Sen. Scott Joins Powerful Finance Committee, Banking Committee

Washington – U.S. Senator Tim Scott will join the powerful Senate Finance Committee for the 114th Congress, along with the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. Scott also keeps his assignments to the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, and Committee on Aging. Scott becomes the first Senator from South Carolina to sit on the Finance Committee since Senator James Hammond in 1861.

“I am excited to join both the Finance and Banking Committees for the 114th Congress, and to continue my work on the HELP, Small Business and Aging Committees,” Senator Scott said. “These committees will help me serve the people of South Carolina on a wide variety of issues, and provide a strong foundation to continue my Growth and Opportunity Agenda focused on job creation, education and economic growth.”

The Committee on Finance concerns itself with matters relating to: taxation and other revenue measures generally, and those relating to the insular possessions; bonded debt of the United States; customs, collection districts, and ports of entry and delivery; reciprocal trade agreements; tariff and import quotas, and related matters thereto; the transportation of dutiable goods; deposit of public moneys; general revenue sharing; health programs under the Social Security Act, including Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and other health and human services programs financed by a specific tax or trust fund; and national social security.

The Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs’ jurisdiction includes, but is not limited to: banking, insurance, financial markets, securities, housing, urban development and mass transit, international trade and finance, and economic policy.

The Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions encompasses most of the agencies, institutes, and programs of the Department of Health and Human Services, including the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the Administration on Aging, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, federal education issues, most federal labor and employment laws, and private retirement plans and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation through the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and over railroad retirement.

The Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship is directed under the standing rules of the United States Senate to be referred all proposed legislation, messages, petitions, memorials, and other matters relating to the Small Business Administration (SBA), and shall also study and survey by means of research and investigation all problems of American small business enterprises, and report thereon from time to time.

The Special Committee on Aging has served as a focal point in the Senate for discussion and debate on matters relating to older Americans.