The published preliminary inventory of RG 233 for the records from 1789 to 1946 also indicates the wide range of subjects because the inventory often segregates select committee records within each Congress by topic and assigns them separate file numbers. Rather, the chapter is designed to provide a sense of the breadth of subjects and types of documents available for research in select committee records. House of Representatives, National Archives.Ģ2.4 The large number and wide variety of subjects addressed in the select committee records preclude the possibility of mentioning all of them in this chapter. The weather-beaten wharves between Piety and Desire Streets, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1881 from the Select Committee Relative to Appropriations for the Improvement of the Mississippi River.
3 These records not only contain information about the individual committees to which they pertain, but, taken as a whole, they reveal the wide-ranging jurisdictions and diverse roles of select committees in the history of the House.
Nevertheless, select committees, which have been used throughout the history of Congress to respond to unique and difficult issues, continue to be established from time to time to meet special needs.Ģ2.3 This chapter examines records of select committees among the Records of the United States House of Representatives. 2 The committee system is now firmly established in both House and Senate procedure, with the rules of each House establishing a full range of permanent standing committees and assigning jurisdiction of all legislative issues among them.
The third Congress (1793-95), for example, had only three standing committees 1 but approximately 350 select committees. During the earliest Congresses, select committees, created to perform a specific function and terminated when the task was completed, performed the overwhelming majority of the committee work. Since that time, Congress has always relied on committees as the best means to accomplish its work in an orderly, efficient, and expeditious manner.Ģ2.2 The committee system has grown and evolved over the years. Its first committee, a select committee assigned to prepare and report standing rules and orders for House proceedings, was appointed on April 2 and submitted its report five days later. Guide to House Records: Chapter 22 Records of the Select Committees of the House of RepresentativesĬommittee records described in this chapter:Ģ2.1 The House of Representatives achieved a quorum and commenced business on Wednesday, April 1, 1789.
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