First elected to the Senate in 1958, Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd hails from a long line of West Virginia politicians. He is President Pro-Tempore of the Senate and sits on that body's Armed Services and Rules and Administration Committees. He is an attorney, and a graduate of American University.
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The Appropriations Committee is the largest committee in the Senate. Its responsibility is to propose annual bills that provide money for federal government agencies. Since the Senate Committee normally takes up a spending bill after it has passed the House, the Senate Appropriations Committee is not as influential as its House counterpart. Senators on the Committee usually react to House authored spending bills rather than write them from scratch.
