*Congressional Committees- Sub organizations of Congress that deal with specific duties. Because Congress is complex and large, congressional committees are used to accomplish specific tasks.

Standing Committees

*Permanent committees within the House and Senate. These committees handle the tasks of the U.S. budget and overseeing government agencies.

Select Committees

*These committees are temporary and much more investigative than legislative and are designed to handle specific issues such as Y2K and intelligence.

Conference Committees

*A joint comittee that was created to reach compromises within the Senate and House when they pass similar versions of the same bill. These committees are known for passing "Christmas Tree Bills" because members seem to hang their own amendments on the bill before it becomes law.

Subcommittees

*Subcommittees are standing committees that are broken down into even smaller committees. For example, the subcommittee of "agriculture" can be broken down  into a subcommittee called "dairy farming."

Joint Committees

*These committees are composed of members from both the Senate and the House of Representatives.