CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS DATA 1993-2017 Standing and Permanent Committees of the 103rd to 114th Congresses Codebook created: 7/20/98, Updated: 11/17/17 Prof. Charles Stewart Jonathan Woon ------------------------------------------------------------------------ FILE DESCRIPTIONS File name Date Updated Description house_members_103-115-2.xls 08/15/17 House membership data house_assignments_103-115-1.xls 11/17/17 House committee assignment data senators_103-115-1.xls 08/15/17 Senate membership data senate_assignments_103-115-1.xls 11/17/17 Senate committee assignment data Note: I have now converted all the data files to Excel format. The file names should be self-explanatory. The first line of the data sets should have the date of the most recent update. Ignore any information in the codebooks that make reference to column locations, since that information is now obsolete. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ NOTE: All fields are aligned left. (Fields start in first column of variable, trailed by spaces if necessary.) Excel files have the variables in the described order. FORMAT SUMMARY FOR MEMBER DATA Variable Congress Office Identification number Name (Last, First, Middle) District/class State (postal abbr.) State code (ICPSR) Party (1 letter abbr.) Party code Chamber seniority Chamber period code Chamber status code Notes FORMAT SUMMARY FOR ASSIGNMENT DATA Variable Congress Committee code Identification number Name (Last, First, Middle) Party status code Rank within party status Date of assignment (mm/dd/yyyy) Date of termination (mm/dd/yyyy) Senior party member code Committee seniority Committee period of service code Committee status code (at end of congress) Committee continuity code (in next congress) Appointment citation Notes Committee name ICPSR state code (106th Congress onward) District (106th Congress onward) Postal state code (106th Congress onward) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DETAILED CODE DESCRIPTIONS FOR MEMBER DATA Variable CONGRESS NUMBER 103 103rd (1993-1995) 104 104th (1995-1997) 105 105th (1997-1999) 106 106th (1999-2001) 107 107th (2001-2003) 108 108th (2003-2005) 109 109th (2005-2007) 110 110th (2007-2009) 111 111th (2009-2011) 112 112th (2011-2013) 113 113th (2013-2015) 114 114th (2015-2017) 115 115th (2017-2019) OFFICE 3 Representative 4 Senate, 1st Class 5 Senate, 2nd Class 6 Senate, 3rd Class 7 Delegate 8 Resident Commissioner IDENTIFICATION NUMBER Typically, this is the member's ICPSR number. In practice, however the source for the numbers is Keith Poole's NOMINATE data sets. For members without numbers, the following conventions were used: Delegates/Resident Commissioners -- start with 70X001 for each congress, where X is the last digit of the number of the congress. Members ordered by last name. NAME For the most part, the names are as they appear in the Congressional Directory. DISTRICT/CLASS 01-59 House Congressional Districts 79 Delegate 80 Resident Commissioner 81 Senate, 1st Class 82 Senate, 2nd Class 83 Senate, 3rd Class 85 House At-large District STATE Two letter postal abbreviation. STATE CODE New England 01 Connecticut 02 Maine 03 Massachusetts 04 New Hampshire 05 Rhode Island 06 Vermont Middle Atlantic 11 Delaware 12 New Jersey 13 New York 14 Pennsylvania East North Central 21 Illinois 22 Indiana 23 Michigan 24 Ohio 25 Wisconsin West North Central 31 Iowa 32 Kansas 33 Minnesota 34 Missouri 35 Nebraska 36 North Dakota 37 South Dakota Solid South 41 Alabama 42 Arkansas 43 Florida 44 Georgia 45 Louisiana 46 Mississippi 47 North Carolina 48 South Carolina 49 Texas 40 Virginia Border States 51 Kentucky 52 Maryland 53 Oklahoma 54 Tennessee 56 West Virginia Mountain States 61 Arizona 62 Colorado 63 Idaho 64 Montana 65 Nevada 66 New Mexico 67 Utah 68 Wyoming Pacific States 71 California 72 Oregon 73 Washington 81 Alaska 82 Hawaii Territories/Districts 55 District of Columbia 91 Guam 92 Puerto Rico 93 Virgin Islands 94 American Samoa PARTY One letter abbreviation (Some minor parties violate the one letter limit.) PARTY CODE 100 Democrat 200 Republican 328 Independent 999 Unknown or minor third party CHAMBER SENIORITY The term served in this Congress for Representatives. The Year served for Senators. This variable represents total (not just continuous) service in the chamber and is calculated from the dates/terms of service given in the Congressional Directory. PERIOD OF SERVICE IN CHAMBER 1 Only period of House service 2 1st Period of House service 3 2nd Period of House service 4 3rd Period of House service 5 4th Period of House service 6 Only period of Senate service 7 1st period of Senate service 8 2nd period of Senate Service STATUS OF MEMBER IN NEXT CONGRESS 1 Continued in next congress 2 Defeated for election to next congress 3 Defeated for nomination to next congress 4 Elected to another federal post (Senate, President...) 5 Elected to a state or local post (governor, mayor...) 6 Appointed to another federal post (cabinet...) 7 Appointed to a state or local post 8 Retired from public life 9 Unsuccessful contest for another office 0 Inapplicable. Member died or left chamber before the end of this congress. NB: 0 would be used if a member resigned midterm to accept an appointment to another post, such as a cabinet position. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DETAILED CODE DESCRIPTIONS FOR ASSIGNMENT DATA Variable CONGRESS Same as member data set. COMMITTEE CODE See list at the end of this document for committee codes. The same set of codes was used for all congresses under consideration. Even though jurisdictions and names of committees changed at the start of the 104th Congress, the same committee codes were used. For example, the Armed Services committee became the National Security committee, but both use the same committee code. IDENTIFICATION NUMBER Same as member data set. NAME Same as member data set. PARTY STATUS CODE Original appointments 1 Majority 2 Minority 3 Other party Members added to committees 4 Majority addition 5 Minority addition Members replacing departed members 6 Majority replacement 7 Minority replacement Other 8 Other party additions or replacemnts 0 Inapplicable; no committee assignment RANK WITHIN PARTY STATUS Original rankings come from the Resolution appointed the members to committee. Additions are numbered starting after the original number of appointments. For example: a committee has 10 members and 1 member is added midterm. The additional member would be ranked 11, but still categorized as an Addition under Party Status. Additions and replacements are also ranked according to date of assignment, then the order which they are listed on the resolution. Sometimes the "Notes" column will record the fact that an appointment resolution specified that a newly-appointed member would rank in the middle of existing members. The ranking in this data set does not reflect these special considerations. DATE OF ASSIGNMENT (VAR 23-25) The date is the internal Excel representation of the calendar date. Exercise caution in using this date in other programs. DATE OF TERMINATION (VAR26-28) Same format as Date of Assignment. Dates used typically follow the rules set forth in the original codebook. The following rules are a combination of the codebook and the preface to Garrison Nelson's Committees in the U.S. Congress, Volume 1. For deaths or resignations from the chamber, the date found in the front of the Congressional Directory is used. This also applies to members that change party affiliations. For in-session resignations, the date that the resignation letter appears in the Congressional Record is used unless the letter mentions a specific date. This applies mainly to the House. For House committee assignments that last until the end of the congress, the closing date of the congress is used. The Twentieth Amendment sets this date as the January 3rd in odd numbered years. The closing date of the term is also used for members in either chamber that are not assigned to committee. In the Senate, the resolutions appointing members to committees will often list the whole committee roster. The date the resolution appears naming successors to the committee is used. If a Senate committee assignment lasts until the end of congress AND the member continues in the next congress, the naming of successors in the next congress is used as the termination date. If the senator does not continue in the next congress, the January 3rd closing date is used. The date is the internal Excel representation of the calendar date. Exercise caution in using this date in other programs. SENIOR PARTY MEMBER These codes only apply to the particular congress listed for that entry. Codes for Speaker, Leaders, or Whips only apply to the committee codes 661 (House Leadership) and 662 (Senate Leadership). Otherwise, the senior party codes only apply to that particular committee. Unless changes are made mid-term, the assignment and termination dates are January 3rd of the appropriate odd numbered year. 0 Inapplicable; either no committee assignment or the member did not reach senior party status for that committee or congress. Committee Chairmen 11 Only Chairman 12 1st Chairman 13 2nd Chairman 14 3rd Chairman 16 Acting Chairman Ranking Minority Members 21 Only ranking minority member 22 1st ranking minority member 23 2nd ranking minority member 24 3rd ranking minority member Speakers of the House 31 Only Speaker 32 1st Speaker 33 2nd Speaker Majority Leadership 41 Only Majority Leader 42 1st Majority Leader 43 2nd Majority Leader 44 3rd Majority Leader 51 Only Majority Whip 52 1st Majority Whip 53 2nd Majority Whip Minority Leadership 61 Only Minority Leader 62 1st Minority Leader 63 2nd Minority Leader 64 Only Minority Whip 65 1st Minority Whip 66 2nd Minority Whip Non-standing committee senior party status 81 Only Vice Chairman 82 1st Vice Chairman 83 2nd Vice Chairman 86 Co-chairman COMMITTEE SENIORITY For the House, this is the number of the term presently served by the member on the committee. Each time a member leaves the committee and returns, the number of terms is reset to 1. For the Senate, the unit of measure is the year. It can best be described as the year on the committee as of the assignment date for that entry. For example, a freshman senator assigned at the beginning of a congress to committee would have this variable coded 1. Similarly, a senator assigned to a committee in October of the 2nd session would have that initial entry coded 1. If he is reappointed to the same committee at the start of the next congress, he is still coded 1 since he is still serving his first year on the committee. COMMITTEE PERIOD OF SERVICE 1 Temporary assignment 2 Only period of service 3 First period of service 4 Second period of service 5 Third period of service 0 Inapplicable; no committee assignments COMMITTEE STATUS AT END OF THIS CONGRESS 1 House: Remained on committee until adjournment. Senate: Remained on committee until next assignments announced. 2 Transferred to another committee. on the committee. COMMITTEE PERIOD OF SERVICE 1 Temporary assignment 2 Only period of service 3 First period of service 4 Second period of service 5 Third period of service 0 Inapplicable; no committee assignments COMMITTEE STATUS AT END OF THIS CONGRESS 1 House: Remained on committee until adjournment. Senate: Remained on committee until next assignments announced. 2 Transferred to another committee. 3 Left committee for no other. 4 Left committee before departing chamber. 5 Member died. 6 Resigned to hold another office. 7 Resigned to seek another office unsuccessfully. 8 Resigned, but neither held nor sought another office. 9 Member lost special election (Senate). 0 Inapplicable; no committee assignments COMMITTEE CONTINUITY OF ASSIGNMENT IN NEXT CONGRESS 1 Continues on committee (or successor) 2 Continues in congress, but not committee 3 Continues in congress, presently unassigned 4 Committee is eliminated 0 Inapplicable; member died or does not serve in next congress. APPOINTMENT CITATION (Beginning with 106th Congress) The first sources consulted were the Congressional Record and the chamber Journals. Other common sources included the Congressional Directory, committee reports, and Roll Call. A citation of the form "H233" indicates Congressional Record, page 233 of the House section. NOTES Notes about special circumstances surrounding the appointment. Includes information about reasons for transferring and special arrangements made concerning committee seniority. COMMITTEE NAME ICPSR STATE CODE (Beginning with 106th Congress) See membership dataset codings. DISTRICT (Beginning with 106th Congress) See membership dataset codings. POSTAL STATE CODE (Beginning with 106th Congress) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ COMMITTEE CODES House of Representatives Code Committee 102 Agriculture 104 Appropriations 106 Armed Services (103rd, 109-111th) National Security (104th - 108th) 113 Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs (103rd) Banking and Financial Services (104th - 106th) Financial Services (106th - 111th) 115 Budget 120 District of Columbia (103rd) 124 Education and Labor (103rd, 111th) Economic and Educational Opportunities (104th) Education and the Workplace (105th - 109th) 128 Energy and Commerce (103rd, 107th - 111th) Commerce (104th - 106th) 134 Foreign Affairs (103rd, 110th-111th) International Relations (104th - 109th) 138 Government Operations (103rd) Government Reform and Oversight (104th - 109th) Oversight and Government Reform (110th-111th) 142 House Administration (103rd, 109-111th) House Oversight (104th - 108th) 156 Judiciary 160 Merchant Marine and Fisheries (103rd) 164 Natural Resources (103rd, 111th) Resources (104h - 109th) 168 Post Office and Civil Service (103rd) 173 Public Works and Transportation (103rd) Transportation and Infrastructure (104th - 111th) 176 Rules 182 Science, Space, and Technology (103rd) Science (104th - 109th) Science and Technology (110th-111th) 184 Small Business 186 Standards of Official Conduct 192 Veterans Affairs 196 Ways and Means 242 Intelligence (Select) 251 Homeland Security (Select 107th and 108th; Standing, 109th-111th) 252 Energy Independence and Global Warming (Select, 110th-111th) 253 Investigate the Voting Irregularities of August 2, 2007 (Select, 110th) 254 Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attack on Benghazi (Select, 113th-114th) SENATE COMMITTEE CODES Code Committee Name 305 Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 306 Appropriations 308 Armed Services 314 Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 316 Budget 321 Commerce, Science, and Transportation 330 Energy and Natural Resources 332 Environment and Public Works 336 Finance 338 Foreign Relations 344 Governmental Affairs (103rd to 108th) Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (109th-) 358 Judiciary 362 Labor and Human Resources (103rd to 106th) Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (107th-) 380 Rules and Administration 384 Small Business (103rd to 107th) Small Business and Entrepreneurship (108th-) 388 Veterans' Affairs 419 Aging (Special) 432 Intelligence (Select) 434 Ethics (Select) 435 Indian Affairs (Select) JOINT COMMITTEES 500 Library 501 Printing 503 Taxation 507 Economic Leadership 661 House Party Leadership 662 Senate Party Leadership No assignment 770 Elected, not sworn 772 Resigned before assignment 775 Appointed, not sworn 780 Sworn, only select committee 790 Elected and sworn, not assigned 795 Appointed and sworn, not assigned