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 welfareAgingAgricultural collegesArts and humanitiesBiomedical research and developmentChild laborConvict labor and the entry of goods made by convicts into interstate commerceDomestic activities of the American Red CrossEqual employment opportunityGallaudet University, Howard University, and St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C.Individuals with disabilitiesLabor standards and labor statisticsMediation and arbitration of labor disputesOccupational Safety and Health AdministrationMine Safety and Health AdministrationPrivate pension plansPublic healthRailway labor and retirementRegulation of foreign laborersStudent loansWages and hours of labor, including the federal minimum wageSource
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.
Source: 2010 Congressional Record, Vol. 156, Page S6226 ,
The chairman of the committee is Democrat Tom Harkin of Iowa, and the Ranking Member is Republican Mike Enzi of Wyoming.
Source: 2011 Congressional Record, Vol. 157, Page S557
Source: 2013 Congressional Record, Vol. 159, Page S296 to 297
The committee has had other subcommittees in the past, such as:
the Subcommittee on Migratory Labor during the 1950s through 1970s.the Subcommittee on Health and Scientific Research during the 1970s.the Subcommittee Investigating Violations of Free Speech and the Rights of Labor, informally known as the "La Follette Civil Liberties Committee"Charles D. Drake (R-MO) 1869–1870Education and Labor, 1870 – 1947
Frederick Sawyer (R-SC) 1870–1873James W. Flanagan (R-TX) 1873–1875John J. Patterson (R-SC) 1875–1877Ambrose Burnside (R-RI) 1877–1879James E. Bailey (D-TN) 1879–1881Henry W. Blair (R-NH) 1881–1891Joseph M. Carey (R-WY) 1891–1893James H. Kyle (PO–SD) 1893–1895George Shoup (R-ID) 1895–1897James H. Kyle (PO–SD) 1897–1901Louis McComas (R-MD) 1901–1905Boies Penrose (R-PA) 1905Jonathan P. Dolliver (R-IA) 1905–1909William E. Borah (R-ID) 1909–1913Hoke Smith (D-GA) 1913–1919William S. Kenyon (R-IA) 1919–1922William E. Borah (R-ID) 1922–1924Lawrence C. Phipps (R-CO) 1924–1926James Couzens (R-MI) 1926–1929Jesse H. Metcalf (R-RI) 1929–1933David I. Walsh (D-MA) 1933–1937Hugo L. Black (D-AL) 1937Elbert D. Thomas (D-UT) 1937–1945James E. Murray (D-MT) 1945–1947Labor and Public Welfare, 1947–1977
Robert A. Taft (R-OH) 1947–1949Elbert D. Thomas (D-UT) 1949–1951James E. Murray (D-MT) 1951–1953H. Alexander Smith (R-NJ) 1953–1955Lister Hill (D-AL) 1955–1969Ralph Yarborough (D-TX) 1969–1971Harrison A. Williams, Jr. (D-NJ) 1971–1977Harrison A. Williams, Jr. (D-NJ) 1977–1979Labor and Human Resources, 1979–1999
Harrison A. Williams, Jr. (D-NJ) 1979–1981Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT) 1981–1987Ted Kennedy (D-MA) 1987–1995Nancy Kassebaum (R-KS) 1995–1997James M. Jeffords (R-VT) 1997–1999Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, 1999–present
James M. Jeffords (R-VT) 1999–2001Ted Kennedy (D-MA) 2001James M. Jeffords (R-VT) 2001Ted Kennedy (D-MA) 2001–2003Judd Gregg (R-NH) 2003–2005Michael Enzi (R-WY) 2005–2007Ted Kennedy (D-MA) 2007–2009Tom Harkin (D-IA) 2009–2015Lamar Alexander (R-TN) 2015–present 
