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.[3] 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 27 members in the 116th Congress. Composed of six subcommittees, the Committee's Chair is Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) and its Ranking Member is Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA). The majority office is housed in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, and the minority office is located in the Hart Senate Office Building.[3]

Senate Commerce Committee

Standing committee
Active United States Senate 116th Congress
History
Formed	February 4, 1977
Leadership
Chair	Roger Wicker (R) Since January 9, 2019[1]
Ranking member	Maria Cantwell (D) Since January 9, 2019[2]
Structure
Political parties	Majority (15)      Republican (15) Minority (12)      Democratic (12)
Jurisdiction
Policy areas	Aviation, 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 authority	Coast 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 counterpart	Committee on Energy and Commerce
Subcommittees
Aviation and Space Communications, Technology, Innovation and the Internet Manufacturing, Trade and Consumer Protection Science, Oceans, Fisheries and Weather Security Transportation and Safety
Meeting place
512 Dirksen Senate Building
Website
https://www.commerce.senate.gov/
Rules
Rule XXV.1.(f), Standing Rules of the Senate

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:

• United States Senate Committee on Commerce and Manufactures (1816–1825)
• United States Senate Committee on Commerce (1825–1946, 1961–1977)
• United States Senate Committee on Manufactures (1825–1855, 1864–1946)
• United States Senate Committee on Interstate Commerce (1885–1946)
• United States Senate Committee on Interoceanic Canals (1899–1946)
• United States Senate Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce (1946–1961)
• United States Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences (1958–1977)

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."[4]

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."[5]

Members, 116th Congress

Main article: 116th United States Congress

Majority	Minority
Roger Wicker, Mississippi, Chair John Thune, South Dakota Roy Blunt, Missouri Ted Cruz, Texas Deb Fischer, Nebraska Jerry Moran, Kansas Dan Sullivan, Alaska Mike Lee, Utah Ron Johnson, Wisconsin Shelley Moore Capito, West Virginia Cory Gardner, Colorado Todd Young, Indiana Rick Scott, Florida Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee	Maria Cantwell, Washington, Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut Brian Schatz, Hawaii Ed Markey, Massachusetts Tom Udall, New Mexico Gary Peters, Michigan Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin Tammy Duckworth, Illinois Jon Tester, Montana Kyrsten Sinema, Arizona Jacky Rosen, Nevada

Members, 115th Congress

Majority	Minority
John Thune, South Dakota, Chair Roger Wicker, Mississippi Roy Blunt, Missouri Ted Cruz, Texas Deb Fischer, Nebraska Jerry Moran, Kansas Dan Sullivan, Alaska Dean Heller, Nevada Jim Inhofe, Oklahoma Mike Lee, Utah Ron Johnson, Wisconsin Shelley Moore Capito, West Virginia Cory Gardner, Colorado Todd Young, Indiana	Bill Nelson, Florida, Ranking Member Maria Cantwell, Washington Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut Brian Schatz, Hawaii Ed Markey, Massachusetts Tom Udall, New Mexico Gary Peters, Michigan Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin Tammy Duckworth, Illinois Maggie Hassan, New Hampshire Catherine Cortez Masto, Nevada Jon Tester, Montana

Source[6]

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)

Chairmen

Committee on Commerce and Manufactures, 1816–1825

Chairman	Party	State	Years
William Hunter	Federalist	Rhode Island	1816–1817
Nathan Sanford	Democratic-Republican	New York	1817–1820
Mahlon Dickerson	Democratic Republican	New Jersey	1820–1825

Committee on Commerce, 1825–1947

Chairman	Party	State	Years
James Lloyd	National Republican	Massachusetts	1825–1826
Josiah Johnston	National Republican	Louisiana	1826–1827
Levi Woodbury	Democratic	New Hampshire	1827–1831
John Forsyth	Democratic	Georgia	1831–1832
William R. King	Democratic	Alabama	1832–1833
Nathaniel Silsbee	Whig	Massachusetts	1833–1835
Robert Henry Goldsborough	Whig	Maryland	1835–1836
John Davis	Whig	Massachusetts	1836–1837
William R. King	Democratic	Alabama	1837–1841
Jabez Huntington	Whig	Connecticut	1841–1845
William Haywood	Democratic	North Carolina	1845–1846
John Adams Dix	Democratic	New York	1846–1849
Hannibal Hamlin	Democratic	Maine	1849–1856
Henry Dodge	Democratic	Wisconsin	1856–1857
Clement Claiborne Clay	Democratic	Alabama	1857–1861
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
Samuel J. R. McMillan	Republican	Maine	1881–1887
William P. Frye	Republican	Maine	1887–1893
Matt Ransom	Democratic	North Carolina	1893–1895
William P. Frye	Republican	Maine	1895–1911
Knute Nelson	Republican	North Dakota	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	1939–1947

Committee on Interstate Commerce, 1887–1947

Chairman	Party	State	Years
Shelby M. Cullom	Republican	Illinois	1887–1893
Matthew Butler	Democratic	South Carolina	1893–1895
Shelby M. Cullom	Republican	Illinois	1895–1901
Stephen Elkins	Republican	West Virginia	1901–1911
Moses E. Clapp	Republican	Minnesota	1911–1913
Francis G. Newlands	Democratic	Nevada	1913–1917
Ellison D. Smith	Democratic	South Carolina	1917–1919
Albert B. Cummins	Republican	Iowa	1919–1924
Ellison D. Smith	Democratic	South Carolina	1924–1925
James E. Watson	Republican	Indiana	1925–1928
James Couzens	Republican	Michigan	1928–1933
Clarence C. Dill	Democratic	Washington	1933–1935
Burton K. Wheeler	Democratic	Montana	1935–1947

Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, 1947–1961

Chairman	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 G. Magnuson	Democratic	Washington	1955–1961

Committee on Commerce, 1961–1977

Chairman	Party	State	Years
Warren G. Magnuson	Democratic	Washington	1961–1977

Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, 1977–present

Chairman	Party	State	Years
Warren G. Magnuson	Democratic	Washington	1977–1978
Howard W. Cannon	Democratic	Nevada	1978–1980
Bob Packwood	Republican	Oregon	1981–1985
John 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
John McCain	Republican	Arizona	2001
Ernest F. Hollings	Democratic	South Carolina	2001–2003
John McCain	Republican	Arizona	2003–2005
Ted Stevens	Republican	Alaska	2005–2007
Daniel K. Inouye	Democratic	Hawaii	2007–2009
Jay Rockefeller	Democratic	West Virginia	2009–2015
John Thune	Republican	South Dakota	2015–2019
Roger Wicker	Republican	Mississippi	2019–present

References

1. "Wicker Named Chairman of the Commerce Committee" (Press release). January 9, 2019. Retrieved February 8, 2020.
2. "Cantwell Outlines Key Issues for Commerce Committee in 116th Congress" (Press release). January 16, 2019. Retrieved February 8, 2020.
3. "U.S. Senate Committee On Commerce, Science, & Transportation - About". U.S. Senate Committee On Commerce, Science, & Transportation.
4. "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.
5. https://www.rules.senate.gov/rules-of-the-senate
6. "U.S. Senate: Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation". www.senate.gov. Retrieved January 8, 2017.

External links

• Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation website (Archive)
• Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. Legislation activity and reports, Congress.gov.