A <u>standing</u> committee is one of sixteen permanent Senate committees.
A joint committee is staffed by <u>both houses.</u>
Special and <u>select</u> committees are temporary and have limited jurisdiction
Explanation:
Without the committee system, the Legislative branch of the government would not be able to deal with all legislation related to the nation itself (such as economy, agriculture, regulation, and the military) and to international affairs. This is why Congress divides its tasks into four types of committees, which at the same time, divide themselves in many sub-committees.
The standing, or permanent, committee is the one that has legislative jurisdiction (It considers and proposes bills, for example). There are twenty standing committees in the House and sixteen in the Senate (Therefore, a standing committee is one of sixteen permanent Senate committees).
The joint committee, which is in charged with exploring and informing certain issues, is staffed by members of both the House and the Senate
Special, ad hoc and select committees are temporary committees and have limited jurisdiction as they can only address specific topics such as to conduct special investigations.
Lastly, conference committees, which are also temporary, is used to reconcile different bills passed in both the House and the Senate.
