81st United States Congress
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The Eighty-first United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 1949 to January 3, 1951, during the fifth and sixth years of Harry S. Truman's presidency.
The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the Sixteenth Census of the United States in 1940. Both chambers had a Democratic majority.
Major events
- January 20, 1949: Inauguration of President Truman and Vice President Barkley
- August 16, 1949: Office of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff created
- January 21, 1950: Accused communist spy Alger Hiss was convicted of perjury
- January 31, 1950: President Truman ordered the development of the hydrogen bomb, in response to the detonation of the Soviet Union's first atomic bomb in 1949
- June 27, 1950: Korean War: President Truman ordered American military forces to aid in the defense of South Korea
Major legislation
Civil libertarians and radical political activists considered the McCarran Act to be a dangerous and unconstitutional infringement of political liberty, as exemplified in this 1961 poster.
- June 20, 1949: Central Intelligence Agency Act, ch. 227, 63 Stat. 208, 50 U.S.C. § 403a
- May 5, 1950: Uniform Code of Military Justice, ch. 169, 64 Stat. 109
- October 25, 1949: Hospital Survey and Construction Amendments of 1949, ch. 722, Pub.L. 81–380, 63 Stat. 898
- October 26, 1949: Fair Labor Standards Amendment, ch. 736, Pub.L. 81–393, 63 Stat. 910, 29 U.S.C. ch. 8
- October 31, 1949: Agricultural Act of 1949, ch. 792, 63 Stat. 1051
- May 10, 1950: National Science Foundation Act, ch. 171, Pub.L. 81–507, 64 Stat. 149, 42 U.S.C. ch. 16
- September 8, 1950: Defense Production Act of 1950, Pub.L. 81–774, 64 Stat. 798
- September 12, 1950: Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950, ch. 946, 64 Stat. 832
- September 23, 1950: McCarran Internal Security Act (including Subversive Activities Control Act of 1950), ch. 1024, 64 Stat. 987, 50 U.S.C. § 781
- September 30, 1950: Performance Rating Act, ch. 1123, 64 Stat. 1098
- August 15, 1950: Omnibus Medical Research Act, Pub.L. 81–692, 64 Stat. 443 (including Public Health Services Act Amendments, which established the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Blindness)
- December 29, 1950: Celler–Kefauver Act (Anti-Merger Act), ch. 1184, 64 Stat. 1125
- January 12, 1951: Federal Civil Defense Act of 1950, ch. 1228, 64 Stat. 1245 (codified in 50 U.S.C. App., here )
Treaties
- July 21, 1949: North Atlantic Treaty ratified, establishing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
Hearings
Mobster Frank Costello testifying before the Kefauver Committee.
- May 11, 1950: Kefauver Committee hearings into U.S. organized crime began
Party summary
Senate
| Party (shading shows control) |
Total | Vacant | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (D) |
Republican (R) | |||
| End of the previous congress | 45 | 51 | 96 | 0 |
| Begin | 54 | 42 | 96 | 0 |
| End | 53 | 43 | ||
| Final voting share | 55.2% | 44.8% | ||
| Beginning of the next congress | 47 | 49 | 96 | 0 |
House of Representatives
| House seats by party holding plurality in state | |
|---|---|
80+ to 100% Democratic |
80+ to 100% Republican |
60+ to 80% Democratic |
60+ to 80% Republican |
Up to 60% Democratic |
Up to 60% Republican |
| Party (shading shows control) |
Total | Vacant | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Labor (AL) |
Democratic (D) | Liberal (Lib) | Republican (R) | Independent (I) | |||
| End of the previous congress | 2 | 184 | 0 | 244 | 0 | 430 | 5 |
| Begin | 1 | 264 | 0 | 169 | 0 | 434 | 1 |
| End | 261 | 1 | 168 | 431 | 4 | ||
| Final voting share | 0.2% | 60.6% | 0.2% | 39.0% | 0.0% | ||
| Beginning of the next congress | 0 | 235 | 0 | 199 | 1 | 435 | 0 |
Leadership
Congressional Leaders
Senate President
Alben W. Barkley
Alben W. Barkley
Senate President pro tempore
Kenneth McKellar
Kenneth McKellar
House Speaker
Sam Rayburn
Sam Rayburn
Senate
- President: Vacant until January 20, 1949
- Alben W. Barkley (D), from January 20, 1949
Majority (Democratic) leadership
Minority (Republican) leadership
House of Representatives
- Speaker: Sam Rayburn (D)
Majority (Democratic) leadership
- Majority Leader: John W. McCormack
- Majority Whip: J. Percy Priest
- Caucus Chairman: Francis E. Walter
Minority (Republican) leadership
- Minority Leader: Joseph W. Martin, Jr.
- Minority Whip: Leslie C. Arends
- Conference Chair: Roy O. Woodruff
Caucuses
Members
Senate
Senators are popularly elected statewide every two years, with one-third beginning new six-year terms with each Congress. Senators are ordered first by state, and then by seniority. Preceding the names in the list below are Senate class numbers, which indicate the cycle of their election.
House of Representatives
Changes in membership
The count below reflects changes from the beginning of this Congress.
Senate
| State (class) |
Vacator | Reason for change | Successor | Date of successor's formal installation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kentucky (3) |
Alben W. Barkley (D) | Incumbent resigned January 19, 1949 to become U.S. Vice President. Successor appointed January 20, 1949 to finish the term. |
Garrett L. Withers (D) | January 20, 1949 |
| North Carolina (2) |
J. Melville Broughton (D) | Incumbent died March 6, 1949. Successor appointed March 29, 1949 to continue the term. |
Frank P. Graham (D) | March 29, 1949 |
| New York (3) |
Robert F. Wagner (D) | Incumbent resigned June 28, 1949 due to ill health. Successor appointed July 7, 1949 to continue the term. |
John Foster Dulles (R) | July 7, 1949 |
| Rhode Island (1) |
J. Howard McGrath (D) | Incumbent resigned August 23, 1949 to become U.S. Attorney General. Successor appointed to continue the term. |
Edward L. Leahy (D) | August 24, 1949 |
| Idaho (2) |
Bert H. Miller (D) | Incumbent died October 8, 1949. Successor appointed to continue the term. Successor later elected November 7, 1950. |
Henry Dworshak (R) | October 14, 1949 |
| Kansas (3) |
Clyde M. Reed (R) | Incumbent died November 8, 1949. Successor appointed to continue the term. |
Harry Darby (R) | December 2, 1949 |
| New York (3) |
John Foster Dulles (R) | Interim appointee lost November 8, 1949 election to finish the term. Successor elected November 8, 1949. |
Herbert H. Lehman (D) | November 9, 1949 |
| Connecticut (1) |
Raymond E. Baldwin (R) | Incumbent resigned December 16, 1949. Successor appointed to continue the term. Successor later elected November 7, 1950. |
William Benton (D) | December 17, 1949 |
| Kentucky (3) |
Garrett L. Withers (D) | Interim appointee resigned November 26, 1950 to trigger special election. Successor elected November 7, 1950. |
Earle C. Clements (D) | November 27, 1950 |
| North Carolina (2) |
Frank P. Graham (D) | Interim appointee lost November 7, 1950 election to finish the term. Successor elected November 7, 1950. |
Willis Smith (D) | November 27, 1950 |
| Kansas (3) |
Harry Darby (R) | Interim appointee retired November 28, 1950 when successor elected. Successor elected November 29, 1950. |
Frank Carlson (R) | November 29, 1950 |
| California (3) |
Sheridan Downey (D) | Incumbent resigned November 30, 1950 due to ill health. Successor appointed to finish term, having already been elected to the next term. |
Richard Nixon (R) | December 1, 1950 |
| Rhode Island (1) |
Edward L. Leahy (D) | Interim appointee retired December 18, 1950 when successor elected. Successor elected December 19, 1950. |
John O. Pastore (D) | December 19, 1950 |
House of Representatives
| District | Vacator | Reason for change | Successor | Date successor seated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York 7th | Vacant | Rep. John J. Delaney died during previous congress | Louis B. Heller (D) | February 15, 1949 |
| New York 20th | Sol Bloom (D) | Died March 7, 1949. | Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr. (Lib) | May 17, 1949 |
| New York 10th | Andrew L. Somers (D) | Died April 6, 1949. | Edna F. Kelly (D) | November 8, 1949 |
| Pennsylvania 26th | Robert L. Coffey (D) | Died April 20, 1949. | John P. Saylor (R) | September 13, 1949 |
| California 5th | Richard J. Welch (R) | Died September 10, 1949. | John F. Shelley (D) | November 8, 1949 |
| Massachusetts 6th | George J. Bates (R) | Died November 1, 1949. | William H. Bates (R) | February 14, 1950 |
| Illinois 5th | Martin Gorski (D) | Died December 4, 1949. | Vacant | Not filled for the remainder of this term |
| New Jersey 7th | J. Parnell Thomas (R) | Resigned January 2, 1950 following conviction on charges of salary fraud. | William B. Widnall (R) | February 6, 1950 |
| Virginia 1st | S. Otis Bland (D) | Died February 16, 1950. | Edward J. Robeson, Jr. (D) | May 2, 1950 |
| Illinois 13th | Ralph E. Church (R) | Died March 21, 1950. | Vacant | Not filled for the remainder of this term |
| Texas 18th | Eugene Worley (D) | Resigned April 3, 1950 to become associate judge of the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals. | Vacant | Not filled for the remainder of this term |
| Michigan 16th | John Lesinski, Sr. (D) | Died May 27, 1950. | Vacant | Not filled for the remainder of this term |
| North Dakota At-large | William Lemke (R) | Died May 30, 1950. | Vacant | Not filled for the remainder of this term |
| North Carolina 11th | Alfred L. Bulwinkle (D) | Died August 31, 1950. | Woodrow W. Jones (D) | November 7, 1950 |
| Kansas 3rd | Herbert A. Meyer (R) | Died October 2, 1950. | Myron V. George (R) | November 7, 1950 |
| California 12th | Richard Nixon (R) | Resigned November 30, 1950 after being appointed to the US Senate. | Vacant | Not filled for the remainder of this term |
| Wyoming At-large | Frank A. Barrett (R) | Resigned December 31, 1950 after being elected Governor of Wyoming. | Vacant | Not filled for the remainder of this term |
Committees
Lists of committees and their party leaders.
Senate
- Agriculture and Forestry
- Appropriations
- Banking and Currency
- District of Columbia
- Expenditures in Executive Departments
- Finance
- Foreign Relations
- Interior and Insular Affairs
- Subcommittee on Internal Security
- Interstate and Foreign Commerce
- Judiciary
- Labor and Public Welfare
- Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce (Select)
- Post Office and Civil Service
- Public Works
- Remodeling the Senate Chamber (Special)
- Small Business (Select)
- Small Business Enterprises (Special)
- Whole
House of Representatives
- Agriculture
- Appropriations
- Banking and Currency
- District of Columbia
- Education and Labor
- Expenditures in the Executive Departments
- Foreign Affairs
- House Administration
- Merchant Marine and Fisheries
- Post Office and Civil Service
- Public Lands
- Public Works
- Rules
- Small Business (Select)
- Standards of Official Conduct
- Un-American Activities
- Veterans' Affairs
- Ways and Means
- Whole
Joint committees
- Atomic Energy
- Conditions of Indian Tribes (Special)
- Defense Production
- Disposition of Executive Papers
- Foreign Economic Cooperation
- Economic
- Labor Management Relations
- Legislative Budget
- The Library
- Navajo-Hopi Indian Administration
- Printing
- Reduction of Nonessential Federal Expenditures
- Taxation
Employees
Legislative branch agency directors
- Architect of the Capitol: David Lynn
- Attending Physician of the United States Congress: George Calver
- Comptroller General of the United States: Lindsay C. Warren
- Librarian of Congress: Luther H. Evans
- Public Printer of the United States: John J. Deviny
Senate
- Chaplain: Peter Marshall (Presbyterianism) (until February 3, 1949), Frederick Brown Harris (Methodist) (starting February 3, 1949)
- Parliamentarian: Charles Watkins
- Secretary: Leslie Biffle
- Sergeant at Arms: Joseph C. Duke
House of Representatives
- Chaplain:
- Clerk: Ralph R. Roberts
- Doorkeeper: William Mosley Miller
- Parliamentarian: Lewis Deschler
- Postmaster: Finis E. Scott
- Sergeant at Arms: Joseph H. Callahan
See also
- United States elections, 1948 (elections leading to this Congress)
- United States elections, 1950 (elections during this Congress, leading to the next Congress)
External links
- House of Representatives Session Calendar for the 81st Congress (PDF).
- Official Congressional Directory for the 81st Congress, 1st Session.
- Official Congressional Directory for the 81st Congress, 2nd Session.
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