88th United States Congress

All you want to know about 88th United States Congress

1 Dates of sessions
2 Major events
3 Major legislation
4 Party summary
5 Officers
- 5.1 Senate
- 5.2 House of Representatives
6 Members
- 6.1 Senate
- 6.2 House of Representatives
7 External links

United States Capitol (1962)

The Eighty-eighth 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, DC from January 3, 1963 to January 3, 1965, during the last year of the administration of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, and the first administration of his successor, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson.

The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the Eighteenth Census of the United States in 1960, and the number of members was again 435 (had temporarily been 437 in order to seat one member each from recently-admitted states of Alaska and Hawaii). Both chambers had a Democratic majority.

Dates of sessions

January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1965

First session: January 9, 1963 – December 30, 1963
Second session: January 7, 1964 – October 3, 1964

Previous: 87th Congress • Next: 89th Congress

Major events

Main articles: 1963#Events and 1964#Events

November 22, 1963: Lyndon Johnson became President of the United States on the death of President John Kennedy.

Major legislation

Main article: List of United States federal legislation#88th United States Congress

1963-06-10: Equal Pay Act, Pub.L. 88-38, 77 Stat. 56
1963 — Department of Defense Appropriations Act, Pub.L. 88-149
1963-10-31: Community Mental Health Centers Act, Pub.L. 88-164, title II, 77 Stat. 290, including Mental Retardation Facilities Construction Act
1963 — Military Construction Authorization Act, Pub.L. 88-174
1963 — Amendments to the National Defense Education Act, Pub.L. 88-210
1963-12-17: Clean Air Act, Pub.L. 88-206, 77 Stat. 392
1964-07-02: Civil Rights Act of 1964, Pub.L. 88-352, 78 Stat. 241 - During the summer of 1964, Senator Robert C. Byrd carried out a filibuster that lasted 14 hours and 13 minutes, against the Civil Rights bill of 1964.^{[citation needed]} During this vote, Clair Engle suffered a brain tumor, but was still able to vote in the affirmative.^{[citation needed]}
1964-07-09: Urban Mass Transportation Act (Federal Transit Act), Pub.L. 88-365, 78 Stat. 302
1964-08-20: Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, Pub.L. 88-452, 78 Stat. 508
1964-09-03: Wilderness Act, Pub.L. 88-577, 78 Stat. 890
1964-09-04: Nurse Training Act, Pub.L. 88-581, 78 Stat. 908
1964 — Food Stamp Act of 1964

Party summary

Senate

Republican (R): 37
Democratic (D): 63 (majority)

TOTAL members: 100

House of Representatives

Republican (R): 176
Democratic (D): 259 (majority)

TOTAL members: 435

Officers

Senate

President of the United States Senate: Lyndon Johnson, succeeded to the U.S. Presidency on November 22, 1963; thereafter vacant
President pro tempore: Carl Hayden
Majority Leader: Mike Mansfield
Senate Democratic Whip: Hubert Humphrey
Minority Leader: Everett Dirksen

House of Representatives

Speaker: John W. McCormack

Composition of the Senate at the start of the 88th Congress

Members

Senate

Senators are popularly elected statewide every two years, with one-third beginning new six year terms with each Congress. Preceding the names in the list below are Senate class numbers, which indicate the cycle of their election.

See also: Category:United States Senators