them during the dire economic times. The effort backfired and the economic situation worsened. The Smoot-Hawley Tariff would eventually be replaced by the Reciprocal Tariff Act of 1934 which authorized the President to negotiate trade agreements. This act not only set up the trade policy system as it exists today but also effectively transferred trade making policy from the Congress to the President. The committee also played an important role in two major acts created under the New Deal. The committee received jurisdiction over the National Industrial Recovery Act because of tax code changes in the bill. The new bureaucracy was President Franklin D. Roosevelt's attempt to stimulate the economy and promote jobs for unemployed Americans while also regulating businesses. The National Recovery Administration would ultimately fail as it lost public support, but the act served as a springboard for the Wagner Act and the National Labor Board. Probably the largest and most lasting pieces of legislation shaped by the Finance Committee during the New Deal was the 1935 Social Security Act. Once again, the committee received jurisdiction owing to the payroll taxes that would be enacted to pay for the new program. The act was the first effort by the federal government to provide benefits to the elderly and the unemployed, leading to enhanced economic welfare for many elderly Americans. In 1981, a Senate Resolution required the printing of the History of the Committee on Finance. Role The role of the Committee on Finance is very similar to that of the House Committee on Ways and Means. The one exception in area of jurisdiction is that the Committee on Finance has jurisdiction over both Medicare and Medicaid, while the House Ways and Means Committee only has jurisdiction over Medicare. (The House Energy and Commerce Committee has jurisdiction over Medicaid.) The other difference in terms of power is that all revenue raising measures must originate in the House giving the Ways and Means Committee a slight edge in setting tax policy. In addition to having jurisdiction over legislation, the Committee on Finance has extensive oversight powers. It has authority to investigate, review and evaluate existing laws, and the agencies that implement them. Jurisdiction In accordance of Rule XXV of the United States Senate, all proposed legislation, messages, petitions, memorials, and other matters relating to the following subjects is referred to the Senate Committee on Finance: Bonded debt of the United