73rd United States Congress

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The Seventy-third United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, comprised of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1933 to January 3, 1935, during the first two years of the first administration of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the Fifteenth Census of the United States in 1930. Both chambers had a Democratic majority.

[edit] Dates of sessions

March 4, 1933 - January 3, 1935

Previous congress: 72nd Congress
Next congress: 74th Congress

[edit] Major events

Main article: Events of 1933; Events of 1934

[edit] Major legislation

Main article: List of United States federal legislation in the 73rd Congress

[edit] Constitutional Amendments

  • The twentieth amendment to the Constitution became effective in January 1934. This amendment changed both the date for convening Congress and the date for beginning each term. Thus the first session of the 73rd Congress convened in March 1933, but the second session convened in January 1934.
  • The twenty-first amendment to the Constitution was ratified in December 1933. This amendment repealed the eighteenth amendment which mandated national prohibition in the United States, which had been in effect since the Volstead Act of 1919. The amendment is unusual due to the fact that it was not passed by Congress, but was forced upon the Federal Government by a convention of states. Even though it was not passed by Congress, it still was the most publicized legislation of the day, and had significant effects on the 73rd Congress, particularly in the south, where prohibition was overwhelmingly embraced, and the amendment was seen as a "coup d'etat of immorality," as one southern Congressman remarked.

[edit] Legislation

[edit] Special Session

The special session of Congress, which took place before the regular seating, was called by President Roosevelt specifically to pass two acts:

  • The Emergency Banking Act was passed on March 9, 1933 within four hours of its introduction. It was prompted by the "bank holiday" and was the first step in Roosevelt's "first hundred days" of the New Deal. The Act was drafted in large part by officials appointed by the Hoover administration. The bill provided for the Treasury Department to initiate reserve requirements and a federal bailout to large failing institutions. It also removed the United States from the Gold Standard. All banks had to undergo a federal inspection to deem if they were stable enough to re-open. Within a week 1/3rd of the banks re-opened in the United States and faith was, in large part, restored in the banking system. The act had few opponents, only taking fire from the farthest left elements of Congress who wanted to nationalize banks all-together.
  • The Economy Act of 1933 was passed on March 10, 1933. Roosevelt, in sending this act to Congress, warned that if it did not pass, the country faced a billion dollar deficit. The act balanced the federal budget by cutting the salaries of government employees and cutting pensions to veterans by as much as 15 percent. It intended to reassure the deficit hawks that the new president was fiscally conservative. Although the act was heavily protested by left-leaning members of congress, it passed by an overwhelming margin.

[edit] First Session

[edit] Second Session

[edit] Hearings

[edit] "Merchants of Death" hearings

Committee: U.S. Senate Committee on Munitions
Chairman: Senator Gerald P. Nye (R-North Dakota)
Duration: September 4, 1934-February 1936

The Senate Munitions Committee came into existence souly for the purpose of this hearing. Although World War I had been over for sixteen years, there were revived reports that America's leading munition companies had effectively influenced the United States into that conflict, which killed 53,000 Americans, hence the nickname "Merchants of Death".

The Democratic Party, controlling the Senate for the first time since the first world war, used the hype of these reports to organise the hearing in hopes of nationalizing America's munitions industry. The Democrats chose a Republican renowned for his ardent isolationist policies, Senator Nye of North Dakota, to head the hearing. Nye was typical of western agrarian progressives, and adamantly opposed America's involvement in any foreign war. Nye declared at the opening of the hearing "when the Senate investigation is over, we shall see that war and preparation for war is not a matter of national honor and national defense, but a matter of profit for the few."

Over the next eighteen months, the "Nye Committee" (as newspapers called it) held ninety-three hearings, questioning more than two hundred witnesses, including J.P. Morgan, Jr. and Pierre du Pont. Committee members found little hard evidence of an active conspiracy among arms makers, yet the panel’s reports did little to weaken the popular prejudice against "greedy munitions interests."

The hearings overlapped the 73rd and 74th Congresses. They only came to an end after Chairman Nye provoked the Democratic caucus into cutting off funding. Nye, in the last hearing the Committee held in early 1936, attacked former Democratic President Woodrow Wilson, suggesting that Wilson had withheld essential information from Congress as it considered a declaration of war. Democratic leaders, including Appropriations Committee Chairman Carter Glass of Virginia, unleashed a furious response against Nye for "dirtdaubing the sepulcher of Woodrow Wilson." Standing before cheering colleagues in a packed Senate chamber, Glass slammed his fist onto his desk in protest until blood dripped from his knuckles, effectively prompting the Democratic caucus to withhold all funding for further hearings.

Although the "Nye Committee" failed to achieve its goal of nationalizing the arms industry, it inspired three congressional neutrality acts in the mid-1930s that signaled profound American opposition to overseas involvement.

[edit] Party summary

[edit] Senate

Affiliation Members At Seating Members At Adjournment Voting
share
Note
Democratic Party 59 60 -% Senator Robert B. Howell (R-Nebraska) died and was replaced by a Democrat.
Republican Party 36 35 -%
Farmer Labor Party 1 1 -%
Total 96 96

[edit] House of Representatives

Affiliation Members At Seating Members At Adjournment Voting
share
Note
Democratic Party 313 312 -%

[1]

Republican Party 117 112 -%

[2]

Farmer Labor Party 5 5 -%
Progressive Party 0 2 -%
Total 435 431 4 Vacancies [3]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ * Representative Thomas C. Coffin (D-Idaho) died and his seat remained vacant until the end of the session.
    • Speaker Henry T. Rainey (D-Illinois) died and his seat remained vacant until the end of the session. Likewise, a new Speaker was not elected until the next session.
  2. ^ * Representative Henry W. Watson (R-Pennsylvania) died and was replaced by a Democrat.
    • Representative George F. Brumm (R-Pennsylvania) died and his seat remained vacant until the end of the session.
    • Representative James M. Beck (R-Pennsylvania) resigned and his seat remained vacant until the end of the session.
    • Representatives Gardner R. Withrow and Gerald J. Boileau (R-Wisconsin) changed to the Progressive Party.
  3. ^ 73rd United States Congress#Changes in Membership

[edit] Officers

[edit] Senate

Position Name Party State Since
President John Nance Garner Democrat Texas 1933
President Pro Tempore Key Pittman Democrat Nevada 1933

[edit] Majority leadership

Position Name State Since
Senate Majority Leader Joseph T. Robinson Arkansas 1933
Senate Majority Whip J. Hamilton Lewis Illinois 1933
Democratic Conference Chairman Joseph T. Robinson Arkansas 1923

[edit] Minority leadership

Position Name State Since
Senate Minority Leader Charles L. McNary Oregon 1933
Senate Minority Whip Felix Herbert Rhode Island 1933
Republican Conference Chairman Charles L. McNary Oregon 1933

[edit] House of Representatives

[edit] Majority leadership

Position Name District Since
Speaker of the House Henry T. Rainey Illinois 20th 1933
House Majority Leader Joseph W. Byrns Tennessee 5th 1933
House Majority Whip Arthur H. Greenwood Indiana 7th 1933
Democratic Caucus Chairman Clarence F. Lea California 1st 1933

[edit] Minority leadership

Position Name District Since
House Minority Leader Bertrand H. Snell New York 31st 1931
House Minority Whip Harry L. Englebright California 2nd 1933
Republican Conference Chairman Robert Luce Massachusetts 9th 1933

[edit] Members

[edit] Senate

Alabama
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

[edit] House of Representatives

Alabama
  • 8. Archibald Hill Carmichael (Dem.), elected to fill vacancy
  • 9. George Huddleston (Dem.)
Arizona
Arkansas
  • 5. David D. Terry (Dem.), elected to fill vacancy
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
  • 10. Paul Brown (Dem.), elected to fill vacancy
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
  • 29. William D. Thomas (Rep.), elected to fill vacancy
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
  • 15. Milton H. West (Dem.), elected to fill vacancy
Utah
Vermont
  • At-Large - Charles A. Plumley (Rep.), elected to fill vacancy
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
  • 3. Andrew Edmiston, Jr. (Dem.), elected to fill vacancy
Wisconsin
Wyoming

[edit] Delegates

Alaska Territory
Hawaii Territory

[edit] Resident Commissioners

United States Congressional Delegations from Philippines
United States Congressional Delegations from Puerto Rico

[edit] Changes in Membership

[edit] Senate

Senator State Reason for Vacancy Successor Date of Successor's Installation
Robert H. Howell Nebraska Died March 11, 1933 William H. Thompson May 24, 1933
Sam G. Bratton New Mexico Resigned June 24, 1933 Carl Hatch November 6, 1934
Porter H. Dale Vermont Died October 6, 1933 Ernest W. Gibson October 19, 1933
John B. Kendrick Wyoming Died November 3, 1933 Joseph C. O'Mahoney January 1, 1934
William H. Thompson Nebraska Duly elected successor qualified on November 6, 1934 Richard C. Hunter November 7, 1934
John E. Erikson Montana Duly elected successor qualified on November 6, 1934 James E. Murray November 7, 1934

[edit] House of Representatives

Representative District Reason for Vacancy Successor Date of Successor's Installation
John Nance Garner Texas 15th Resigned March 4, 1933 having become Vice President Milton H. West April 22, 1933
Lewis W. Douglas Arizona At-large Resigned March 4, 1933 to accept a Presidential appointment Isabella Selmes Greenway October 3, 1933
Clay Stone Briggs Texas 7th Died April 29, 1933 Clark W. Thompson June 24, 1933
Heartsill Ragon Arkansas 5th Resigned May 12, 1933 David D. Terry December 19, 1933
Charles H. Brand Georgia 10th Died May 17, 1933 Paul Brown July 5, 1933
Bolivar E. Kemp Louisiana 6th Died June 19, 1933 Jared Y. Sanders, Jr. May 1, 1934
Edward B. Almon Alabama 8th Died June 22, 1933 Archibald Hill Carmichael November 14, 1933
Henry W. Watson Pennsylvania 9th Died August 27, 1933 Oliver Walter Frey November 7, 1933
Lynn Hornor West Virginia 3rd Died September 23, 1933 Andrew Edmiston, Jr. November 28, 1933
Ernest W. Gibson Vermont At Large Elevated to the Senate October 19, 1933 Charles A. Plumley January 16, 1934
James S. Parker New York 34th Died November 5, 1933 Marion W. Clarke December 28, 1933
John D. Clarke New York 29th Died December 19, 1933 William D. Thomas January 30, 1934
Edward W. Pou North Carolina 4th Died April 1, 1934 Harold D. Cooley July 7, 1934
George F. Brumm Pennsylvania 13th Died May 29, 1934 James H. Gildea January 4, 1935
Thomas C. Coffin Idaho 2nd Died June 8, 1934 D. Worth Clark January 4, 1935
Henry T. Rainey Illinois 20th Died August 19, 1934 Scott W. Lucas January 4, 1935
James M. Beck Pennsylvania 2nd Resigned September 30, 1934 William H. Wilson January 4, 1935

[edit] Employees

Architect of the Capitol: David Lynn

[edit] Senate

[edit] House of Representatives


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