A committee in either house (House of Representatives, usually "The House", and the Senate) is the body that writes laws and sends them to the full chamber for

A committee in either house (House of Representatives, usually "The House", and the Senate) is the body that writes laws and sends them to the full chamber for a vote. In doing so, they also research the issues involved, and can conduct investigations and can summon people (including government officials) to testify. A paper by them does not have any legal force, but it often shapes the views of other members of congress, and reflects the views of those members who have the most interest in the issues at stake (ie the members of the committee). In this case, both the Judiciary (dealing with both the court system and law enforcement) and Energy and Commerce (dealing with economic issues in a fairly broad sense) committees have a combined working group on encryption, since it affects both their subject areas.