United States House Committee on Agriculture

The main hearing room for the House Agriculture Committee in 1300 Longworth House Office Building in Washington, D.C.

The U.S. House Committee on Agriculture, or Agriculture Committee is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. The House Committee on Agriculture has general jurisdiction over federal agriculture policy and oversight of some federal agencies, and it can recommend funding appropriations for various governmental agencies, programs, and activities, as defined by House rules.

History of the Agriculture Committee 1
Role of the Agriculture Committee 2
- Jurisdiction 2.1
Members, 113th Congress 3
Subcommittees 4
Chairmen since 1820 5
References 6
See also 7
External links 8

History of the Agriculture Committee

The Agriculture Committee was created on May 3, 1820, after Lewis Williams of North Carolina sponsored a resolution to create the committee and give agricultural issues equal weight with commercial and manufacturing interests. The committee originally consisted of seven members, from the states of Maryland, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont, and Virginia. Thomas Forrest of Pennsylvania was the first chairman. The Agriculture Committee remained a seven-member body until 1835, when two more members were added. It was not until 1871 that the next two members were added. Since then it has gradually grown to its current size of 46 members.

The U.S. Senate counterpart to the House Agriculture Committee, the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, was created on December 9, 1825.

Role of the Agriculture Committee

The Agriculture Committee is not generally considered to be a particularly powerful one. However, it is an important committee to be on for Representatives from many rural areas where agriculture is the main industry. The committee has jurisdiction over agriculture, forestry, nutrition, water conservation, and other agriculture-related fields.

Jurisdiction

As prescribed by House Rules, the Committee on Agriculture's jurisdiction includes the following:

Adulteration of seeds, insect pests, and protection of birds and animals in forest reserves
Agriculture generally
Agricultural and industrial chemistry
Agricultural colleges and experiment stations
Agricultural economics and research
Agricultural education extension services
Agricultural production, marketing and stabilization of prices of agricultural products, and commodities (excluding foreign distribution)
Animal industry and diseases of animals
Commodity exchanges
Crop insurance and soil conservation

Dairy industry
Entomology and plant quarantine
Extension of farm credit and farm security
Inspection of livestock, poultry, meat products, and seafood and seafood products
Forestry in general and forest reserves other than those created from the public domain
Human nutrition and home economics
Plant industry, soils, and agricultural engineering
Rural electrification
Rural development
Water conservation related to activities of the Department of Agriculture

Members, 113th Congress

Majority^[1]	Minority^[2]
Frank Lucas, Oklahoma, Chairman Bob Goodlatte, Virginia, Vice Chairman Steve King, Iowa Randy Neugebauer, Texas Mike Rogers, Alabama^[3] Mike Conaway, Texas Glenn Thompson, Pennsylvania Bob Gibbs, Ohio Austin Scott, Georgia Scott Tipton, Colorado Steve Southerland, Florida Rick Crawford, Arkansas Martha Roby, Alabama Scott DesJarlais, Tennessee Chris Gibson, New York Vicky Hartzler, Missouri Reid Ribble, Wisconsin Kristi Noem, South Dakota Dan Benishek, Michigan^[4] Jeff Denham, California Doug LaMalfa, California Richard Hudson, North Carolina Rodney Davis, Illinois Chris Collins, New York Ted Yoho, Florida	Collin Peterson, Minnesota, Ranking Member Mike McIntyre, North Carolina David Scott, Georgia Jim Costa, California Timothy Walz, Minnesota Kurt Schrader, Oregon Bill Owens, New York Marcia Fudge, Ohio James McGovern, Massachusetts Suzan DelBene, Washington ^[5] Gloria Negrete McLeod, California Filemon Vela, Texas Michelle Lujan Grisham, New Mexico Ann Kuster, New Hampshire Richard Nolan, Minnesota Pete Gallego, Texas William Enyart, Illinois Juan Vargas, California Cheri Bustos, Illinois Sean Patrick Maloney, New York Joe Courtney, Connecticut John Garamendi, California

Subcommittees

Subcommittee	Chair	Ranking Member
Conservation, Energy, and Forestry	Glenn "G.T." Thompson (R-PA)	Tim Walz (D-MN)
Department Operations, Oversight, and Nutrition	Steve King (R-IA)	Marcia Fudge (D-OH)
General Farm Commodities and Risk Management	Mike Conaway (R-TX)	David Scott (D-GA)
Horticulture, Research, Biotechnology, and Foreign Agriculture	Austin Scott (R-GA)	Kurt Schrader (D-OR)
Livestock, Rural Development, and Credit	Rick Crawford (R-AR)	Jim Costa (D-CA)

Source:^[6]

Chairmen since 1820

Chairman	Party	State	Years
Thomas Forrest	Federalist	Pennsylvania	1820-1821
Josiah Butler	Republican	New Hampshire	1821-1823
Stephen Van Rensselaer	National Republican	New York	1823-1829
Ambrose Spencer	National Republican	New York	1829-1831
Erastus Root	Democratic	New York	1831-1833
Abraham Bockee	Democratic	New York	1833-1837
Edmund Deberry	Whig	North Carolina	1837-1845
Joseph H. Anderson	Democratic	New York	1845-1847
Hugh White	Whig	New York	1847-1849
Nathaniel S. Littlefield	Democratic	Maine	1849-1851
John G. Floyd	Democratic	New York	1851-1853
John L. Dawson	Democratic	Pennsylvania	1853-1855
David P. Holloway	Opposition	Indiana	1855-1857
William G. Whiteley	Democratic	Delaware	1857-1859
Martin Butterfield	Republican	New York	1859-1861
Owen Lovejoy	Republican	Illinois	1861-1863
Brutus J. Clay	Union	Kentucky	1863-1865
John Bidwell	Republican	California	1865-1867
Rowland E. Trowbridge	Republican	Michigan	1867-1869
John T. Wilson	Republican	Ohio	1869-1873
Charles Hays	Republican	Alabama	1873-1875
John H. Caldwell	Democratic	Alabama	1875-1877
Augustus W. Cutler	Democratic	New Jersey	1877-1879
James W. Covert	Democratic	New York	1879-1881
Edward K. Valentine	Republican	Nebraska	1881-1883
William H. Hatch	Democratic	Missouri	1883-1889
Edward H. Funston	Republican	Kansas	1889-1891
William H. Hatch	Democratic	Missouri	1891-1895
James W. Wadsworth	Republican	New York	1895-1907
Charles F. Scott	Republican	Kansas	1907-1911
John Lamb	Democratic	Virginia	1911-1913
Asbury F. Lever	Democratic	South Carolina	1913-1919
Gilbert N. Haugen	Republican	Iowa	1919-1931
Marvin Jones	Democratic	Texas	1931-1941
Hampton P. Fulmer	Democratic	South Carolina	1941-1945
John W. Flannagan, Jr.	Democratic	Virginia	1945-1947
Clifford R. Hope	Republican	Kansas	1947-1949
Harold D. Cooley	Democratic	North Carolina	1949-1953
Clifford R. Hope	Republican	Kansas	1953-1955
Harold D. Cooley	Democratic	North Carolina	1955-1967
William R. Poage	Democratic	Texas	1967-1975
Thomas S. Foley	Democratic	Washington	1975-1981
Kika de la Garza	Democratic	Texas	1981-1995
Pat Roberts	Republican	Kansas	1995-1997
Robert F. Smith	Republican	Oregon	1997-1999
Larry Combest	Republican	Texas	1999-2003
Bob Goodlatte	Republican	Virginia	2003-2007
Collin C. Peterson	Democratic	Minnesota	2007-2011
Frank Lucas	Republican	Oklahoma	2011-

References

^ H.Res. 6, H.Res. 17
^ H.Res. 7, H.Res. 22
^ Previously served on the committee from 2003 to 2011
^ Dan Benishek, Jeff Denham, Doug LaMalfa, Richard Hudson, Rodney Davis, Chris Collins, and Ted Yoho are serving their first term on the committee in the 113th Congress. "Lucas Announces New GOP Members to Serve on the Agriculture Committee". Agriculture Committee. December 5, 2012. Retrieved 2011-01-20.
^ The last eleven Democratic members of this committee (DelBene, Negrete McLeod, Vela, Lujan Grisham, Kuster, Nolan, Gallego, Eynart, Vargas, Bustos & Maloney) are new in the 113th Congress.
^ "Lucas Announces New Leadership Team for the Agriculture Committee". Agriculture Committee. December 20, 2012. Retrieved 2011-01-20.

To be added: H.Res. 42 Mr. Courtney (Which party ?).

External links

Agriculture Committee Homepage, official website
Committee Rules (PDF), Agriculte Committee, official website
Past Committee Chairs, Agriculture Committee, official website

Current United States congressional committees

Senate (list)	Aging (Special) Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Appropriations Armed Services Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Budget Commerce, Science, and Transportation Energy and Natural Resources Environment and Public Works Ethics (Select) Finance Foreign Relations Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Indian Affairs Intelligence (Select) Judiciary Narcotics (Caucus) Rules and Administration Small Business and Entrepreneurship Veterans' Affairs

House (list)	Agriculture Appropriations Armed Services Budget Education and the Workforce Energy and Commerce Ethics Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attack in Benghazi (Select) Financial Services Foreign Affairs Homeland Security House Administration Intelligence (Permanent Select) Judiciary Natural Resources Oversight and Government Reform Rules Science, Space and Technology Small Business Transportation and Infrastructure Veterans' Affairs Ways and Means (Whole)

Joint (list)	(Conference) Economic Inaugural Ceremonies (Special) Library Printing Taxation

Defunct committees

United States House Committee on Agriculture