Now that the Democrats are in control of the House of Representatives for the first time in 12 years, the chamber’s panel overseeing education, pensions, and labor legislation will return to its former name: the Education and Labor Committee.
The committee had that name from 1947 until 1995, when the Republicans took command of the House after decades in the minority. (“Democratic Majority to Put Education Policy on Agenda,” Nov. 15, 2006.)
When the 110th Congress got under way last week, the change was apparent on the committee’s Web site, http://edworkforce.house.gov.
Since 1997, the committee has been known as the House Education and the Workforce Committee. Republicans did not want to use the word “labor” in the committee’s name because it denoted labor unions—typical allies of the Democrats.
Right after the Republican takeover following the 1994 midterm elections, the panel was called the Economic and Educational Opportunities Committee. But that turned out to be a mouthful, so its chairman, now-retired Rep. Bill Goodling, R-Pa., simplified it.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee will keep its name.
