The House Commerce Committee regulates domestic economic activity and consumer rights in the US. It has five subcommittees dealing with specific areas of economic policy, including commerce, communications, energy and the environment, health, and oversight and investigations. Founded in 1795, its role has grown with the expanding US economy and legal interpretation of the Interstate Commerce Clause.
The House Commerce Committee, formally known as the Energy and Commerce Committee, is a powerful committee within the United States House of Representatives. It has a broad mandate to regulate domestic economic activity in the United States and to act to protect consumer rights. The House Commerce Committee contains five subcommittees that deal with specific aspects of domestic economic policy.
Founded in 1795, the House Commerce Committee, known then as the Commerce and Manufactures Committee, was initially charged with managing interstate commerce and promoting the growth and stability of national manufacturing. As the United States economy became more complicated over the next two centuries, the role of the House Commerce Committee grew larger and more important. New sectors of economic activity, such as telecommunications and the Internet, naturally fell under the jurisdiction of the House Commerce Committee. Increasingly broad legal interpretation of the Interstate Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution also expanded the role of the Committee, as federal power over economic activity also fell within the purview of the Committee. Each of the five standing subcommittees of the House Commerce Committee deals with a specific area of the committee’s legislative responsibility.
The Subcommittee on Commerce, Commerce and Consumer Protection handles most of the original regulatory functions of the Commerce Committee. It also serves as a consumer protection and advocacy agency. This subcommittee is responsible to the Federal Trade Commission, which monitors trade practices and handles consumer product safety issues.
The rise of the Internet has expanded the Committee’s communications portfolio, which is managed by the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet. It deals with the regulation of all matters relating to telecommunications. Check the national and international communication policy.
The Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment directs national energy and environmental policy. This branch of the House Commerce Committee manages the nation’s nuclear industry. Oversees environmental protection legislation, such as the Clean Air Act.
The Health Subcommittee handles legislation and oversees health and medical policy. Food safety is within its remit, as are public health and epidemiology issues. It manages health policy and oversees efforts to control drug abuse.
The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations does not have a narrow and specific mandate. Instead, it serves as the general supervisory arm of the House Commerce Committee. The duties of the House Commerce Committee involve cooperation and oversight from many parts of the United States government, such as the Department of Energy and the Federal Communications Commission, and this subcommittee performs this work.
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