Committees

Committee Membership

According to www.govtrack.us, Robert's currently serves on 5 committees and is a member of four of those committees (he serves as a ranking member on oneof those committees).  His committee assignments are as follows:

-Committee on Rules and Administration: The Rules and Administration Committee is one of the oldest committees and deals with all of the organizational and administrative details of the Senate.  The committee involves 18 members (9 democrats, 8 republicans, and 1 independent) and Roberts serves as a ranking member with Charles Schumer (D-NY) as the chairman.   

-Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry: The committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry deals with many various issues such as agricultural economics, research, prices and commodities, school nutrition programs, nutrition programs, forestry and forest reserves.  The committee also deals with issues relating to food, nutrition and hunger, both in the United States and foreign countries.  The committee has meetings on the first and third Wednesday of each month when Congress is in session.  Debbie Stabenow is the chairwoman of the committee and Thad Cochran is the ranking member.  The committee consists of 20 members  Fun fact: Roberts serves on this committee with John Thune, Mitch McConnell, and Tom Harkin.  

Roberts meeting with members of the Kansas Farm Bureau (top picture) and the Agriculture Future of America (bottom picture) during National Agriculture Day. 

-Committee on Finance: The Finance Committee deals with taxation and other revenue issues, debt, customs and collections.  They have Shared or sole jurisdiction over several agencies and offices such as the Executive Office of the President, the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Labor, and Treasury. The committee involves 24 members, 13 Democrats and 11 Republicans.  

-Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP) deals with issues relating to the four subject areas.  Their jurisdiction encompasses most of the programs and agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services .  They also work to ensure that the country's workforce is equipped to deal with issues relating to a 21st century workplace.  They also deal with federal and labor employment laws and pension plans.  The committee has 22 members, 11 Democrats, 10 Republicans, and 1 Independent.  

-Select Committee on Ethics: The Committee on Ethics has many duties such as determining the Rules and Proceedings, punishing members for disorderly behavior, receive and investigate improper conduct, and setting standards of conduct.  The committee consists of 6 members including Chairwoman Barbara Boxer and ranking member John Isakson.  

-Subcommittees: Roberts is currently a member of 8 subcommittees and is a ranking member of 2 of those committees.  Robert's 8 subcommittees are 

• Livestock, Dairy, Poultry, Marketing and Agriculture Security (Ranking Member)
• Commodities, Markets, Trade and Risk Management
• Conservation, Forestry and Natural Resources
• Health Care (Ranking Member)
• International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness 
• Taxation and IRS Oversight
• Children and Families
• Primary Health and Aging 

Although it seems as though Roberts is staying busy (how can you not when you are on that many committees and subcommittees?), I wonder how he is balancing his time.  Is it truly possible to go to all of the committee meetings and truly know what the major issues are in each one?  Maybe this is typical of all Senators, but it seems as though their time would be better spent participating in less committees, but truly devoting themselves to the ones they are involved in.  

Random Fact: I was not able to find Roberts' March Madness Bracket (either he refrained from filling one out or was not confident enough with his choices) but I can only assume that he would be cheering for both Wichita State and Kansas State (and I'm guessing he's pretty pleased with Wichita's upset).  He did post on both Facebook and Twitter saying good luck to Wichita State before their game started.

Sources:

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/pat_roberts/300083

http://www.ethics.senate.gov/public/

http://www.rules.senate.gov/public/

http://www.agriculture.senate.gov/

http://www.help.senate.gov/

http://www.finance.senate.gov/

https://www.facebook.com/SenPatRoberts?fref=ts