The United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) generally considers matters relating to these issues. Its jurisdiction extends beyond these issues to include several more specific areas, as defined by Senate rules.
Measures relating to education, labor, health, and public welfare
Aging
Agricultural colleges
Arts and humanities
Biomedical research and development
Child labor
Convict labor and the entry of goods made by convicts into interstate commerce
Domestic activities of the American Red Cross
Equal employment opportunity
Gallaudet University, Howard University, and St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C.
Individuals with disabilities
Labor standards and labor statistics
Mediation and arbitration of labor disputes
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Mine Safety and Health Administration
Private pension plans
Public health
Railway labor and retirement
Regulation of foreign laborers
Student loans
Wages and hours of labor, including the federal minimum wage
Members, 115th Congress
Source
Members, 111th Congress
The Committee was chaired by Democrat Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts until his death on August 25, 2009. Under seniority rules, Acting Chairman Christopher Dodd was next in line, but chose instead to remain chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. Tom Harkin, next in line for seniority, assumed the chairmanship on September 9, 2009, vacating his post as chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee.
