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A congressional committee is a legislative sub-organization in the United States Congress that handles a specific duty (rather than the general duties of Congress). Committee membership enables members to develop specialized knowledge of the matters under their jurisdiction. As "little legislatures", the committees monitor ongoing governmental operations, identify issues suitable for legislative review, gather and evaluate information, and recommend courses of action to their parent body. Woodrow Wilson once wrote, "it is not far from the truth to say that Congress in session is Congress on public exhibition, whilst Congress in its committee rooms is Congress at work."〔Woodrow Wilson, "(Congressional Government )", 1885, quoted in the JCOC Final Report. 〕 It is neither expected nor possible that a member of Congress be an expert on all matters and subject areas that come before Congress.〔English (2003), pp. 46–47〕 Congressional committees provide valuable informational services to Congress by investigating and reporting about specialized subjects. Congress divides its legislative, oversight, and internal administrative tasks among approximately 200 committees and subcommittees. Within assigned areas, these functional subunits gather information; compare and evaluate legislative alternatives; identify policy problems and propose solutions; select, determine, and report measures for full chamber consideration; monitor executive branch performance (oversight); and investigate allegations of wrongdoing.〔(Committee Types and Roles ), ''Congressional Research Service'', April 1, 2003〕 While this investigatory function is important, procedures such as the House discharge petition process (the process of bringing a bill onto the floor without a committee report or mandatory consent from its leadership) are so difficult to implement that committee jurisdiction over particular subject matter of bills has expanded into semi-autonomous power. Of the 73 discharge petitions submitted to the full House from 1995 through 2007, only one was successful in securing a definitive yea-or-nay vote for a bill.〔Source on discharge petitions since 1997: Beginning with the 105th Congress, the House Clerk lists discharge petitions per Congress at its (website, )〕 The growing autonomy of committees has fragmented the power of each congressional chamber as a unit. This dispersion of power has possibly weakened the Legislative Branch relative to the other branches of the federal government, i.e., the Executive Branch, the courts. In his often cited article ''History of the House of Representatives'', written in 1961, American scholar George B. Galloway (1898–1967) said: "In practice, Congress functions not as a unified institution, but as a collection of semi-autonomous committees that seldom act in unison." Galloway went on to cite committee autonomy as a factor interfering with the adoption of a coherent legislative program.〔George B. Galloway, ''History of the House of Representatives'' (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1961), pp. 99–100.〕 That autonomy remains a characteristic feature of the committee system in Congress today. ==History== In 1932, a reform movement temporarily reduced the number of signatures required on discharge petitions in the U.S. House of Representatives from a constitutional majority of 218 down to 145, i.e., from one-half to one-third of the House membership. This reform was abolished in a 1935 counterattack led by the intra-House oligarchy.〔''Cannon's Precedents'', vol. 7, sect. 1007, gives a short history of the discharge rules from early times to 1935. In 1910 the House established the first known discharge rule since the Civil War. In 1924 the House passed the rule requiring Congressmen's signatures on discharge petitions, and the required number of signatories was 150. , 110th Congress, ''Congressional Research Service'', January 25, 2007〕 There are no limits on the number of subcommittees in the U.S. Senate. Congress has convened several other temporary review committees to analyze and make recommendations on ways to reform and improve the committee system. For example, the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 led to further reforms to open Congress to further public visibility, strengthen its decision-making capacities, and augment minority rights. The 1970 Act provided for recorded teller votes in the House's Committee of the Whole; allowed minority party committee members to call their own witnesses during a day of hearings; established the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs; and enhanced the research capabilities of two legislative support agencies: the Congressional Research Service and the General Accounting Office. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「United States congressional committee」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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