The House Financial Services Committee dates back to the Civil War, when its predecessor, the Committee on Banking and Currency, was created in 1865 as a part of a major reshuffling of congressional committees. During the Lincoln Administration, in addition to financing the war, Congress established the National Currency Act, which created a national banking system. Congress also passed the National Banking Act to establish the Comptroller of the Currency. Before the Civil War, banking issues were handled by the House Ways and Means Committee.
The original committee had nine members– six Republicans, two Democrats and one Unconditioned Unionist. Over time, 35 people have chaired the committee and its later versions, up until the 119th Congress. The first chairman of the Banking and Currency Committee was Theodore Pomeroy, a two-term Republican from upstate New York who was chosen by House Speaker Schuyler Colfax of Indiana. One of the committees past leaders was U.S. President James A. Garfield of Ohio who was chairman in the 41st Congress (1869–1871).
In the late 19th century, the Banking and Currency Committee oversaw the implementation of a national banking system, composed of national and state-chartered institutions. A generation later, the committee was key in shaping the federal government‘s response to the Great Depression, which included immense changes in the financial landscape, including deposit insurance, the separation of investment and commercial banking, and the formation of housing and savings reforms. After World War II, the committee‘s role expanded to keep up with the needs of a rapidly growing, modern America. Throughout the 20th century, the committee went through several structural changes, including one of the most substantial in the 107th Congress (2001–2003), when securities and capital markets policy areas were shifted from the jurisdiction of the House Energy and Commerce Committee to today’s House Financial Services Committee.
A full list of Committee chairmen since 1865:
119th Congress: French Hill, Arkansas
118th Congress: Patrick T. McHenry, North Carolina
116th– 117th Congresses: Maxine Waters, California
113th – 115th Congresses: Jeb Hensarling, Texas
112th Congress: Spencer T. Bachus, III, Alabama
110th – 111th Congresses: Barney A. Frank, Massachusetts
107th – 109th Congresses: Michael G. Oxley, Ohio
104th – 106th Congresses: James A. Leach, Iowa
101th – 103th Congresses: Henry B. González, Texas
97th – 100th Congresses: Fernand J. St. Germain, Rhode Island
94th – 96th Congresses: Henry S. Reuss, Wisconsin
88th – 93th Congresses: John William Wright Patman, Texas
78th, 79th, 81st, 82nd, 84th – 87th Congresses: Brent Spence, Kentucky
80th Congresses: Jesse P. Wolcott, Michigan
72nd – 78th Congresses: Henry B. Steagall, Alabama
66th – 71th Congresses: Louis T. McFadden, Pennsylvania
66th Congress: Edmund Platt, New York
63rd – 65th Congresses: Carter Glass, Virginia
62nd Congress: Arsène P. Pujo, Louisiana
61st Congress: Edward B. Vreeland, New York
57th – 60th Congresses: Charles N. Fowler, New Jersey
56th Congress: Marriott Brosius, Pennsylvania
54th – 55th Congresses: Joseph H. Walker, Massachusetts
53rd Congress: William M. Springer, Illinois
52nd Congress: Henry Bacon, New York
51st Congress: George W. E. Dorsey, Nebraska
50th Congress: Beriah Wilkins, Ohio
49th Congress: Andrew G. Curtin, Pennsylvania
45th – 46th, 48th Congresses: Aylett H. Buckner, Missouri
47th Congress: William W. Crapo, Massachusetts
44th Congress: Samuel S. Cox, New York
43rd Congress: Horace Maynard, Tennessee
42nd Congress: Samuel Hooper, Massachusetts
41st Congress: James A. Garfield, Ohio
39th – 40th Congresses: Theodore M. Pomeroy, New York
