Energy and Commerce Committee and the bills it addressed on April 11

The Energy and Commerce Committee handled H.R.7497, H.Res.1051 bills on April 11, according to the US Congress.

Bill H.R.7497 titled “Make Medicine Affordable Act” was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means and Education and Labor for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned by the House of Representatives. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Elissa Slotkin.

Bill H.Res.1051 titled “Expressing support for the designation of the week of April 11 through April 17, 2022, as the fifth annual Black Maternal Health Week to bring national attention to the maternal health crisis in the United States and the importance of reducing maternal mortality and morbidity among Black women and birthing persons”. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Alma Adams with Nanette Barragan, Karen Bass, Ami Bera, Lisa Blunt Rochester, Suzanne Bonamici, Carolyn Bourdeaux, Jamaal Bowman, Anthony Brown, Shontel Brown, K. Butterfield G., Tony Cárdenas, Troy Carter, Kathy Castor, Sheila Cherfilus-Mccormick, David Cicilline, Yvette Clarke, Emanuel Cleaver, Gerald Connolly, James Cooper, Jason Crow, Sharice Davids, Danny Davis, Madeleine Dean, Debbie Dingell, Lloyd Doggett, Mike Doyle, Veronica Escobar, Ruben Gallego, John Garamendi, Raúl Grijalva, Jahana Hayes, Brian Higgins, Sara Jacobs, Eddie Johnson, Henry Johnson, Mondaire Jones, William Keating, Robin Kelly, Ro Khanna, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Ann Kuster, Rick Larsen, John Larson, Brenda Lawrence, Al Lawson, Barbara Lee, Andy Levin, Carolyn Maloney, Kathy Manning, Lucy Mcbath, Betty Mccollum, A. Mceachin, Gregory Meeks, Grace Meng, Gwen Moore, Seth Moulton, Jerrold Nadler, Marie Newman, Eleanor Norton, Ilhan Omar, Chris Pappas, Donald Payne, Stacey Plaskett, Ayanna Pressley, David Price, Jamie Raskin, Deborah Ross, Raul Ruiz, Bobby Rush, Tim Ryan, Gregorio Sablan, Linda Sánchez, Mary Scanlon, Janice Schakowsky, David Scott, Terri Sewell, Albio Sires, Adam Smith, Darren Soto, Jackie Speier, Melanie Stansbury, Haley Stevens, Marilyn Strickland, Bennie Thompson, Rashida Tlaib, Lori Trahan, David Trone, Lauren Underwood, Marc Veasey, Nydia Velazquez, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Bonnie Watson Coleman, Nikema Williams, Frederica Wilson as cosponsors.

The Energy and Commerce Committee moves forward in some way on six bills per day, taking three actions on average per day.

Most bills have a hearing where those involved explain why they are for or against the bill. Roughly 8,000 bills are addressed by committees each year but only about 800 make it to the floor of Congress, according to ushistory.org.

A 2019 report from the Brookings Institute argued committees aren’t capable of delving fully into the issues they address and are forced to rely on lobbyists.