U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy - Joint Ocean Commission Initiative

CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES ANDSUBCOMMITTEES WITH JURISDICTIONOVER OCEAN AND COASTAL ISSUESThe primary institutions for policy and legislativedevelopment in Congress are the standing committeesof the House and Senate. As the level ofassertiveness of Congress has fluctuated over theyears, its committee structure and power have alsobeen subject to change. Congressional policy activismof the 1970s and 1980s, for example, resulted in theproliferation of the number of standing committeesand subcommittees in both chambers. In the 100thCongress (1987–88), there were over 280 permanentjurisdictional entities in the House and Senate.Reform in the mid-1990s realigned and consolidateda significant portion of the committee system; in the108th Congress (2003–04), there are slightly morethan 200 standing committees and subcommittees.Despite the reduction in the number of jurisdictionalentities overall, the legislative and oversightresponsibilities with respect to ocean and coastalissues in the United States Congress are spread acrossmore than one-quarter of its committees and subcommittees.Some panels exercise more direct and broaderjurisdiction over ocean policy than others, but alllisted in this appendix have an important role in thecollective and cumulative programmatic and budgetarydecisions of Congress that define such policy.It should be noted that the following identificationand characterization of congressional committeeocean policy jurisdiction in the 108th Congress isnot intended to be authoritative. Committee jurisdiction,although defined by the rules of each chamber,is an evolving concept affected by years of bill referralprecedents and changing procedures occasionedby periodic reorganization and reform efforts. At aminimum, practically every Congress experiencessome realignment in the subcommittee structure ofone or more standing committees.The built-in tension in the modern-day Congressbetween its representational role and agenda-settingand legislative responsibilities affect many differentcongressional processes, including the policy coherenceof its committee structure. This appendix isillustrative of the breadth of committee and subcommitteeinvolvement in ocean and coastal policy oversightand management in the 108th Congress. Thecurrent distribution of authority over the laws andpolicies of the nation’s ocean and coastal activitiesamong a broad suite of fifty-eight congressional committeesand subcommittees highlights the difficultyof policy coordination in the legislative branch of thefederal government similar, perhaps, to that experiencedin the executive branch.In addition to the jurisdictional entities listedbelow, there are other standing committees in theSenate and House that indirectly impact ocean andcoastal policy through important legislative authorityover broader governmental and cross-cutting issues,such as: executive branch organization; taxes, customs,duties, and trade policies; health sciences;Indian affairs; labor standards and safety regulations;and other related matters.There have been efforts from time to time to bettercoordinate ocean policy development in Congress.In the 1970s, a temporary select committee composedof members from the various standing units of jurisdictionwas established in the House to rewrite thefederal offshore oil and gas law. Also, around the sametime, the Senate authorized the CommerceCommittee to establish the National Ocean PolicyStudy (NOPS), a non-legislative cross-Senate entitythat included ex officio representation by Membersfrom other committees with similar jurisdictionalinterests. Operated in many ways as a broad oceanpolicy oversight subcommittee, NOPS has been inactivesince 1994. A more recent initiative was theestablishment in the 106th Congress of the HouseOceans Caucus, composed of a broad bipartisanmembership of the House of Representatives. Likeother congressional caucuses, it possesses no legislativeauthority but provides a voice within the Housefor Members interested in ocean and coastal issues.F 2A N O CEAN B LUEPRINT FOR THE 21ST C ENTURY