Jump to content

United States House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from House Science Committee)
House Science, Space, and Technology Committee
Standing committee
Active

United States House of Representatives
119th Congress
History
FormedJanuary 3, 1959
Leadership
ChairBrian Babin (R)
Since January 13, 2025
Ranking memberZoe Lofgren (D)
Since January 3, 2023
Structure
Seats40
Political partiesMajority (22)
  •   Republican (22)
Minority (18)
Jurisdiction
Oversight authorityNASA, NSF, NIST, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
Website
science.house.gov (Republican)
democrats-science.house.gov (Democratic)

The Committee on Science, Space, and Technology is a committee of the United States House of Representatives. It has jurisdiction over non-defense federal scientific research and development. More specifically, the committee has complete jurisdiction over the following federal agencies: NASA, NSF, NIST, and the OSTP. The committee also has authority over R&D activities at the Department of Energy, the EPA, FAA, NOAA, the DOT, the NWS, the DHS and the U.S. Fire Administration.[1]

History

[edit]

In the wake of the Soviet Sputnik program in the late 1950s, Congress created the Select Committee on Astronautics and Space Exploration on 5 March 1958, chaired by majority leader John William McCormack. This select committee drafted the National Aeronautics and Space Act that created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). A staff report of the committee, the Space Handbook: Astronautics and its Applications, provided non-technical information about spaceflight to U.S. policy makers.[2]

The committee also chartered the permanent House Committee on Science and Astronautics, which officially began on January 3, 1959, and was the first new standing committee established in the House since 1946. The name was changed in 1974 to the House Committee on Science and Technology. The name was changed again in 1987 to the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. After the Republican Party gained a majority in Congress in 1994, the name of the committee was changed to the House Committee on Science. With the return of control to the Democrats in 2007, the committee's name was changed back to the House Committee on Science and Technology.

During the 112th Congress, which was in session from 2011–2013, committee chair Ralph Hall added "Space" back into the committee's name: "The Committee on Science, Space, and Technology" – a nod to the committee's history, broad jurisdiction, and the importance of space exploration in maintaining American innovation and competitiveness.[3]

Members, 119th Congress

[edit]
Majority Minority

Resolutions electing members: H.Res. 13 (Chair), H.Res. 14 (Ranking Member), H.Res. 42 (R), H.Res. 44 (D), H.Res. 430 (Foster)

Subcommittees

[edit]
Subcommittee Chair[4] Ranking Member[5]
Energy Randy Weber (R-TX) Deborah Ross (D-NC)
Environment Scott Franklin (R-FL) Gabe Amo (D-RI)
Investigations and Oversight Rich McCormick (R-GA) Emilia Sykes (D-OH)
Research and Technology Jay Obernolte (R-CA) Haley Stevens (D-MI)
Space and Aeronautics Mike Haridopolos (R-FL) Valerie Foushee (D-NC)

Committee leadership

[edit]

Chairs and ranking members are listed below.[6][3][7]

Chairs
Name Party State Start End
John McCormack Democratic MA 1958 1959
Overton Brooks Democratic LA 1959 1961
George Miller Democratic CA 1961 1973
Olin Teague Democratic TX 1973 1978
Don Fuqua Democratic FL 1979 1987
Robert Roe Democratic NJ 1987 1991
George Brown Democratic CA 1991 1995
Bob Walker Republican PA 1995 1997
Jim Sensenbrenner Republican WI 1997 2001
Sherwood Boehlert Republican NY 2001 2007
Bart Gordon Democratic TN 2007 2011
Ralph Hall Republican TX 2011 2013
Lamar Smith Republican TX 2013 2019
Eddie Bernice Johnson Democratic TX 2019 2023
Frank Lucas Republican OK 2023 2025
Brian Babin Republican TX 2025 present
Ranking members
Name Party State Start End
Joe Martin Republican MA 1958 1967
James Fulton Republican PA 1967 1973
Charles Mosher Republican OH 1973 1977
John Wydler Republican NY 1977 1981
Larry Winn Republican KY 1981 1985
Manuel Luján Republican NM 1985 1989
Bob Walker Republican PA 1989 1995
George Brown Democratic CA 1995 1999
Ralph Hall Democratic TX 1999 2003
Bart Gordon Democratic TN 2003 2007
Ralph Hall Republican TX 2007 2011
Eddie Bernice Johnson Democratic TX 2011 2019
Frank Lucas Republican OK 2019 2023
Zoe Lofgren Democratic CA 2023 present

Historical membership rosters

[edit]

118th Congress

[edit]
Majority Minority

Resolutions electing members: H.Res. 14 (Chair), H.Res. 15 (Ranking Member), H.Res. 80 (R), H.Res. 87 (D), H.Res. 164 (D), H.Res. 179 (R), H.Res. 205 (D), H.Res. 931 (D)

Subcommittees
Subcommittee Chair[8] Ranking Member[9]
Energy Brandon Williams (R-NY) Jamaal Bowman (D-NY)
Environment Max Miller (R-OH) Deborah Ross (D-NC)
Investigations and Oversight Mike Collins (R-GA) Valerie Foushee (D-NC)
Research and Technology Jay Obernolte (R-CA) Haley Stevens (D-MI)
Space and Aeronautics Brian Babin (R-TX) Eric Sorensen (D-IL)

117th Congress

[edit]
Majority Minority

Resolutions electing members: H.Res. 9 (Chair), H.Res. 10 (Ranking Member), H.Res. 62 (D), H.Res. 63 (R), H.Res. 111 (D), H.Res. 475 (D), H.Res. 602 (R), H.Res. 826 (R)

Subcommittees
Subcommittee Chair[11] Ranking Member[12]
Energy Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) Randy Weber (R-TX)
Environment Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) Stephanie Bice (R-OK)
Investigations and Oversight Bill Foster (D-IL) Jay Obernolte (R-CA)
Research and Technology Haley Stevens (D-MI) Mike Waltz (R-FL)
Space and Aeronautics Don Beyer (D-VA) Brian Babin (R-TX)

116th Congress

[edit]
Majority Minority

Sources: H.Res. 24 (Chair), H.Res. 25 (Ranking Member), H.Res. 67 (D), H.Res. 68 (R), H.Res. 73 (D), H.Res. 264 (R), H.Res. 516 (R), H.Res. 596 (R), H.Res. 712 (D), H.Res. 1037 (R)

Subcommittees

There were five subcommittees in the 116th Congress.[10]

Subcommittee Chair Ranking Member
Energy Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) Randy Weber (R-TX)
Environment Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) Roger Marshall (R-KS)
Investigations and Oversight Bill Foster (D-IL) Ralph Norman (R-SC)
Research and Technology Haley Stevens (D-MI) Jim Baird (R-IN)
Space and Aeronautics Don Beyer (D-VA) Brian Babin (R-TX)

115th Congress

[edit]
Majority[13] Minority[14]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "History and Jurisdiction". House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  2. ^ "Space Handbook: Astronautics and its Applications". NASA.
  3. ^ a b "A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY" (PDF). United States Government. November 7, 2007.
  4. ^ "Chairman Babin Announces SST Subcommittee Rosters and Leadership". House Committee on Science Space & Technology. January 30, 2025.
  5. ^ "Science Committee Democrats Organize and Announce Subcommittee Ranking Members". U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, & Technology. February 5, 2025.
  6. ^ https://republicans-science.house.gov/_cache/files/b/1/b164acf0-738a-490a-8c00-c9b7d827a16d/B71FF8AB1BBC8AA32BA1B49357DFEEB3B497BEFF49413C5BEF95A8CC24D6E196.committee-history-50years.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  7. ^ "Toward the endless frontier : History of the Committee on Science and Technology, 1959-79". 1980.
  8. ^ "Lucas Announces Subcommittee Rosters and Leadership". House Committee on Science Space & Tech - Republicans. 2023-02-09. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  9. ^ "Ranking Member Lofgren Announces Organization of Science Committee Democrats | House Committee on Science, Space and Technology". democrats-science.house.gov. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  10. ^ a b "House Committee on Science, Space and Technology Subcommittees". House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
  11. ^ HOUSE SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS ORGANIZES FOR THE 117TH CONGRESS
  12. ^ Lucas Announces Republican Science Committee Leaders
  13. ^ H.Res. 6, H.Res. 51
  14. ^ H.Res. 7, H.Res. 45, H.Res. 52, H.Res. 95
[edit]