Republican Committe Members

Denny Rehberg, Montana

Jerry Lewis, California

Jack Kingston, Georgia

Kay Granger, Texas

Michael K. Simpson, Idaho

Rodney Alexander, Louisiana

Jeff Flake, Arizona

Cynthia M. Lummis, Wyoming

(The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, n.d.)

Democratic Committee Members

Nita M. Lowey, New York

Rosa L. DeLauro, Connecticut

Lucille Roybal - Allard, California

Jesse L. Jackson, Jr., Illinois

Barbara Lee, California

(The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, n.d.)

Describe committee's purpose. What happens to items approved or denied by the committe?

The Committee on Appropriations is one of many committees within the United States House of Representatives. The main purpose of the Committee on Appropriations is to specifically determine the amount of money spent by the government of the United States. This committee is viewed as a valuable committee with influential members.

The Committee on Appropriations only manages money related to items that have already been approved and put into law.

(M. Seligman, personal communication, April 2, 2012)

List chair, vice-chair, and ranking minority member and duties.

Denny Rehberg, Chairman (E. Jones, personal communication, March 31, 2012) - "A committee chairman is a person who holds an organizational position within a group and has the responsibility for running meetings held by that group" (Cohen, 2012). In addition the chairman is responsible for establishing goals, having action plans, planning committee meetings, and assigning duties to committee members (S. Sweeney, personal communication, April 17, 2012).

Rodney Alexander, Vice-Chair (E. Jones, personal communication, March 31,2012) - As Vice-Chair, Mr. Alexander's responsibility is to assist the chairman. Mr. Alexander may also have to serve as chairman should Mr. Rehberg be absent or unavailable or an item concerning Mr. Rehberg is being discussed among the committee (C. Abel, personal communication, April 17, 2012).

Rosa DeLauro, Ranking Member (E. Jones, personal communication, March 31, 2012) - Ms. DeLauro serves as the highest ranked Democrat on the subcommittee. "She serves as a full serving member of the committee but also cor ales the Democratic party and makes sure the opinions of the Democrats are heard" (anonymous at Rosa DeLauro's office in Washington, D.C., personal communication, April 17. 2012).

Identify a committee members position on this bill.

Kay Granger (TX) voted in favor of allocating the available funds for HR2055 into specific categories. Her positive vote helped make up the 68% of democrats and republicans who voted in favor of the HR 2055 allocations (Open Congress, n.d.).

Specifically, Ms. Granger, referred to the funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Ms. Granger stated, "Nearly three quarters of the CDC's budget is directed to health departments in our local cities and towns. Communities depend on these funds to help keep people safe, healthy, and free from disease. This funding is even more important now because local governments are already struggling to keep prevention programs funded" (house.gov, n.d.)

Choose, identify, and describe a health care bill being considered by the committee.

HR2055 Consolidated Appropriations Act for 2012.


The HR2055 that was put into law in December 2011. The Health and Human Services portion of HR2055 received $69.7 billion. Of this money the Committee on Appropriations disbursed 10.7 % to Health Resources and Services Administration, 11.4% to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2.3 % to the National Institutes of Health, 19.9 % for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, 17.9 % to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 2.4 %Administration for Children and Families, and 5.1 % for Abstinence Education (House Appropriations Committee, 2011).

Are there currently any committee vacancies?

There are currently no committee vacancies (E. Jones, personal communication, April 2, 2012).

References

Cohen, B. (2012). What Are the Duties of a Committee Chairman? Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/list_6656554_duties-committee-chairman_.html?ref=Track2&utm_source=ask

Granger, K. (n.d.). FY2011 Programmatic and Language Requests. Retrieved from http://kaygranger.house.gov/sites/granger.house.gov/files/uploads/FY2011_Requests.pdf

House Appropriations Committee. (2011). Summary: Fiscal Year 2012 Final Consolidated Appropriations Bill. Retrieved from http://appropriations.house.gov/UploadedFiles/12.14.11_Final_FY_2012_Appropriations_Legislation_-_Detailed_Summary.pdf

Open Congress. (n.d.). HR2055. Retrieved from http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-h2055/show

U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations. (n.d.). Labor Subcommittee Members. Retrieved from http://appropriations.house.gov/About/Members/LaborHealthEducation.htm

How would I vote on this bill?

Money must be allocated to seven categories within the Health and Human Services portion of HR2055 by the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Services. I feel that when researching each of the seven areas, there is a tremendous responsibility of this subcommittee to decide how much funding goes into each category, when to increase the amount of funding, as well as when to decrease the amount of funding. In addition, this subcommittee must determine if each category will be funded at all. After reading about each area, I am in agreement with the way each category was funded. I was pleased to read that the subcommittee included the changes that had occurred in each category and how the funding differed from the previous year as well as in regards to the President's request. I also agree with Kay Granger, TX and her stance on funding the Center's for Disease Control because of the tremendous impact health departments have on disease prevention in our communities today. Over all, I was in agreement with the bill.