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 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 1st, 1950: Senator Margaret Smith made the Declaration of Conscience speech as the first refutation of McCarthyism in the Senate.
- 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,,
- October 25, 1949: Hospital Survey and Construction Amendments of 1949, ch. 722,,
- October 26, 1949: Fair Labor Standards Amendment, ch. 736,,,
- October 31, 1949: Agricultural Act of 1949, ch. 792,
- May 5, 1950: Uniform Code of Military Justice, ch. 169,
- May 10, 1950: National Science Foundation Act, ch. 171,,,
- August 15, 1950: Omnibus Medical Research Act,,
- September 8, 1950: Defense Production Act of 1950,,
- September 12, 1950: Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950, ch. 946,
- September 23, 1950: McCarran Internal Security Act, ch. 1024,,
- September 30, 1950: Performance Rating Act, ch. 1123,
- December 29, 1950: Celler–Kefauver Act, ch. 1184,
- January 12, 1951: Federal Civil Defense Act of 1950, ch. 1228,
Treaties
- July 21, 1949: North Atlantic Treaty ratified, establishing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Hearings
- May 11, 1950: Kefauver Committee hearings into U.S. organized crime began
Leadership
Senate
- President: Vacant until January 20, 1949
- * Alben W. Barkley, from January 20, 1949
- President pro tempore: Kenneth McKellar
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
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
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.Florida">List of United States senators from Florida">Florida
Louisiana">List of United States senators from Louisiana">Louisiana
Montana">List of United States senators from Montana">Montana
North Dakota">List of United States senators from North Dakota">North Dakota
Tennessee">List of United States senators from Tennessee">Tennessee
House of Representatives
Florida">List of United States representatives from Florida">Florida
Louisiana">List of United States representatives from Louisiana">Louisiana
Montana">List of United States representatives from Montana">Montana
North Dakota">List of United States representatives from North Dakota">North Dakota
Tennessee">List of United States representatives from Tennessee">Tennessee
Wyoming">List of United States representatives from Wyoming">Wyoming
Changes in membership
The count below reflects changes from the beginning of this Congress.Committees
Senate
- Agriculture and Forestry
- Appropriations
- Armed Services
- 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
- Post Office and Civil Service
- Public Works
- Remodeling the Senate Chamber
- Rules and Administration
- Small Business
- Small Business Enterprises
- Whole
House of Representatives
- Agriculture
- Appropriations
- Armed Services
- Banking and Currency
- District of Columbia
- Education and Labor
- Expenditures in the Executive Departments
- Foreign Affairs
- House Administration
- Investigate Educational, Training, and Loan Guaranty Programs under the G.I. Bill
- Investigate the Use of Chemicals in Food and Cosmetics
- Interstate and Foreign Commerce
- Judiciary
- Lobbying Activities
- Merchant Marine and Fisheries
- Post Office and Civil Service
- Public Lands
- Public Works
- Rules
- Small Business
- Standards of Official Conduct
- Un-American Activities
- Veterans' Affairs
- Ways and Means
- Whole
Joint committees
- Atomic Energy
- Conditions of Indian Tribes
- Defense Production
- Disposition of Executive Papers
- Foreign Economic Cooperation
- Economic
- Labor Management Relations
- Legislative Budget
- The Library
- Navajo-Hopi Indian Administration
- Arrange the Inauguration for President-elect
- Printing
- Reduction of Nonessential Federal Expenditures
- Taxation
Employees
Legislative branch agency">List of federal agencies in the United States">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, until January 26, 1949
- * Frederick Brown Harris, 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, until January 3, 1950
- * Bernard Braskamp, 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 and Alney E. Chaffee
- Sergeant at Arms: Joseph H. Callahan