Summary

News

About

Jurisdiction

The Committee on Education and Labor’s purpose is to ensure that Americans’ needs are addressed so that students and workers may move forward in a changing school system and a competitive global economy.

The committee and its five subcommittees oversee education and workforce programs that affect all Americans, from early learning through secondary education, from job training through retirement.

The Committee on Education and Labor Democrats’ goal is to keep America strong by increasing education opportunities for students, by making it easier to send young adults to college, and by helping workers find job training and retirement security for a better future. The following education issues are under the jurisdiction of the Committee:

Education

The Committee on Education and Labor oversees federal programs and initiatives dealing with education at all levels — from preschool through high school to higher education and continuing education. These include:

• Elementary and secondary education initiatives, including the No Child Left Behind Act, school choice for low-income families, special education (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), teacher quality & teacher training, scientifically-based reading instruction, and vocational and technical education;
• Higher education programs (the Higher Education Act), to support college access for low and middle-income students and help families pay for college;
• Early childhood & preschool education programs including Head Start;
• School lunch and child nutrition programs;
• Financial oversight of the U.S. Department of Education;
• Programs and services for the care and treatment of at-risk youth, child abuse prevention, and child adoption;
• Educational research and improvement;
• Adult education; and
• Anti-poverty programs, including the Community Services Block Grant Act and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).

Labor

The Committee on Education and Labor also hold jurisdiction over labor initiatives aimed at strengthening health care, job training, and retirement security for workers. Labor issues in the jurisdiction of the Committee include:

• Pension and retirement security for U.S. workers;
• Access to quality health care for working families and other employee benefits;
• Job training, adult education, and workforce development initiatives, including those under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WOIA), to help local communities train and retrain workers;
• Protecting the right to organize and collectively bargain;
• Worker health and safety, including occupational safety and health;
• Equal employment opportunity and civil rights in employment;
• Wages and hours of labor, including the Fair Labor Standards Act;
• Expanding sick, family, and medical leave;
• All matters dealing with relationships between employers and employees.

Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education

Education from early learning through the high school level, including but not limited to early care and education programs such as the Head Start Act and the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act, special education, and homeless and migrant education; overseas dependent schools; career and technical education; school climate and safety, including alcohol and drug abuse prevention; educational equity, including facilities; educational research and improvement, including the Institute of Education Sciences; and pre-service and in-service teacher professional development, including Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and Title II of the Higher Education Act.

Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Investment

Education and workforce development beyond the high school level, including but not limited to higher education generally, postsecondary student assistance and employment services, and the Higher Education Act, including campus safety and climate; adult education; postsecondary career and technical education, apprenticeship programs, and workforce development, including but not limited to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, vocational rehabilitation, and workforce development programs from immigration fees; programs related to the arts and humanities, museum and library services, and arts and artifacts indemnity; science and technology programs; and domestic volunteer programs and national service programs, including the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Subcommittee on Workforce Protections

Wages and hours of workers including, but not limited to, the Davis-Bacon Act, the Walsh-Healey Act, the Service Contract Act, and the Fair Labor Standards Act; workers’ compensation including the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act, the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, and the Black Lung Benefits Act; the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act; the Family and Medical Leave Act; the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act; the Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988; trade and immigration issues as they impact employers and workers; and workers’ safety and health including, but not limited to, occupational safety and health, mine safety and health, and migrant and agricultural worker safety and health.

Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions

Matters dealing with relationships between employers and employees, including but not limited to the National Labor Relations Act, the Labor-Management Relations Act, and the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act; the Bureau of Labor Statistics; and employment-related health and retirement security, including but not limited to pension, health, other employee benefits, and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Human Services

Matters relating to equal employment opportunities and civil rights generally; welfare reform programs, including but not limited to work incentive programs and welfare-to-work requirements; poverty and human services programs, including but not limited to the Community Services Block Grant Act and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program; the Native American Programs Act; school lunch and child nutrition programs; matters dealing with programs and services for the elderly, including but not limited to nutrition programs and the Older Americans Act; adolescent development programs, including but not limited to those providing for the care and treatment of certain at-risk youth such as the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act and the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act; and matters dealing with child abuse and domestic violence, including but not limited to the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act and child adoption.

Source: Committee website

Members

Republican Members (Majority)
Chair: Virginia Foxx, North Carolina
Joe Wilson, South Carolina, Vice Chair
Duncan D. Hunter, California
Phil Roe, Tennessee
Glenn Thompson, Pennsylvania
Tim Walberg, Michigan
Brett Guthrie, Kentucky
Todd Rokita, Indiana
Lou Barletta, Pennsylvania
Luke Messer, Indiana
Bradley Byrne, Alabama
Dave Brat, Virginia
Glenn Grothman, Wisconsin
Elise Stefanik, New York
Rick W. Allen, Georgia
Jason Lewis, Minnesota
Francis Rooney, Florida
Paul Mitchell, Michigan
Tom Garrett, Virginia
Lloyd Smucker, Pennsylvania
Drew Ferguson, Georgia
Ron Estes, Kansas
Karen Handel, Georgia

Democratic Members (Minority)
Ranking Member: Bobby Scott, Virginia
Susan Davis, California
Raúl Grijalva, Arizona
Joe Courtney, Connecticut
Marcia Fudge, Ohio
Jared Polis, Colorado
Gregorio Sablan, Northern Mariana Islands
Frederica Wilson, Florida
Suzanne Bonamici, Oregon, Vice Ranking Member
Mark Takano, California
Alma Adams, North Carolina
Mark DeSaulnier, California
Donald Norcross, New Jersey
Lisa Blunt Rochester, Delaware
Raja Krishnamoorthi, Illinois
Carol Shea-Porter, New Hampshire
Adriano Espaillat, New York

History

The current House Committee on Education and Labor was established on January 3, 2019. The Committee’s basic jurisdiction is over education and labor matters generally, including oversight over matters related to higher and early education, workforce development and protections, and health, employment, labor, and pensions.

The first Committee of jurisdiction, the Committee on Education and Labor, was established on March 21, 1867, in the aftermath of the Civil War and the growth of American industry. On December 19, 1883, the Committee on Education and the Workforce, Democrats was divided into two standing committees: Committee on Education and Committee on Labor. On January 2, 1947, the Legislative Reorganization Act, again, combined the Committees and renamed it the Committee on Education and the Workforce, Democrats. On January 4, 1995, the Committee was renamed the Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities. On January 7, 1997, the Committee was renamed the Committee on Education and the Workforce. On January 4, 2007, the Committee adopted its original name: the Committee on Education and Labor, and on January 5, 2011, the Committee was renamed the Committee on Education and the Workforce. Finally, on January 3, 2019, the Committee was renamed again as the Committee on Education and Labor.

Source: Committee website

Contact

Locations

Education and Labor Committee
2176 Rayburn House Office Building Washington DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-3725

Web Links

• Government Site
• House Telephone Directory
• The United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
• OnAir Post: Education and the Workforce
• Chair, Virginia Foxx,
• Ranking Member, Bobby Scott
• Wikipedia
• Twitter
• YouTube
• Facebook
• Instagram

Legislation

Bills

Source: Committee website

Markups

Source: Committee website

Hearings

Source: Committee website

Subcommittees

Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education

Source: Committee Website

Education from early learning through the high school level, including but not limited to elementary and secondary education, special education, homeless education, and migrant education; overseas dependent schools; career and technical education; school safety and alcohol and drug abuse prevention; school lunch and child nutrition programs; educational research and improvement including the Institute of Education Sciences; environmental education; pre-service and in-service teacher professional development including Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and Title II of the Higher Education Act; early care and education programs including the Head Start Act and the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act; adolescent development programs, including but not limited to those providing for the care and treatment of certain at-risk youth, including the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act and the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act; and all matters dealing with child abuse and domestic violence, including the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act and child adoption.

Republican Members (Majority)
Chair: Aaron Bean, Florida
Glenn Thompson, Pennsylvania
Burgess Owens, Utah
Lisa McClain, Michigan
Mary Miller, Illinois
Michelle Steel, California
Kevin Kiley, California
Nathaniel Moran, Texas

Democratic Members (Minority)
Ranking Member: Suzanne Bonamici, Oregon
Raúl Grijalva, Arizona
Gregorio Sablan, Northern Mariana Islands
Jahana Hayes, Connecticut
Jamaal Bowman, New York
Frederica Wilson, Florida
Mark DeSaulnier, California
Donald Norcross, New Jersey

Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions

Source: Committee Website

All matters dealing with relationships between employers and employees, including but not limited to the National Labor Relations Act, the Labor-Management Relations Act, and the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act; the Bureau of Labor Statistics; and employment-related health and retirement security, including pension, health, and other employee benefits and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

Republican Members (Majority)
Chair: Bob Good, Virginia
Rick W. Allen, Georgia
Joe Wilson, South Carolina
Tim Walberg, Michigan
Jim Banks, Indiana
Lloyd Smucker, Pennsylvania
Michelle Steel, California
Aaron Bean, Florida
Eric Burlison, Missouri
Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Oregon
Erin Houchin, Indiana

Democratic Members (Minority)
Ranking Member: Mark DeSaulnier, California
Joe Courtney, Connecticut
Donald Norcross, New Jersey
Susan Wild, Pennsylvania
Lucy McBath, Georgia
Haley Stevens, Michigan
Frank J. Mrvan, Indiana
Kathy Manning, North Carolina

Higher Education and Workforce Investment

Source: Committee Website

Education and workforce development beyond the high school level, including but not limited to higher education generally, postsecondary student assistance and employment services, and the Higher Education Act; Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972; all domestic volunteer programs; all programs related to the arts and humanities, museum and library services, and arts and artifacts indemnity; postsecondary career and technical education, apprenticeship programs, and workforce development, including the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, vocational rehabilitation, and workforce development programs from immigration funding; science and technology programs; adult basic education (family literacy); all welfare reform programs, including work incentive programs and welfare-to-work requirements; poverty programs, including the Community Services Block Grant Act and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP); the Native American Programs Act; the Institute of Peace; and all matters dealing with programs and services for the elderly including nutrition programs and the Older Americans Act.

Republican Members (Majority)
Chair: Burgess Owens, Utah
Glenn Thompson, Pennsylvania
Glenn Grothman, Wisconsin
Elise Stefanik, New York
Jim Banks, Indiana
Lloyd Smucker, Pennsylvania
Bob Good, Virginia
Nathaniel Moran, Texas
John James, Michigan
Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Oregon
Erin Houchin, Indiana
Brandon Williams, New York

Democratic Members (Minority)
Ranking Member: Frederica Wilson, Florida
Mark Takano, California
Pramila Jayapal, Washington
Teresa Leger Fernandez, New Mexico
Kathy Manning, North Carolina
Lucy McBath, Georgia
Raúl Grijalva, Arizona
Gregorio Sablan, Northern Mariana Islands
Joe Courtney, Connecticut
Suzanne Bonamici, Oregon
Alma Adams, North Carolina

Workforce Protections

Source: Committee Website

Wages and hours of workers, including but not limited to the Davis-Bacon Act, the Walsh-Healey Act, the Service Contract Act, and the Fair Labor Standards Act; workers’ compensation including the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act, the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, and the Black Lung Benefits Act; the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act; the Family and Medical Leave Act; the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act; the Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988; trade and immigration issues as they affect employers and workers; workers’ safety and health, including but not limited to occupational safety and health, mine safety and health, and migrant and agricultural worker safety and health; and all matters related to equal employment opportunity and civil rights in employment.

Republican Members (Majority)
Chair: Kevin Kiley, California
Glenn Grothman, Wisconsin
Elise Stefanik, New York
James Comer, Kentucky
Mary Miller, Illinois
Eric Burlison, Missouri

Democratic Members (Minority)
Ranking Member: Mark Takano, California
Raúl Grijalva, Arizona
Alma Adams, North Carolina
Mark DeSaulnier, California
Donald Norcross, New Jersey
Raja Krishnamoorthi, Illinois
Carol Shea Porter, New Hampshire

More Information

Resources

Source: Committee website

Campaign Finance

Source: Open Secrets webpages