The Appropriations committee is the largest Senate committee and is responsible for discretionary spending. This committee also contains subcommittees, who concentrate on government agencies such as Homeland Security and Defense. Two major responsibilities of this committee are to create spending bills and to make funding recommendations for the federal budget.
<span>The Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry is responsible for overseeing agricultural economics, production, research, plant and animal welfare, food safety, and human nutrition. It is a standing committee staffed by both parties. There are twenty members on this committee: eleven from the majority Democratic party, and nine from the minority Republican party. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan is the chair in 2013, and Thad Cochran is the ranking member, who leads the minority party.</span>
A US saving bond is a debt security in which you are "lending" money to the US government in exchange for an expected return plus interest. It is one of the safest forms of saving, due to the fact the US government has never defaulted on its debt obligations and it also generates more interest than storing your money in a savings account.