Typically, both representatives and senators belong to at least two committees. The majority and minority party leadership in both bodies assigns members to committees according to their interests and the interests of the part of the country they represent. An attempt is made to get geographic and political diversity on the committees as well as subject expertise. For example, most members of the judiciary committees are lawyers. Power within the committees is weighted in favor of whichever political party controls the chamber since the majority party selects the committee chairs and has the most members on each committee.

In the House, committee chairs are elected at a party caucus at the beginning of each two-year congressional session. They usually are the most senior majority party members on the committees, but not always. In the Senate, the full Senate elects committee chairs according to seniority. A committee chair appoints professional staff to assist the committee, sets the committee schedule, determines what bills will be discussed, what expert witnesses will be called to testify, when public hearings will take place and when -- and if -- prospective legislation will be voted on by the committee. Subcommittee chairs are generally chosen by the full committees. The most senior committee member of the minority party is referred to as the ranking minority member.

Traditionally, the committees with primary responsibility for foreign affairs are the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House International Relations Committee. The two panels oversee the nation's foreign policy and authorize the international affairs budget, which provides funding for the State Department and foreign assistance programs.

The most important difference between the two committees is that the Senate panel makes recommendations to the full Senate on ratification of treaties and consent to the appointment of diplomatic officials including the Secretary of State and U.S. ambassadors. The Constitution grants sole authority for these responsibilities to the Senate.

The House International Relations Committee currently has five subcommittees. Three are regional -- Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Western Hemisphere -- and two are functional -- International Economic Policy and Trade, and International Operations and Human Rights. In previous sessions, there also was a subcommittee for Europe and the Middle East, but that responsibility now belongs to the full committee.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has seven subcommittees. Five are geographic -- African Affairs, East Asian and Pacific Affairs, European Affairs, Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, and Western Hemisphere and Peace Corps Affairs -- while two are functional -- International Economic Policy, Export and Trade Promotion; and International Operations.

In recent years the Appropriations Committees of the House and Senate have become more influential in foreign policy because of the frequent failure of Congress to pass authorizing legislation for foreign aid. Since 1980 the International Relations and Foreign Relations Committees have only once -- in 1985 -- been able to get an overall foreign aid authorization bill through Congress and signed into law. The reason, say congressional sources, is because it is hard to get a consensus on legislation dealing with a broad range of foreign aid programs. What has happened, instead, is that on a case by case basis, where consensus exists, separate authorizing bills are passed.

As a rule, authorizing committees create programs and set overall policy guidelines and spending limits. Appropriations committees then appropriate money in line with the parameters that the authorizing committees have set. But when there is no authorizing legislation, the appropriations committees take on a larger role in spending decisions.

Other congressional committees also share jurisdiction over foreign policy legislation:

-- The Select Intelligence Committees of both chambers monitor the activities of the Central Intelligence Agency and other intelligence agencies.

-- The House National Security Committee and the Senate Armed Services Committee deal with defense matters including military operations of the Defense Department.

-- The Judiciary Committees of both bodies deal with immigration policies and all areas of civil and criminal law.

-- The House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee deal with trade bills.

-- The House and Senate Banking Committees review international economic policy, including export and foreign trade promotion, and consider the budget requests for multilateral lending institutions.

-- House and Senate Commerce Committees deal with interstate and foreign commerce and regulation of interstate and foreign communications.

Following are the leaders of the committees that deal with the majority of foreign affairs issues in the 104th Congress. Committee chairs are always from the majority party -- the Republican Party in the current Congress.

House International Relations Committee
Chair -- Benjamin Gilman, New York
Ranking Minority Member -- Lee Hamilton, Indiana

Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Chair -- Jesse Helms, North Carolina
Ranking Minority Member -- Claiborne Pell, Rhode Island

House Appropriations Committee
Chair -- Robert Livingston, Louisiana
Ranking Minority Member -- David Obey, Wisconsin

Senate Appropriations Committee
Chair -- Mark Hatfield, Oregon
Ranking Minority Member -- Robert Byrd, West Virginia

House National Security Committee
Chair -- Floyd Spence, South Carolina
Ranking Minority Member -- Ronald Dellums, California

Senate Armed Services Committee
Chair -- Strom Thurmond, South Carolina
Ranking Minority Member -- Sam Nunn, Georgia

House Select Committee on Intelligence
Chair -- Larry Combest, Texas
Ranking Minority Member -- Norm Dicks, Washington

Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
Chair -- Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania
Ranking Minority Member -- Bob Kerrey, Nebraska

House Judiciary Committee
Chair -- Henry Hyde, Illinois
Ranking Minority Member -- John Conyers, Michigan

Senate Judiciary Committee
Chair -- Orrin Hatch, Utah
Ranking Minority Member -- Joseph Biden, Delaware

House Ways and Means Committee
Chair -- Bill Archer, Texas
Ranking Minority Member -- Sam Gibbons, Florida

Senate Finance Committee
Chair -- William Roth, Delaware
Ranking Minority Member -- Daniel Patrick Moynihan, New York

House Banking and Financial Services Committee
Chair -- Jim Leach, Iowa
Ranking Minority Member -- Henry Gonzalez, Texas

Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee
Chair -- Alfonse D'Amato, New York
Ranking Minority Member -- Paul Sarbanes, Maryland

Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee
Chair -- Larry Pressler, South Dakota
Ranking Minority Member -- Ernest Hollings, South Carolina

House Commerce Committee
Chair -- Thomas Bliley, Virginia
Ranking Minority Member -- John Dingell, Michigan

U.S. Foreign Policy Agenda
USIA Electronic Journals, Vol. 1, No. 9, July 1996.