of the Department of the Treasury.
  • The Houseand Senate Budget Committees begin consideration of the President's budget proposals in February and March.
  • In general, an Authorizing Committee, through enactment of legislation, must authorize funds for Federal Government programs.
  • Then, through subsequent acts by Congress, the Appropriations Committee of the House then appropriates budget authority.