64th United States Congress

64th United States Congress


63rd ←	→ 65th
United States Capitol (1906)
Duration: March 4, 1915 – March 4, 1917

Senate President:	Thomas R. Marshall
Senate Pres. pro tem:	James Clarke Willard Saulsbury, Jr.
House Speaker:	Champ Clark
Members:	96 Senators 435 Representatives 5 Non-voting members
Senate Majority:	Democratic
House Majority:	Democratic

Sessions
1st: December 6, 1915 – September 8, 1916 2nd: December 4, 1916 – March 3, 1917 (lame duck)

The Sixty-fourth 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 March 4, 1915 to March 4, 1917, during the third and fourth years of Woodrow Wilson's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the Thirteenth Census of the United States in 1910. Both chambers had a Democratic majority.

1 Major events
2 Major legislation
3 Treaties
4 Party summary
- 4.1 Senate
- 4.2 House of Representatives
5 Leadership
- 5.1 Senate
- 5.2 House of Representatives
  - 5.2.1 Majority (Democratic) leadership
  - 5.2.2 Minority (Republican) leadership
6 Members
- 6.1 Senate
- 6.2 House of Representatives
7 Officers
- 7.1 Senate
- 7.2 House of Representatives
8 References

Major events

President Wilson before Congress, announcing the break in the official relations with Germany. February 3, 1917.

June 9, 1915: (Prelude to World War I):U.S. Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan resigned over a disagreement regarding the nation's handling of the RMS Lusitania sinking.
July 24, 1915: The steamer SS Eastland capsized in central Chicago, with the loss of 844 lives.
July 28, 1915: The United States occupation of Haiti began.
August 5–August 23, 1915: Hurricane Two of the 1915 Atlantic hurricane season over Galveston and New Orleans left 275 dead.
March 8–March 9, 1916: Mexican Revolution: Pancho Villa led about 500 Mexican raiders in an attack against Columbus, New Mexico, killing 12 U.S. soldiers. A garrison of the U.S. 13th Cavalry Regiment fights back and drives them away.
March 15, 1916: President Woodrow Wilson sent 12,000 United States troops over the U.S.-Mexico border to pursue Pancho Villa.
May 5, 1916: United States Marines invaded the Dominican Republic.
July 30, 1916: German agents caused the Black Tom explosion in Jersey City, New Jersey, an act of sabotage destroying an ammunition depot and killing at least 7 people.
November 7, 1916: U.S. presidential election, 1916: Democratic President Woodrow Wilson narrowly defeated Republican Charles E. Hughes.
January 11, 1917: (Prelude to World War I): German saboteurs set off the Kingsland Explosion at Kingsland, NJ (now Lyndhurst, NJ), one of the events leading to U.S. involvement in WWI.
February 3, 1917: (Prelude to World War I):The United States severs diplomatic relations with Germany

Major legislation

May 15, 1916: Kern Amendment
May 29, 1916: Fraudulent Advertising Act of 1916
May 31, 1916: Tillman Act
June 3, 1916: National Defense Act of 1916
June 9, 1916: Chamberlain-Ferris Act
July 11, 1916: Federal Aid Road Act of 1916 (Bankhead-Shackleford Act, also known as Federal "Good Roads" Act)
July 11, 1916: Terminal Inspection Act of 1916
July 17, 1916: Federal Farm Loan Act (Hollis-Lever Act)
July 27, 1916: River and Harbors Act of 1916
July 28, 1916: Space Basis Act
July 28, 1916: Railway Mail Service Pay Act
August 9, 1916: Uniform Bill of Lading Act of 1916
August 11, 1916: Irrigation District Act of 1916 (Smith Act)
August 11, 1916: Wildlife Game Refuges Act of 1916
August 11, 1916: Grain Standards Act of 1916
August 11, 1916: Cotton Futures Act of 1916
August 11, 1916: Brush Disposal Act of 1916
August 11, 1916: Warehouse Act of 1916
August 25, 1916: National Park Service Act (Kent-Smoot Act)
August 29, 1916: 2nd Uniform Bill of Lading Act of 1916
August 29, 1916: Jones Act (Philippines)
August 29, 1916: Federal Possession and Control Act of 1916
August 29, 1916: Army Appropriations Act of 1916
August 29, 1916: Naval Act of 1916
August 29, 1916: Naval Reserve Force Act
August 31, 1916: Federal Standard Container Act
August 31, 1916: Standard Fruits and Vegetable Baskets and Containers Act of 1916
September 1, 1916: Keating-Owen Act
September 3, 1916: Adamson Act
September 7, 1916: Merchant Marine Act of 1916 (Alexander Act)
September 7, 1916: Workingmen's Compensation Act (Kern-McGillicuddy Act)
September 8, 1916: Anti-Dumping Act of 1916
September 8, 1916: Emergency Revenue Act of 1916
October 20, 1916: Special Air Preparedness Act
December 29, 1916: Stock-Raising Homestead Act
February 5, 1917: Immigration Act of 1917
February 22, 1917: Federal Interpleader Act of 1917
February 23, 1917: Smith-Hughes Act
February 26, 1917: Mount McKinley National Park Act of 1917
March 1, 1917: Flood Control Act of 1917 (Ransdell-Humphreys Act)
March 2, 1917: Jones-Shafroth Act
March 3, 1917: Reed Amendment
March 3, 1917: Sheppard Bone-Dry Act
March 3, 1917: Special Preparedness Fund Act of 1917
March 4, 1917: Timber Export Act

Treaties

January 17, 1917: Treaty of the Danish West Indies signed by President Wilson, ceding the Danish West Indies to the United States after their purchase from Denmark, and renaming them the US Virgin Islands.

Party summary

Map showing Senate party membership at the start of the 64th Congress. Red states are represented by two Republicans and blue by two Democrats. Purple states are represented by one senator from each party.

Senate

Democratic (D): 56 (majority)
Republican (R): 40

TOTAL members: 96

House of Representatives

TOTAL members: 435

Leadership

Minority (Republican) leadership

Members

Senate

At this time, most sitting Senators had been elected by the state legislatures, with one-third beginning new six-year terms with each Congress. Due to the 17th Amendment, the incoming class of senators from the 1914 election were all elected directly by the residents of their state.

Alabama

John H. Bankhead (D)
Oscar W. Underwood (D)

Arizona

Henry F. Ashurst (D)
Marcus A. Smith (D)

Arkansas

James P. Clarke (D), died October 1, 1916
- William F. Kirby (D), from November 8, 1916 (elected)
Joseph T. Robinson (D)

California

James D. Phelan (D)
John D. Works (R)

Colorado

John F. Shafroth (D)
Charles S. Thomas (D)

Connecticut

Frank B. Brandegee (R)
George P. McLean (R)

Delaware

Henry A. du Pont (R)
Willard Saulsbury, Jr. (D)

Florida

Nathan P. Bryan (D)
Duncan U. Fletcher (D)

Georgia

Thomas W. Hardwick (D)
Hoke Smith (D)

Idaho

William E. Borah (R)
James H. Brady (R)

Illinois

James H. Lewis (D)
Lawrence Y. Sherman (R)

Indiana

John W. Kern (D)
Benjamin F. Shively (D), died March 14, 1916
- Thomas Taggart (D), from March 20, 1916 until November 7, 1916 (appointed)
- James E. Watson (R), from November 8, 1916 (elected)