Committee on Energy and Commerce history

Indeed, Senate leaders were thwarted in their attempts to do away with the Committee on Revolutionary Claims as late as 1884 because a number of Senators argued "the committee has always been assigned to the minority of the Senate.

After the Civil War, America's railroads began a rapid expansion. As a result, such regulation fell to the federal government, and the Committee on Interstate Commerce reported the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 establishing federal control over railroad rates and services.

Senator (and former Confederate brigadier general) John T. Morgan of Alabama became the first chairman of the committee and presided over the committee's 1902 Spooner Act report, which authorized the construction of the Panama Canal.

Senator Cullom became its first chairman, where he served for the next 28 years (13 as chairman) until his retirement from the Senate in 1913.

The committee room is a large room, and is a very convenient place for Senators of the minority to assemble." In 1921, the Senate was able to reorganize and reduce the number of standing committees from 73 to 33.

The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 was written to streamline Congress and improve efficiency.

While the Committee on Interoceanic Canals continued to exist until very early 1947, there is little evidence that it produced much additional work.

In 1958, the Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences was established.

United States Capitol Historical Society is a nonprofit and nonpartisan educational organization created in 1962 to promote the history of the Capitol and Congress.

In 1976, the Select Committee to Study the Senate Committee System was created and made recommendations in the form of S. Res.

4, the Committee System Reorganization Amendments of 1977.

The House itself was dramatically transformed by the 1994 elections, bringing in the first Republican majority in forty years.

After 1995, the appeal of the committee to the members of the House was apparent in the steady drive to expand its size to accommodate demand.