ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEES
House
- 2120 Rayburn House Office Building
- Main: 202-225-4151
- Majority Press: Josh Holly at 202-226-3988 or josh.holly@mail.house.gov
- Minority Press: Mike Amato at 202-226-8454 or michael.amato@mail.house.gov
- http://armedservices.house.gov/
- http://democrats.armedservices.house.gov/
- Chairman: Rep. Buck McKeon, a Republican from California’s 25th District
- Ranking member: Rep. Adam Smith, a Democrat from Washington’s 9th District
Senate
- SR-228 Russell Senate Office Building
- Main: 202-224-3871
- http://armed-services.senate.gov
- Majority Press: Tara Andringa at 202-228-3685 or tara_andringa@levin.senate.gov
- Minority Press: Brooke Buchanan at 202-224-2235 or brooke_buchanan@mccain.senate.gov
- Chairman: Sen. Carl Levin, a Democrat from Michigan
- Ranking member: Sen. John McCain, a Republican from Arizona
The House and Senate Armed Services Committees cover legislation related to defense measures. This means the Defense Department and the military. They also look at such areas as weapons systems, aeronautical activities and military research.
The Pentagon budget is a big topic for Armed Services. As with all budget discussions, watch for the tip-off in mid-February when the president presents a proposal for the coming fiscal year, which starts on Oct. 1.
For those who can’t attend the hearings, the House committee website offers some basic documents but not hearing transcripts. Communications director Josh Holly recommends consulting the Federal News Service via LexisNexis for transcripts, which requires a LexisNexis subscription. (You might be able to get free access to this via your local library).
The Senate committee website makes available more content from its hearings, including written witness testimonies and archived webcasts. It has some transcripts available online and the Government Printing Office offers them several months later, but the press office says some third parties — notably CQ Roll Call — also provide them in a more timely way. Note that CQ Roll Call’s transcript service requires a subscription.
