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94th United States Congress

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94th United States Congress
93rd ←
→ 95th

January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1977
Members100 senators
435 representatives
5 non-voting delegates
Senate majorityDemocratic
Senate PresidentNelson Rockefeller (R)
House majorityDemocratic
House SpeakerCarl Albert (D)
Sessions
1st: January 14, 1975 – December 19, 1975
2nd: January 19, 1976 – October 1, 1976

The 94th 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, 1975, to January 3, 1977, during the last two years of Gerald Ford's presidency.

This is the most recent Congress with a Republican senator from Hawaii, Hiram Fong, and Democratic senators from Utah and Wyoming, Frank Moss and Gale W. McGee. Fong retired and the other two lost re-election at the end of the 94th Congress. This is also the earliest Congress to feature members of the current 118th Congress, Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Ed Markey of Massachusetts (then as representatives, now as senators).

The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the 1970 United States census. The Democrats not only maintained their majorities in the House and Senate, but would increase their numbers to supermajority status in both chambers.

Major events

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President Gerald Ford with Vice President Nelson Rockefeller and House Speaker Carl Albert during the 1975 State of the Union Address, January 15, 1975

Major legislation

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Party summary

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Senate

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Final Senate membership
     61 Democrats
     37 Republicans

     1 Independent
     1 Conservative

Party
(shading indicates majority caucus)
Total
Democratic Independent Conservative Republican Vacant
End of previous Congress 56 1 1 40 98 2
Begin (January 3, 1975) 60 1 1 37 99 1
August 8, 1975 [a] 38 100 0
September 18, 1975 [a] 61 37 100 0
January 2, 1977 [b] 60 38 100 0
Final voting share 61% 39%
Beginning of the next Congress 61 1 0 38 100 0

House of Representatives

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Party
(shading indicates majority caucus)
Total
Democratic Republican Vacant
End of previous Congress 232 174 406 29
Begin 291 144 435 0
End 287 146 433 2
Final voting share 66% 34%
Beginning of the next Congress 292 143 435 0

Leadership

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Makeup of the U.S. Senate at the start of this Congress, color-coded by party. Note: The orange stripes in New York and the green stripes in Virginia denote Conservative James Buckley and Independent Harry F. Byrd Jr., respectively.
Senate President
Senate President pro tempore
House Speaker

Senate

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Majority (Democratic) leadership

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Minority (Republican) leadership

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House of Representatives

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Majority (Democratic) leadership

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Minority (Republican) leadership

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Caucuses

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Members

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Senate

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Senators are popularly elected statewide every two years, with one-third beginning new six-year terms with each Congress, In this Congress, Class 1 meant their term ended with this Congress, facing re-election in 1976; Class 2 meant their term began in the last Congress, facing re-election in 1978; and Class 3 meant their term began in this Congress, facing re-election in 1980.

House seats by party holding plurality in state
  80+% to 100% Republican
  80+% to 100% Democratic
  60+% to 80% Republican
  60+% to 80% Democratic
  Up to 60% Republican
  Up to 60% Democratic

House of Representatives

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Many of the congressional districts are linked to articles describing the district itself. Since the boundaries of the districts have changed often and substantially, the linked article may only describe the district as it exists today, and not as it was at the time of this Congress.

Changes in membership

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

Senate

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  • Replacements: 9
  • Deaths: 1
  • Resignations: 6
  • Vacancy: 0

Total seats with changes: 8

Senate changes
State
(class)
Vacated by Reason for change Successor Date of successor's
formal installation[e]
New Hampshire
(3)
Vacant Disputed election.
Interim senator appointed August 8, 1975.
Norris Cotton
(R)
August 8, 1975
New Hampshire
(3)
Norris Cotton
(R)
Interim appointee lost election.
Successor elected September 16, 1975.
John A. Durkin
(D)
September 18, 1975
Michigan
(1)
Philip Hart
(D)
Died December 26, 1976.
Successor appointed December 30, 1976, to finish the term, having already been elected to the next term.
Donald Riegle
(D)
December 30, 1976
Missouri
(1)
Stuart Symington
(D)
Resigned December 27, 1976, to give successor preferential seniority.
Successor appointed December 27, 1976, to finish the term, having already been elected to the next term.
John Danforth
(R)
December 27, 1976
Nebraska
(1)
Roman Hruska
(R)
Resigned December 27, 1976, to give successor preferential seniority.
Successor appointed December 28, 1976, to finish the term, having already been elected to the next term.
Edward Zorinsky
(D)
December 28, 1976
Ohio
(1)
Robert Taft Jr.
(R)
Resigned December 28, 1976, to give successor preferential seniority.
Successor appointed December 28, 1976, to finish the term, having already been elected to the next term.
Howard Metzenbaum
(D)
December 29, 1976
Rhode Island
(1)
John Pastore
(D)
Resigned December 28, 1976, to give successor preferential seniority.
Successor appointed December 29, 1976, to finish the term, having already been elected to the next term.
John Chafee
(R)
December 29, 1976
Minnesota
(2)
Walter Mondale
(DFL)
Resigned December 30, 1976, after being elected Vice-President of the United States.
Interim Senator appointed December 30, 1976.
Wendell R. Anderson
(DFL)
December 30, 1976
California
(1)
John V. Tunney
(D)
Resigned January 1, 1977, to give successor preferential seniority.
Successor appointed January 2, 1977, to finish the term, having already been elected to the next term.
S. I. Hayakawa
(R)
January 2, 1977

House of Representatives

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  • Replacements: 3
  • Deaths: 2
  • Resignations: 2
  • Contested election: 0
  • Total seats with changes: 4
House changes
District Vacated by Reason for change Successor Date of successor's
formal installation[e]
Oklahoma 5th John Jarman (D) Changed parties. John Jarman (R) January 23, 1975
Illinois 5th John C. Kluczynski (D) Died January 26, 1975. John G. Fary (D) July 8, 1975
California 37th Jerry Pettis (R) Died February 14, 1975. Shirley Neil Pettis (R) April 29, 1975
Tennessee 5th Richard Fulton (D) Resigned August 14, 1975, after being elected Mayor of Nashville. Clifford Allen (D) November 25, 1975
New York 39th James F. Hastings (R) Resigned January 20, 1976. Stan Lundine (D) March 2, 1976
Texas 22nd Robert R. Casey (D) Resigned January 22, 1976, after being appointed a commissioner on the Federal Maritime Commission. Ron Paul (R) April 3, 1976
Texas 1st Wright Patman (D) Died March 7, 1976. Sam B. Hall Jr. (D) June 19, 1976
Pennsylvania 1st William A. Barrett (D) Died April 12, 1976. Michael Myers (D) November 2, 1976
Massachusetts 7th Torbert Macdonald (D) Died May 21, 1976. Ed Markey (D) November 2, 1976
Missouri 6th Jerry Litton (D) Died August 3, 1976. Tom Coleman (R) November 2, 1976
Ohio 18th Wayne Hays (D) Resigned September 1, 1976, due to the Elizabeth Ray sex scandal. Vacant Not filled this term
Michigan 7th Donald Riegle (D) Resigned December 30, 1976, after being appointed to the United States Senate.

Committees

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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.

Special or select

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Senate

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House of Representatives

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Joint committees

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Employees

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Senate

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House of Representatives

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b In New Hampshire, Norris Cotton (R) was appointed on August 8, 1975, to temporarily serve until senator until the winner of the special election, John A. Durkin (D), was seated on September 18, 1975.
  2. ^ Membership changes, constituting six resignations and one death, following the 1976 elections resulted a one net increase in Republican seats. See #Changes in membership.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) and the North Dakota Democratic-Nonpartisan League Party (D-NPL) are the Minnesota and North Dakota affiliates of the U.S. Democratic Party and are counted as Democrats.
  4. ^ a b c The Republican Party of Minnesota changed its name to the Independent-Republicans of Minnesota on November 15, 1975. As such, Independent-Republicans from Minnesota are counted as Republicans.
  5. ^ a b When seated or oath administered, not necessarily when service began.

References

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  • Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
  • Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
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