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Black-American Chairs of Subcommittees of Standing Committees in the U.S. House and Senate, 1885–Present

111th Congress, 2009–2011

Black-American Congressional Committee Chairs

Member’s Name	Committee	Subcommittee
Corrine Brown	Transportation and Infrastructure	Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials
Yvette Diane Clarke	Homeland Security	Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, and Science
William L. Clay, Jr.	Oversight and Government Reform	Information Policy, Census, and National Archives
Elijah E. Cummings	Transportation and Infrastructure	Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation
Sheila Jackson Lee	Homeland Security	Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection
Eddie Bernice Johnson	Transportation and Infrastructure	Water Resources and Environment
Hank Johnson	Judiciary	Courts and Competition Policy
Gregory W. Meeks	Financial Services	International Monetary Policy and Trade
Eleanor Holmes Norton a	Transportation and Infrastructure	Economic Development, Public Bldgs & Emergency Management
Donald M. Payne	Foreign Affairs	Africa and Global Health
David Scott	Agriculture	Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry
Robert C. Scott	Judiciary	Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security
Maxine Waters	Financial Services	Housing and Community Opportunity
Diane Edith Watson	Oversight and Government Reform	Government Management, Organization, and Procurement
Melvin L. Watt	Financial Services	Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology

110th Congress, 2007–2009

Black-American Congressional Committee Chairs

Member’s Name	Committee	Subcommittee
Corrine Brown	Transportation and Infrastructure	Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials
Donna M. Christensen a	Natural Resources	Insular Affairs
William Lacy (Bill) Clay, Sr.	Oversight and Government Reform	Information Policy, Census, and National Archives
Elijah E. Cummings	Transportation and Infrastructure	Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation
Danny K. Davis	Oversight and Government Reform	Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia
Alcee Hastings	Rules	Legislative and Budget Process
Sheila Jackson Lee	Homeland Security	Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection
Eddie Bernice Johnson	Transportation and Infrastructure	Water Resources and Environment
Eleanor Holmes Norton a	Transportation and Infrastructure	Economic Development, Public Bldgs & Emergency Management
Barack Obama b	Foreign Relations	European Affairs
Donald M. Payne	Foreign Affairs	Africa and Global Health
Bobby L. Rush	Energy and Commerce	Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection
Robert C. Scott	Judiciary	Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security
Edolphus Towns	Oversight and Government Reform	Government Management, Organization, and Procurement
Maxine Waters	Financial Services	Housing and Community Opportunity
Melvin L. Watt	Financial Services	Oversight and Investigations
Albert R. Wynn	Energy and Commerce	Environment and Hazardous Materials

104th–109th Congresses, 1995–1997

Black-American Congressional Committee Chairs

Member’s Name	Committee	Subcommittee
No black Members chaired subcommittees.	N/A	N/A

103rd Congress, 1993–1995

Black-American Congressional Committee Chairs

Member’s Name	Committee	Subcommittee
William Lacy (Bill) Clay, Sr.	House Administration	Libraries and Memorials
William Lacy (Bill) Clay, Sr.	Post Office and Civil Service	Oversight and Investigations
Cardiss Collins	Energy and Commerce	Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Competitiveness
Barbara-Rose Collins	Post Office and Civil Service	Postal Operations and Services
John Conyers, Jr.	Government Operations	Legislation and National Security
Ronald V. Dellums	Armed Services	Military Acquisition
Julian Carey Dixon	Appropriations	District of Columbia
Floyd Harold Flake	Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs	General Oversight, Investigations, and the Resolution of Failed Financial Institutions
Harold Eugene Ford, Sr.	Ways and Means	Human Resources
Kweisi Mfume	Small Business	Minority Enterprise, Finance and Urban Development
Eleanor Holmes Norton a	Post Office and Civil Service	Compensation and Employee Benefits
Eleanor Holmes Norton a	District of Columbia	Judiciary and Education
Major Robert Odell Owens	Education and Labor	Education and Civil Rights (Select)
Charles B. Rangel	Ways and Means	Revenue Measures (Select)
Louis Stokes	Appropriations	Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies
Edolphus Towns	Government Operations	Human Resources and Intergovernmental Relations
Alan Dupree Wheat	District of Columbia	Government Operations and Metropolitan Affairs

102nd Congress, 1991–1993

Black-American Congressional Committee Chairs

Member’s Name	Committee	Subcommittee
William Lacy (Bill) Clay, Sr.	Post Office and Civil Service	Investigations
William Lacy (Bill) Clay, Sr.	House Administration	Libraries and Memorials
Cardiss Collins	Energy and Commerce	Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Competitiveness
John Conyers, Jr.	Government Operations	Legislation and National Security
Ronald V. Dellums	Armed Services	Research and Development
Julian Carey Dixon	Appropriations	District of Columbia
Mervyn Malcolm Dymally	Foreign Affairs	Africa
Mervyn Malcolm Dymally	District of Columbia	Judiciary and Education
Alphonso Michael (Mike) Espy	Budget	Community Development and Natural Resources
Harold Eugene Ford, Sr.	Ways and Means	Human Resources
Major Robert Odell Owens	Education and Labor	Education (Select)
Charles B. Rangel	Ways and Means	Revenue Measures (Select)
Gus Savage	Public Works and Transportation	Public Buildings and Grounds
Alan Dupree Wheat	District of Columbia	Government Operations and Metropolitan Affairs

101st Congress, 1989–1991

Black-American Congressional Committee Chairs

Member’s Name	Committee	Subcommittee
William Lacy (Bill) Clay, Sr.	Education and Labor	Labor-Management Relations
William Lacy (Bill) Clay, Sr.	House Administration	Libraries and Memorials
Cardiss Collins	Government Operations	Government Activities and Transportation
John Conyers, Jr.	Government Operations	Legislation and National Security
George William Crockett, Jr.	Foreign Affairs	Western Hemisphere Affairs
Ronald V. Dellums	Armed Services	Research and Development
Julian Carey Dixon	Appropriations	District of Columbia
Mervyn Malcolm Dymally	Foreign Affairs	International Operations
Mervyn Malcolm Dymally	District of Columbia	Judiciary and Education
Alphonso Michael (Mike) Espy	Select Committee on Hunger	Domestic
Walter Edward Fauntroy a	District of Columbia	Fiscal Affairs and Health
Walter Edward Fauntroy a	Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs	International Development, Finance Trade, and Monetary Policy
Harold Eugene Ford, Sr.	Ways and Means	Human Resources
Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins	Education and Labor	Elementary, Secondary, and Vocational Education
George Thomas (Mickey) Leland	Post Office and Civil Service	Postal Operations and Services
Major Robert Odell Owens	Education and Labor	Education (Select)
Charles B. Rangel	Ways and Means	Revenue Measures (Select)
Gus Savage	Public Works and Transportation	Economic Development
Alan Dupree Wheat	District of Columbia	Government Operations and Metropolitan Affairs

100th Congress, 1987–1989

Black-American Congressional Committee Chairs

Member’s Name	Committee	Subcommittee
William Lacy (Bill) Clay, Sr.	Education and Labor	Labor-Management Relations
Cardiss Collins	Government Operations	Government Activities and Transportation
John Conyers, Jr.	Judiciary	Criminal Justice
George William Crockett, Jr.	Foreign Affairs	Western Hemisphere Affairs
Ronald V. Dellums	Armed Services	Military Installations and Facilities
Julian Carey Dixon	Appropriations	District of Columbia
Mervyn Malcolm Dymally	Post Office and Civil Service	Census and Population
Mervyn Malcolm Dymally	District of Columbia	Judiciary and Education
Walter Edward Fauntroy a	District of Columbia	Fiscal Affairs and Health
Walter Edward Fauntroy a	Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs	International Development Institutions and Finance
Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins	Education and Labor	Elementary, Secondary, and Vocational Education
George Thomas (Mickey) Leland	Post Office and Civil Service	Postal Operations and Services
Major Robert Odell Owens	Education and Labor	Education (Select)
Charles B. Rangel	Ways and Means	Revenue Measures (Select)
Gus Savage	Public Works and Transportation	Economic Development
Louis Stokes	Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence	Program and Budget Authorization
Alan Dupree Wheat	District of Columbia	Government Operations and Metropolitan Affairs

99th Congress, 1985–1987

Black-American Congressional Committee Chairs

Member’s Name	Committee	Subcommittee
William Lacy (Bill) Clay, Sr.	Education and Labor	Labor-Management Relations
Cardiss Collins	Government Operations	Government Activities and Transportation
John Conyers, Jr.	Judiciary	Criminal Justice
Ronald V. Dellums	Armed Services	Military Installations and Facilities
Julian Carey Dixon	Appropriations	District of Columbia
Mervyn Malcolm Dymally	District of Columbia	Judiciary and Education
Mervyn Malcolm Dymally	Post Office and Civil Service	Postal Personnel and Modernization
Walter Edward Fauntroy a	Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs	Domestic Monetary Policy
Walter Edward Fauntroy a	District of Columbia	Fiscal Affairs and Health
Harold Eugene Ford, Sr.	Ways and Means	Public Assistance and Unemployment Compensation
Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins	Education and Labor	Elementary, Secondary, and Vocational Education
George Thomas (Mickey) Leland	Post Office and Civil Service	Postal Operations and Services
Parren James Mitchell	Joint Economic Committee	Investment, Jobs, and Press
Parren James Mitchell	Small Business	SBA and SBIC Authority, Minority Enterprise and General Small Business Problems
Charles B. Rangel	Ways and Means	Revenue Measures (Select)
Louis Stokes	Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence	Program and Budget Authorization

98th Congress, 1983–1985

Black-American Congressional Committee Chairs

Member’s Name	Committee	Subcommittee
William Lacy (Bill) Clay, Sr.	Education and Labor	Labor-Management Relations
William Lacy (Bill) Clay, Sr.	Post Office and Civil Service	Postal Operations and Services
Cardiss Collins	Government Operations	Government Activities and Transportation
John Conyers, Jr.	Judiciary	Criminal Justice
Ronald V. Dellums	Armed Services	Military Installations and Facilities
Julian Carey Dixon	Appropriations	District of Columbia
Mervyn Malcolm Dymally	District of Columbia	Judiciary and Education
Walter Edward Fauntroy a	Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs	Domestic Monetary Policy
Walter Edward Fauntroy a	District of Columbia	Fiscal Affairs and Health
Harold Eugene Ford, Sr.	Ways and Means	Public Assistance and Unemployment Compensation
William Herbert Gray III	District of Columbia	Government Operations and Metropolitan Affairs
Katie Beatrice Hall	Post Office and Civil Service	Census and Population
Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins	Education and Labor	Employment Opportunities
George Thomas (Mickey) Leland	Post Office and Civil Service	Postal Personnel and Modernization
Parren James Mitchell	Small Business	SBA and SBIC Authority, Minority Enterprise and General Small Business Problems
Charles B. Rangel	Ways and Means	Oversight

97th Congress, 1981–1983

Black-American Congressional Committee Chairs

Member’s Name	Committee	Subcommittee
William Lacy (Bill) Clay, Sr.	Post Office and Civil Service	Postal Operations and Services
Cardiss Collins	Government Operations	Manpower and Housing
John Conyers, Jr.	Judiciary	Criminal Justice
Ronald V. Dellums	District of Columbia	Fiscal Affairs and Health
Julian Carey Dixon	Appropriations	District of Columbia
Mervyn Malcolm Dymally	District of Columbia	Judiciary and Education
Walter Edward Fauntroy a	Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs	Domestic Monetary Policy
Harold Eugene Ford, Sr.	Ways and Means	Public Assistance and Unemployment Compensation
William Herbert Gray III	District of Columbia	Government Operations and Metropolitan Affairs
Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins	Education and Labor	Employment Opportunities
George Thomas (Mickey) Leland	Post Office and Civil Service	Postal Personnel and Modernization
Parren James Mitchell	Small Business	SBA and SBIC Authority, Minority Enterprise and General Small Business Problems
Charles B. Rangel	Ways and Means	Oversight

96th Congress, 1979–1981

Black-American Congressional Committee Chairs

Member’s Name	Committee	Subcommittee
William Lacy (Bill) Clay, Sr.	Post Office and Civil Service	Postal Personnel and Modernization
Cardiss Collins	Government Operations	Manpower and Housing
John Conyers, Jr.	Judiciary	Crime
Ronald V. Dellums	District of Columbia	Fiscal Affairs and Health
Walter Edward Fauntroy a	District of Columbia	Government Affairs and Budget
Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins	Education and Labor	Employment Opportunities
Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins	House Administration	Printing
Parren James Mitchell	Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs	Domestic Monetary Policy
Charles B. Rangel	Ways and Means	Health
Louis Stokes	Budget	Human and Community Resources

95th Congress, 1977–1979

Black-American Congressional Committee Chairs

Member’s Name	Committee	Subcommittee
William Lacy (Bill) Clay, Sr.	Post Office and Civil Service	Civil Service
Cardiss Collins	Government Operations	Manpower and Housing
John Conyers, Jr.	Judiciary	Crime
Ronald V. Dellums	District of Columbia	Fiscal and Government Affairs
Charles Coles Diggs, Jr.	International Relations	Africa
Walter Edward Fauntroy a	Select Committee on Assassinations	Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Walter Edward Fauntroy a	Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs	Historic Preservation and Coinage
Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins	Education and Labor	Employment Opportunities
Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins	House Administration	Printing
Ralph Harold Metcalfe	Merchant Marine and Fisheries	Panama Canal
Parren James Mitchell	Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs	Domestic Monetary Policy
Parren James Mitchell	Budget	Human Resources
Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr.	Post Office and Civil Service	Investigations
Louis Stokes	Budget	Community and Physical Resources

94th Congress, 1975–1977

Black-American Congressional Committee Chairs

Member’s Name	Committee	Subcommittee
William Lacy (Bill) Clay, Sr.	Post Office and Civil Service	Employee Rights and Intergovermental Programs
John Conyers, Jr.	Judiciary	Crime
Ronald V. Dellums	District of Columbia	Education, Labor, and Social Services
Charles Coles Diggs, Jr.	Foreign Affairs	International Resources, Food, and Energy
Walter Edward Fauntroy a	District of Columbia	Government Operations
Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins	House Administration	Electrical and Mechanical Office Equipment
Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins	Education and Labor	Equal Opportunities
Ralph Harold Metcalfe	Merchant Marine and Fisheries	Panama Canal
Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr.	Foreign Affairs	International Economic Policy

93rd Congress, 1973–1975

Black-American Congressional Committee Chairs

Member’s Name	Committee	Subcommittee
John Conyers, Jr.	Judiciary	Crime
Ronald V. Dellums	District of Columbia	Education
Charles Coles Diggs, Jr.	Foreign Affairs	Africa
Walter Edward Fauntroy a	District of Columbia	Judiciary
Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins	House Administration	Electrical and Mechanical Office Equipment
Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins	Education and Labor	Equal Opportunities
Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr.	Foreign Affairs	Asian and Pacific Affairs

92nd Congress, 1971–1973

Black-American Congressional Committee Chairs

Member’s Name	Committee	Subcommittee
Charles Coles Diggs, Jr.	Foreign Affairs	Africa
Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr.	Post Office and Civil Service	Postal Facilities and Mail

91st Congress, 1969–1971

Black-American Congressional Committee Chairs

Member’s Name	Committee	Subcommittee
Charles Coles Diggs, Jr.	Foreign Affairs	Africa
Charles Coles Diggs, Jr.	District of Columbia	Subcommittee No. 2
Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr.	Foreign Affairs	Foreign Economic Policy
Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr.	Post Office and Civil Service	Postal Facilities and Mail

90th Congress, 1967–1969

Black-American Congressional Committee Chairs

Member’s Name	Committee	Subcommittee
William Levi Dawson	Government Operations	Special Studies
Charles Coles Diggs, Jr.	District of Columbia	Subcommittee No. 2

89th Congress, 1965–1967

Black-American Congressional Committee Chairs

Member’s Name	Committee	Subcommittee
William Levi Dawson	Government Operations	Executive and Legislative Reorganization
Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr.	Post Office and Civil Service	Census and Statistics
Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.	Education and Labor	Ad Hoc Subcommittee on the Poverty War Program

88th Congress, 1963–1965

Black-American Congressional Committee Chairs

Member’s Name	Committee	Subcommittee
William Levi Dawson	Government Operations	Executive and Legislative Reorganization

87th Congress, 1961–1963

Black-American Congressional Committee Chairs

Member’s Name	Committee	Subcommittee
William Levi Dawson	Government Operations	Executive and Legislative Reorganization
Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.	Education and Labor	Labor Management Irregularities

86th Congress, 1959–1961

Black-American Congressional Committee Chairs

Member’s Name	Committee	Subcommittee
William Levi Dawson	Government Operations	Executive and Legislative Reorganization
Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.	Interior and Insular Affairs	Mines and Mining

50th–85th Congresses, 1887–1959

Black-American Congressional Committee Chairs

Member’s Name	Committee	Subcommittee
No black Members chaired subcommittees.	N/A	N/A

49th Congress, 1885–1887

Black-American Congressional Committee Chairs

Member’s Name	Committee	Subcommittee
James Edward O’Hara	Invalid Pensions	H.R. 6485 (Relating to increase of pension in certain cases)*

Footnotes

• ^a Denotes Delegate
• ^b Denotes U.S. Senator
• * There were no official subcommittees for the Invalid Pensions Committee; however, Members were often assigned leadership roles in considering specific bills or charged with organizing petitions from specific states [Minutes of the Committee on Invalid Pensions, 49th Congress, Records of the United States House of Representatives (RG 233), National Archives Building, Washington, DC]