Wikipedia:WikiProject U.S. Congress/Committees

This is a boilerplate template (at the bottom of this article) for congressional committee and subcommittee articles (see List of United States Senate committees, List of United States House of Representatives committees, and List of defunct United States congressional committees). Put US-Congress-stub at the end of the article unless you believe it is sufficiently completed.

You can also use section-stub and/or list-dev if/when appropriate.

External Sources for the articles: Web Resources
 * Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress for committee chairmen
 * Congressional Research Service reports: http://www.opencrs.com/ and http://www.wikileaks.org/
 * Via National Archives and Records Administration:
 * Committee Resource Guide: Committees of the U.S. Senate
 * Guide to the Records of the U.S. Senate at the National Archives (Record Group 46)
 * Guide to the Records of the U.S. House of Representatives at the National Archives, 1789-1989 (Record Group 233)
 * Chapter 23. Records of the Joint Committees of Congress 1789-1968 (Record Group 128)
 * Current Committees in the House of Representatives
 * Historic House Committee Names
 * House Committee Bibliography
 * Current Committees in the United States Senate
 * Chairmen of Senate Standing Committees 1789-present, United States Senate Historical Office. June 2008.
 * House and Senate Journals, 1789-1875 via the Library of Congress American Memory Project
 * Official Congressional Directory: 1820-present.
 * Early editions (incomplete list) through Google Books or University of Michigan
 * Current editions (1998-present) through the Government Printing Office

Books

The boilerplate template begins after this horizontal line: The Senate Committee on XX was a standing committee select or special committee of the United States Senate/US House of Representatives between 1990 and 2000. It was originally established as a select committee, but became a standing committee in 1999. It is primarily responsible for the oversight of federal widgets and thingamajigs.

Jurisdiction
Provide a brief description of the committees main areas of jurisdiction as established by House and Senate rules or a specific legislative resolution that established the committee. Including a discussion of general legislative topics considered by the committee or federal agencies over which it has oversight.

History
Include a detailed description of how the committee came to be, including creation and termination dates, any predecessor committees, or other information about its operation.

Committee members
Below is the recommended format for committee members of current standing and select committees. Notable members of the committee, such as Presidents, Vice Presidents, Cabinet Members, federal judges, etc. should also be listed as appropriate.

For current committees

Committee members, XXth Congress
The committee is chaired by Sammy Senator, Party of State and the Ranking Member is Larry Legislator, Party of State.

Notable members
For defunct committees list all members of the committee in alphabetical order, rather than by congress. List can be moved to multiple columns as needed to conserve space. Include notations if a member's service overlaps a committee transition (such as select to standing committee or a committee being renamed).

Committee members

 * Senator A (Party Abbr-State) 1800-1815 (as Select Committee on Expenses 1800-1805)
 * Senator B (Party Abbr-State) 1812-1830
 * Senator C (Party Abbr-State) 1816-1850

Subcommittees
For current committees, provide a list and links of the various subcommittees (if any) for the committee. List the subcommittees in the order of precedence given by the parent committee's website, which is usually not in alphabetical order.

Since subcommittees change frequently, only the most current list of subcommittees should be used. Subcommittees for defunct committees should only be included if they are notable for some reason or contributed greatly to the committee's history.

Subcommittees
Effective with the 110th Congress, the number of subcommittees has been expanded from four to six, with the creation of the Subcommittee on Public Sector Nuiscances and the Subcommittee on Important Things

Major events
Describe major events, legislation, hearings, or investigations carried out by the committee.

Major events

 * March 5, 1999 — Investigation on whether or not to hold an investigation on investigations
 * August 23, 1999 — Hearing on the quality of the new seat cushions
 * October 15, 1999 — Impeachment proceedings against Colonel Sanders over his dangerously tasty chicken

Chairmen
Include a chronological list of committee chairmen from the time the committee was created until the present. Include chairmen of any immediate predecessor committees.

Chairmen of the Select Committee on Widgets, 1838-1947

 * Chairman 1 (Party Abbr-State Abbr) 1838-1841
 * Chairman 2 (Party Abbr-State Abbr) 1941-1947

Chairmen of the Committee on Widgets and Thingamajigs, 1947-1977

 * Chairman 3 (Party Abbr-State Abbr) 1947-1961
 * Chairman 4 (Party Abbr-State Abbr) 1961-1947

Chairmen of the Committee on Executive Department Widgets, Thingamajigs, and Whatsits, 1977-Present

 * Chairman 5 (Party Abbr-State Abbr) 1977-1981
 * Chairman 6 (Party Abbr-State Abbr) 2007-present

Closing sections
Below here, include any "See Also" links to similarly formed committees in the other body (Senate vs House), References, and, for current committees, the official committee website.