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
NSF may stand for:
Political organizations
*National Socialist Front, a Swedish National Socialist party
*NS-Frauenschaft, the women's wing of the former German Nazi party
*National Students Federation, a leftist Pakistani students' political gr ...
,
NIST
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical sci ...
, and the
OSTP. The Committee also has authority over R&D activities at the
Department of Energy, the
EPA
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...
,
FAA,
NOAA
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...
, the
DOT, the
NWS, the
DHS and the
U.S. Fire Administration
The United States Fire Administration (USFA) is a division of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) located in unincorporated Frederick County, Maryland, near Emmitsburg. Per the official website, "the mission of the U.S. Fire Administr ...
.
History
In the wake of the
Soviet Sputnik program in the late 1950s, Congress created the Select Committee on Astronautics and Space Exploration in 1958, chaired by majority leader
John William McCormack
John William McCormack (December 21, 1891 – November 22, 1980) was an American politician from Boston, Massachusetts. An attorney and a Democrat, McCormack served in the United States Army during World War I, and afterwards won terms in both th ...
. This select committee drafted the
National Aeronautics and Space Act that created the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding th ...
(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.
[
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
Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party.
Republican Party may also refer to:
Africa
*Republican Party (Liberia)
* Republican Part ...
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.
In the 112th Congress, Committee Chairman 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.[
]
Members, 117th Congress
Resolutions electing members: (Chair), (Ranking Member), (D), (R), (D), (D), (R), (R)
Subcommittees
There are five subcommittees in the 117th Congress.
Committee chairs, 1959-present
Chairmen since 1959[
* Overton Brooks (LA), 1959–1961
* ]George P. Miller
George Paul Miller (January 15, 1891 – December 29, 1982) was an American veteran of World War I who served 14 terms as a U.S. Representative from California from 1945 to 1973.
Early life
George Paul Miller was born in San Francisco, Califo ...
(CA), 1961–1973
* Olin E. Teague
Olin Earl "Tiger" Teague (April 6, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was a World War II veteran and congressional representative for Texas's 6th congressional district for 32 years, from 1946 to 1978. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Bi ...
(TX), 1973–1978
* Don Fuqua (FL), 1979–1987
* Robert A. Roe
Robert Aloysius Roe (February 28, 1924 – July 15, 2014) was an American Democratic Party politician who represented New Jersey in the United States House of Representatives from November 4, 1969 to January 3, 1993.
Early life and education
R ...
(NJ), 1987–1991
* George Brown, Jr. (CA), 1991–1995
* Robert Smith Walker
Robert Smith Walker (born December 23, 1942) is a former American politician who represented Pennsylvania in the United States House of Representatives as a Republican from 1977 until his retirement in 1997. He was known for his fiery rhetoric ...
(PA), 1995–1997
* Jim Sensenbrenner
Frank James Sensenbrenner Jr. (; born June 14, 1943) is an American politician who represented in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 2021 (numbered as the 9th district until 2003). He is a member of the Republican Party.
...
(WI), 1997–2001
* Sherwood Boehlert (NY), 2001–2007
* Bart Gordon
Barton Jennings Gordon (born January 24, 1949) is an American politician and former U.S. Representative for , serving from 1985 until 2011. The district includes several rural areas and fast-growing suburbs east of Nashville. He was Chairman of t ...
(TN), 2007–2011
* Ralph Hall (TX), 2011–2013
* Lamar S. Smith
Lamar Seeligson Smith (born November 19, 1947) is an American politician and lobbyist who served in the United States House of Representatives for for 16 terms, a district including most of the wealthier sections of San Antonio and Austin, as ...
(TX), 2013–2019
* Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX), 2019–present
Historical membership rosters
116th Congress
Sources: (Chair), (Ranking Member), (D), (R), (D), (R), (R), (R), (D), (R)
;Subcommittees
There were five subcommittees in the 116th Congress.
115th Congress
See also
* List of current United States House of Representatives committees
References
External links
Official web site
Archive
House Science, Space, and Technology Committee
Legislation activity and reports, Congress.gov.
Republican Science Committee website
!--
Democratic Science Committee website
->
*
*
{{Authority control
Science
House Committee on Science
Space policy of the United States
NASA oversight
Politics of science
1958 establishments in Washington, D.C.
Organizations established in 1958