81st United States Congress

The 81st 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 1940 United States census.

The Democrats won back the majority in both chambers, and with the election of President Harry S. Truman to his own full term in office, this gave the Democrats an overall federal government trifecta.

Major events

• January 20, 1949: President Harry S. Truman began his second (only full) term. Alben W. Barkley began his term as Vice President, which had been vacant since 1945.
• 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

• June 20, 1949: Central Intelligence Agency Act, ch. 227, 63 Stat. 208, 50 U.S.C. § 403a
• October 25, 1949: Hospital Survey and Construction Amendments of 1949, ch. 722, Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 81–380, 63 Stat. 898
• October 26, 1949: Fair Labor Standards Amendment, ch. 736, Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 81–393, 63 Stat. 910, 29 U.S.C. ch. 8
• October 31, 1949: Agricultural Act of 1949, ch. 792, 63 Stat. 1051
• May 5, 1950: Uniform Code of Military Justice, ch. 169, 64 Stat. 109
• May 10, 1950: National Science Foundation Act, ch. 171, Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 81–507, 64 Stat. 149, 42 U.S.C. ch. 16
• August 15, 1950: Omnibus Medical Research Act, Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 81–692, 64 Stat. 443 (including Public Health Services Act Amendments, which established the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Blindness)
• September 8, 1950: Defense Production Act of 1950, Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 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
• 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 [1])

Treaties

• July 21, 1949: North Atlantic Treaty ratified, establishing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

Hearings

• May 11, 1950: Kefauver Committee hearings into U.S. organized crime began

Party summary

Senate

House of Representatives

Leadership

Senate

• President: Vacant until January 20, 1949
  • Alben W. Barkley (D), from January 20, 1949
• President pro tempore: Kenneth McKellar (D)

Majority (Democratic) leadership

• Majority Leader: Scott W. Lucas
• Majority Whip: Francis J. Myers
• Democratic Caucus Secretary: Brien McMahon
• Policy Committee Chairman: Scott W. Lucas

Minority (Republican) leadership

• Minority Leader: Kenneth S. Wherry
• Minority Whip: Leverett Saltonstall
• Republican Conference Chairman: Eugene Millikin
• Republican Conference Secretary: Milton Young
• National Senatorial Committee Chair: Styles Bridges
• Policy Committee Chairman: Robert A. Taft

House of Representatives

• Speaker: Sam Rayburn (D)

Majority (Democratic) leadership

• Majority Leader: John W. McCormack
• Majority Whip: Percy Priest
• Democratic Caucus Chairman: Francis E. Walter
• Democratic Caucus Secretary: Chase G. Woodhouse
• Democratic Campaign Committee Chairman: Michael J. Kirwan

Minority (Republican) leadership

• Minority Leader: Joseph W. Martin Jr.
• Minority Whip: Leslie C. Arends
• Republican Conference Chairman: Roy O. Woodruff
• Policy Committee Chairman: Joseph W. Martin Jr.
• Republican Campaign Committee Chairman: Leonard W. Hall

Caucuses

• House Democratic Caucus
• Senate Democratic Caucus

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, In this Congress, Class 3 meant their term ended with this Congress, requiring reelection in 1950; Class 1 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring reelection in 1952; and Class 2 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring reelection in 1954.

House of Representatives

Changes in membership

The count below reflects changes from the beginning of this Congress.

Senate

House of Representatives

Committees

Lists of committees and their party leaders for members of the House and Senate committees can be found through the Official Congressional Directory at the bottom of this article. The directory after the pages of terms of service lists committees of the Senate, House (Standing with Subcommittees, Select and Special) and Joint and, after that, House/Senate committee assignments. On the committees section of the House and Senate in the Official Congressional Directory, the committee's members on the first row on the left side shows the chairman of the committee and on the right side shows the ranking member of the committee.

Senate

• Agriculture and Forestry (Chairman: Elmer Thomas; Ranking Member: George D. Aiken)
• Appropriations (Chairman: Kenneth McKellar; Ranking Member: Styles Bridges)
• Armed Services (Chairman: Millard E. Tydings; Ranking Member: Styles Bridges)
• Banking and Currency (Chairman: Burnet R. Maybank; Ranking Member: Charles W. Tobey)
• District of Columbia (Chairman: Matthew M. Neely; Ranking Member: John J. Williams)
• Expenditures in Executive Departments (Chairman: John L. McClellan; Ranking Member: Joseph R. McCarthy)
• Finance (Chairman: Walter F. George; Ranking Member: Eugene D. Millikin)
• Foreign Relations (Chairman: Tom Connally; Ranking Member: Arthur H. Vandenberg)
• Interior and Insular Affairs (Chairman: Joseph C. O'Mahoney; Ranking Member: Hugh Butler)
• Subcommittee on Internal Security
• Interstate and Foreign Commerce (Chairman: Edwin C. Johnson; Ranking Member: Charles W. Tobey)
• Judiciary (Chairman: Pat McCarran; Ranking Member: Alexander Wiley)
• Labor and Public Welfare (Chairman: Elbert D. Thomas; Ranking Member: Robert A. Taft)
• Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce (Select)
• Post Office and Civil Service (Chairman: Frank Carlson; Ranking Member: Olin D. Johnston)
• Public Works (Chairman: Dennis Chavez; Ranking Member: William Langer)
• Remodeling the Senate Chamber (Special)
• Rules and Administration (Chairman: Carl Hayden; Ranking Member: Kenneth S. Wherry)
• Small Business (Select)
• Small Business Enterprises (Special)
• Whole

House of Representatives

• Agriculture (Chairman: Harold D. Cooley; Ranking Member: Clifford R. Hope)
• Appropriations (Chairman: Clarence Cannon; Ranking Member: John Taber)
• Armed Services (Chairman: Carl Vinson; Ranking Member: Dewey Jackson Short)
• Banking and Currency (Chairman: Brent Spence; Ranking Member: Jesse P. Wolcott)
• District of Columbia (Chairman: John L. McMillan; Ranking Member: George J. Bates)
• Education and Labor (Chairman: John Lesinski; Ranking Member: Samuel K. McConnell Jr.)
• Expenditures in the Executive Departments (Chairman: William L. Dawson; Ranking Member: Clare E. Hoffman)
• Foreign Affairs (Chairman: John Kee; Ranking Member: Charles Aubrey Eaton)
• House Administration (Chairman: Mary Teresa Norton; Ranking Member: Karl M. LeCompte)
• Investigate Educational, Training, and Loan Guaranty Programs under the G.I. Bill (Select) (Chairman: Olin E. Teague)
• Investigate the Use of Chemicals in Food and Cosmetics (Select) (Chairman: N/A)
• Interstate and Foreign Commerce (Chairman: Robert Crosser; Ranking Member: Charles A. Wolverton)
• Judiciary (Chairman: Emanuel Celler; Ranking: Earl C. Michener)
• Lobbying Activities (Select) (Chairman: Frank Buchanan)
• Merchant Marine and Fisheries (Chairman: S. Otis Bland; Ranking Member: Alvin F. Weichel)
• Post Office and Civil Service (Chairman: Tom J. Murray; Ranking Member: Edward H. Rees)
• Public Lands (Chairman: J. Hardin Peterson; Ranking Member: Richard J. Welch then Fred L. Crawford)
• Public Works (Chairman: William M. Whittington; Ranking Member: George Anthony Dondero)
• Rules (Chairman: Adolph J. Sabath; Ranking Member: Leo E. Allen)
• Small Business (Select) (Chairman: Wright Patman)
• Standards of Official Conduct
• Un-American Activities (Chairman: John S. Wood; Ranking Member: J. Parnell Thomas)
• Veterans' Affairs (Chairman: John E. Rankin; Ranking Member: Edith Nourse Rogers)
• Ways and Means (Chairman: Robert L. Doughton; Ranking Member: Daniel A. Reed)
• Whole

Joint committees

• Atomic Energy (Chairman: Sen. Brien McMahon; Vice Chairman: Rep. Carl T. Durham)
• Conditions of Indian Tribes (Special)
• Defense Production
• Disposition of Executive Papers
• Foreign Economic Cooperation (Chairman: Sen. Pat McCarran)
• Economic (Chairman: Sen. Joseph C. O'Mahoney; Vice Chairman: Rep. Edward J. Hart)
• Labor Management Relations (Chairman: Sen. James E. Murray; Vice Chairman: Rep. John Lesinski)
• Legislative Budget
• The Library (Chairman: Sen. Theodore F. Green)
• Navajo-Hopi Indian Administration
• Arrange the Inauguration for President-elect (Chairman: Sen. Carl Hayden)
• Printing (Chairman: Sen. Carl Hayden; Vice Chairman: Rep. Mary Teresa Norton)
• Reduction of Nonessential Federal Expenditures
• Taxation (Chairman: Rep. Robert L. Doughton; Vice Chairman: Sen. Walter F. George)

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 (Presbyterian), until January 26, 1949
  • Frederick Brown Harris (Methodist), from February 3, 1949
• Parliamentarian: Charles Watkins
• Secretary: Leslie Biffle
• Librarian: George W. Straubinger
• Secretary for the Majority: Felton McLellan Johnston
• Secretary for the Minority: J. Mark Trice
• Sergeant at Arms: Joseph C. Duke

House of Representatives

• Chaplain: James Shera Montgomery (Methodist), until January 3, 1950
  • Bernard Braskamp (Presbyterian), from January 3, 1950
• Clerk: Ralph R. Roberts
• Doorkeeper: William Mosley "Fishbait" Miller
• Parliamentarian: Lewis Deschler
• Postmaster: Finis E. Scott
• Reading Clerks: George J. Maurer (D) and Alney E. Chaffee (R)
• Sergeant at Arms: Joseph H. Callahan

See also

• 1948 United States elections (elections leading to this Congress)
  • 1948 United States presidential election
  • 1948 United States Senate elections
  • 1948 United States House of Representatives elections
• 1950 United States elections (elections during this Congress, leading to the next Congress)
  • 1950 United States Senate elections
  • 1950 United States House of Representatives elections

Notes

References

• House of Representatives Session Calendar for the 81st Congress. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office. 1951.
• Official Congressional Directory for the 81st Congress, 1st Session. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office. 1949.
• Official Congressional Directory for the 81st Congress, 2nd Session. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office. 1950.

1. List of United States Congresses
2. List of United States federal legislation
3. List of United States senators in the 81st Congress
4. 1948 United States House of Representatives elections
5. 1949 United States House of Representatives elections
6. Winston Churchill's address to Congress (1952)
7. McCarran Internal Security Act
8. Party divisions of United States Congresses
9. 1950 United States House of Representatives elections
10. Celler–Kefauver Act
11. Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1950
12. 82nd United States Congress
13. United States congressional delegations from Oregon
14. Remembrance Day at the Gettysburg Battlefield
15. Federal Deposit Insurance Act
16. Brannan Plan
17. Housing Act of 1949
18. List of members of the United States House of Representatives in the 81st Congress by seniority
19. 1949 State of the Union Address
20. 1949 United States Senate special election in New York