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
Source
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) 1869–1870
Education and Labor, 1870 – 1947
Frederick Sawyer (R-SC) 1870–1873
James W. Flanagan (R-TX) 1873–1875
John J. Patterson (R-SC) 1875–1877
Ambrose Burnside (R-RI) 1877–1879
James E. Bailey (D-TN) 1879–1881
Henry W. Blair (R-NH) 1881–1891
Joseph M. Carey (R-WY) 1891–1893
James H. Kyle (PO–SD) 1893–1895
George Shoup (R-ID) 1895–1897
James H. Kyle (PO–SD) 1897–1901
Louis McComas (R-MD) 1901–1905
Boies Penrose (R-PA) 1905
Jonathan P. Dolliver (R-IA) 1905–1909
William E. Borah (R-ID) 1909–1913
Hoke Smith (D-GA) 1913–1919
William S. Kenyon (R-IA) 1919–1922
William E. Borah (R-ID) 1922–1924
Lawrence C. Phipps (R-CO) 1924–1926
James Couzens (R-MI) 1926–1929
Jesse H. Metcalf (R-RI) 1929–1933
David I. Walsh (D-MA) 1933–1937
Hugo L. Black (D-AL) 1937
Elbert D. Thomas (D-UT) 1937–1945
James E. Murray (D-MT) 1945–1947
Labor and Public Welfare, 1947–1977
Robert A. Taft (R-OH) 1947–1949
Elbert D. Thomas (D-UT) 1949–1951
James E. Murray (D-MT) 1951–1953
H. Alexander Smith (R-NJ) 1953–1955
Lister Hill (D-AL) 1955–1969
Ralph Yarborough (D-TX) 1969–1971
Harrison A. Williams, Jr. (D-NJ) 1971–1977
Harrison A. Williams, Jr. (D-NJ) 1977–1979
Labor and Human Resources, 1979–1999
Harrison A. Williams, Jr. (D-NJ) 1979–1981
Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT) 1981–1987
Ted Kennedy (D-MA) 1987–1995
Nancy Kassebaum (R-KS) 1995–1997
James M. Jeffords (R-VT) 1997–1999
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, 1999–present
James M. Jeffords (R-VT) 1999–2001
Ted Kennedy (D-MA) 2001
James M. Jeffords (R-VT) 2001
Ted Kennedy (D-MA) 2001–2003
Judd Gregg (R-NH) 2003–2005
Michael Enzi (R-WY) 2005–2007
Ted Kennedy (D-MA) 2007–2009
Tom Harkin (D-IA) 2009–2015
Lamar Alexander (R-TN) 2015–present
