Policy Committees, Councils, and Task Forces

The Accrediting Board, a panel of U.S. Chamber board members and chamber CEOs from across the country, review and approve Accreditation applications from local and state chambers.

For more than 60 years, leading association executives have gathered under the banner of the U.S. Chamber’s C100 to network, build partnerships, and discuss current issues. These CEOs represent the interests of their association members, enhance the U.S. Chamber’s pro-business advocacy, lobbying, and coalition work, and strengthen our efforts to fight for business growth and America’s success.

This committee represents and communicates the perspectives and needs of chambers to the U.S. Chamber and counsels the U.S. Chamber on programs to meet those needs. The work of the committee includes: identifying emerging issues that will impact chambers of commerce and their members; advising the U.S. Chamber of programs and services needed by chambers and their members; evaluating the usefulness of existing U.S. Chamber programs and services to chambers; and offering perspective to the U.S. Chamber on policy-related issues.

This committee focuses on education and workforce development issues. Specifically, the committee considers issues such as early childhood education, Pre-K–12 education, postsecondary education, career and technical education, the public workforce development system, incumbent worker training, and lifelong learning.

The committee’s work reflects the Chamber’s commitment to ensuring that our members have access to an educated and skilled workforce.

This committee focuses on all employee benefit issues: health care, pension and retirement plans, and other employer-provided benefits, as well as public programs such as Social Security and Medicare.

The committee has a Retirement Plans Subcommittee, a Healthcare Regulatory Task Force, and Health Insurer Council, which consider these issues in more detail than the full committee.

This committee focuses on all aspects of energy, clean air, climate change, and natural resources. 

Specifically, on such matters as the regulation of energy production, transmission, and utilization, as well as air, natural resources, and climate change, the committee considers whether laws and regulations are reasonable, based on sound science and the best data available, account for health risks and environmental impact, and avoid unnecessary burdens while fostering economic growth and greater energy security. 

The committee also addresses legal and regulatory reforms and other safeguards against regulatory abuses by administrative agencies.

The Environment and Agriculture Committee focuses on the environment, agriculture, chemicals, and water. Specifically, the committee considers the regulation of environmental quality, water quality, Superfund, solid waste, food safety, and nanotechnology, focusing on whether these regulations are efficiently undertaken and based on sound science and the best data available, consider health risks, and avoid unnecessary burdens.

The International Policy Committee (IPC) focuses on international trade, investment, and regulatory policies.  IPC members provide input to the Chamber’s Board of Directors in these policy areas. The committee meets three times a year and as needed to address issues as they arise.

The committee focuses on a wide range of labor and employment issues, including: employment nondiscrimination, minimum wage and wage-hour, occupational safety and health, immigration, labor-management relations, union corporate/strategic campaigns, workplace privacy, work-family issues and leave mandates, and emerging international labor policy issues. The committee’s work reflects the Chamber's commitment to crafting sound labor and employment policies in the interest of our members and their employees and to counterbalancing the efforts of other groups advocating the erosion of management rights.

This committee has a number of active subcommittees: Wage, Hour, and Leave; Immigration; Equal Employment Opportunity; Occupational Safety and Health; and National Labor Relations Act. In addition, the committee has a task force on human trafficking that develops best practices, highlights employer programs, and reviews legislative responses.

On request from Chamber staff, the committee analyzes and provides input on federal tax legislative and regulatory initiatives. Since the enactment of tax reform, the committee’s input has focused on the regulatory implementation of tax reform and post-reform legislative initiatives to ensure the most pro-growth tax code possible.

This committee focuses on policies on telecommunications, the Internet and e-commerce, broadcasting and mass media, and privacy. The committee supports market-based solutions, policies that foster investment in technology research and deployment, and balanced regulatory treatment of technical platforms.

The Transportation Infrastructure and Logistics Committee (TILC) is composed of business executives representing transportation providers and users and related association heads and state and local chamber leaders. It is the primary policy committee in the area of transportation infrastructure. The committee’s jurisdiction includes legislative and regulatory issues related to aviation, marine, and surface transportation, as well as water infrastructure. In addition to its policy agenda, the committee serves as a forum for networking and education for U.S. Chamber members.

The Antitrust Council focuses on domestic antitrust policy. An effective and balanced system of antitrust laws and regulations is critical to ensuring the efficient operation of our free market system, which depends on a sound understanding of business realities in a global economy and a strong commitment to eliminating unproductive, anticompetitive policies.

The Health Care Regulatory Task Force was initially created to facilitate member input as the Chamber embarked on commenting on the litany of regulations to implement the Affordable Care Act. Member companies that serve on the Employee Benefits Committee are welcome to participate on the task force. Those that elect to serve are not obligated to participate or engage on every regulation, but rather as their interests dictate.

The task force is generally comprised of technical experts from member companies with an interest in: hearing technical updates on proposed health care regulations of interest to the business community generally; contributing to the Chamber’s comment letters; and reviewing formal responses before the Chamber files them with the agencies for consideration. The task force generally convenes via teleconference and is able to provide feedback on draft comments within a fairly limited timeframe.

To address issues unique to health insurers member companies, the Chamber created the Health Insurer Council. The Council provides a specialized venue for member health insurance companies to discuss policy concerns particular to their industry role.

While the Chamber and the Employee Benefits Committee evaluate health policy decisions based on the greater employer perspective, the Health Insurer Council ensures that areas of critical interest to insurers are appropriately vetted and explored by the Chamber.

The National Security Task Force focuses on cybersecurity, supply chain and supply chain security, customs and trade facilitation, public-private partnerships, and emergency preparedness. The task force is composed of companies, associations, and state and local chambers that represent a broad spectrum of the American economy.

Working groups within the Task Force on cybersecurity and global supply chains identify current and emerging issues and consider effective policies, and potential reforms.

The Procurement and Space Industry Council provides a forum for Chamber members to identify and provide perspective on policies and proposals that simplify the government contracting process and facilitate greater private sector involvement in supporting the acquisition objectives of all federal agencies.

Due to government’s historical dominance in acquiring and operating space assets and capabilities, the Council has expanded its scope to include this emerging industry within its purview. Similarly, as the Council promotes an efficient procurement process beneficial to both the private and public sectors, it also promotes a streamlined regulatory regime for commercial space activities.

The council is the U.S. Chamber’s principal policy committee and action group representing the issues of concern to small business. In addition to focusing on small business policy, the council assists small business members in creating effective grassroots actions and strategies on legislative, regulatory and international initiatives.

The group is able to bring to the U.S. Chamber Board’s attention small business issues they regard as important or comment on the small business impact of policy being considered by other Chamber standing policy committees.

The majority of the membership is comprised of small business owners whose size range from the self-employed to larger enterprises. Other members may include CEO’s or small business directors of state and local chambers of commerce, small business advocates of member associations, and small business representatives of organizations dedicated to serving the interests of small businesses.

The U.S. Chamber’s Trade Task Force is a consultative mechanism supporting Chamber policy on trade and investment. The Task Force focuses on international trade, investment, and regulatory matters. It meets more frequently than the International Policy Committee (IPC).

The goals of the Task Force on Climate Actions are to: understand how and for what purposes businesses across industries are internally pricing carbon; gain an understanding of the implications and issues associated with carbon pricing and other potential climate actions; learn how carbon pricing policies outside of the U.S. are impacting companies and issues; recognize the extent to which and how businesses are calculating the risks and costs to the business of climate change; ascertain the issues associated with explicit (e.g., carbon tax or cap and trade) and implicit (e.g., regulation) carbon price mechanisms; promote a dialogue among companies and sectors.

The mission of the Task Force to Eradicate Human Trafficking, composed of Chamber member companies, is to educate stakeholders, lawmakers, senior government officials, and the public about best practices in supply chain management and identify strategies to combat human trafficking.

The group convenes meetings where stakeholders discuss their initiatives and partnerships with non-governmental organizations. Federal government officials from the departments of Labor and State have appeared as guest speakers at the U.S. Chamber to discuss the eradication of human trafficking.