1.
106th United States Congress
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It met in Washington, DC from January 3,1999, to January 3,2001, during the last two years of Bill Clintons presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the Twenty-first Census of the United States in 1990, both chambers had a Republican majority. April 20,1999, Columbine High School massacre December 31,1999, Y2K bug April 3,2000, United States v. Gore litigation May 21,1999, Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, Pub. L. 106–31,113 Stat.57 August 17,1999, Water Resources Development Act of 1999, 106–53 November 12,1999, Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act, Pub. L. 106–102,113 Stat.1338 November 29,1999, American Inventors Protection Act, 106–113,113 Stat.1536 March 14,2000, Iran Nonproliferation Act of 2000, Pub. L. 106–178,114 Stat.38 April 5,2000, Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century, 106–181,114 Stat.61 May 18,2000, African Growth and Opportunity Act, Pub. L. 106–200,114 Stat.251 June 30,2000, Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, 106–229,114 Stat.464 August 7,2000, Oceans Act, Pub. L. 106–256,114 Stat.644 September 22,2000, Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, 106–274,114 Stat.803 October 17,2000, Childrens Health Act, Pub. L. 106–310,114 Stat.1101 October 28,2000, Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, 106–386,114 Stat.1464 October 30,2000, Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, Pub. L. 106–390,114 Stat.1552 October 30,2000, Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001, 106–398 December 11,2000, Water Resources Development Act of 2000, Pub. L. 106–541,114 Stat.2572 December 21,2000, Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000, 2763A October 13,1999, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, Rejected Membership changed with two deaths. There were two resignations and three deaths, House of Representatives Statistics & Lists from the U. S. Senate Legislative information from THOMAS at the Library of Congress House of Representatives Session Calendar for the 106th Congress. Senate Session Calendar for the 106th Congress, Congressional Pictorial Directory for the 106th Congress. Official Congressional Directory for the 106th Congress, official Congressional Directory for the 106th Congress. Official Congressional Directory for the 106th Congress
2.
108th United States Congress
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House members were elected in the 2002 general election on November 5,2002. Senators were elected in three classes in the 1998 general election on November 3,1998,2000 general election on November 7,2000, the apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the Twenty-second Census of the United States in 2000. Both chambers had a Republican majority, United States Senate elections,2004 & United States House of Representatives elections,2004, Republicans increased their majorities in both houses. March 11,2003, Do-Not-Call Implementation Act of 2003, Pub. L, 108–10 April 30,2003, PROTECT Act, including Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act, Pub. L. 108–21 May 28,2003, Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003, 108–27 September 4,2003, Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003, Pub. L. 108–79 October 28,2003, Check 21 Act, Pub. L, 108–100 November 5,2003, Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, Pub. L. 108–105 November 25,2003, Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, 108–173 December 4,2003, Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, Pub. L. 108–159 December 12,2003, Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act, 108–175 December 16,2003, CAN-SPAM Act, Pub. L. 108–187 March 25,2004, Unborn Victims of Violence Act, 108–212 June 30,2004, Bunning-Bereuter-Blumenauer Flood Insurance Reform Act, Pub. L. 108–264 July 7,2004, GAO Human Capital Reform Act of 2004, 108–271 July 21,2004, Project BioShield Act of 2004, Pub. L. 108–276 October 16,2004, Global Anti-Semitism Review Act, Pub. L, 108–332 October 18,2004, North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004, Pub. L. 108–333 October 20,2004, Belarus Democracy Act of 2004, 108–347 December 17,2004, Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act, Pub. L. 108–458 H. R.2239, Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2003 The party summary for the Senate remained the same during the entire 108th Congress, due to resignations and special elections, Republicans lost a net of two seats to the Democrats. All seats were filled though special elections, the Members of the House of Representatives are preceded by the district number. Members who came and left during this Congress, hantman Attending Physician of the United States Congress, John F. Eisold Comptroller General of the United States, David M. Walker Director of the Congressional Budget Office, Barry B. Congress Congress. gov History, Art and Archives from the United States House of Representatives Statistics & Lists from the United States Senate United States 108th Congress Web Archive from the U. S, library of Congress House of Representatives Session Calendar for the 108th Congress. Senate Session Calendar for the 108th Congress, Congressional Pictorial Directory for the 108th Congress. Official Congressional Directory for the 108th Congress, official Congressional Directory for the 108th Congress
3.
United States Capitol
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The United States Capitol, often called the Capitol Building or Capitol Hill, is the home of the United States Congress, and the seat of the legislative branch of the U. S. federal government. It sits atop Capitol Hill at the end of the National Mall in Washington. Though not at the center of the Federal District, the Capitol forms the origin point for the Districts street-numbering system. The original building was completed in 1800 and was subsequently expanded, like the principal buildings of the executive and judicial branches, the Capitol is built in a distinctive neoclassical style and has a white exterior. Both its east and west elevations are referred to as fronts, though only the east front was intended for the reception of visitors. In 2014, scaffolding was erected around the dome for a project scheduled to be completed by early 2017. All exterior scaffolding was removed by the end of summer 2016, prior to establishing the nations capital in Washington, D. C. the United States Congress and its predecessors had met in Philadelphia, New York City, and a number of other locations. In September 1774, the First Continental Congress brought together delegates from the colonies in Philadelphia, followed by the Second Continental Congress, Congress requested that John Dickinson, the Governor of Pennsylvania, call up the militia to defend Congress from attacks by the protesters. In what became known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, Dickinson sympathized with the protesters and refused to remove them from Philadelphia. As a result, Congress was forced to flee to Princeton, New Jersey, on June 21,1783, and met in Annapolis, Maryland, the United States Congress was established upon ratification of the United States Constitution and formally began on March 4,1789. New York City remained home to Congress until July 1790, when the Residence Act was passed to pave the way for a permanent capital. As part of the legislation, Philadelphia was chosen as a capital for ten years, until the nations capital in Washington. Pierre Charles LEnfant was given the task of creating the city plan for the new capital city, in reviewing LEnfants plan, Thomas Jefferson insisted the legislative building be called the Capitol rather than Congress House. The word Capitol comes from Latin and is associated with the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on Capitoline Hill, the connection between the two is not, however, crystal clear. In spring 1792, United States Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson proposed a competition to solicit designs for the Capitol and the Presidents House. The prize for the competition was $500 and a lot in the Federal City, the most promising of the submissions was by Stephen Hallet, a trained French architect. However, Hallets designs were overly fancy, with too much French influence, a late entry by amateur architect William Thornton was submitted on January 31,1793, to much praise for its Grandeur, Simplicity, and Beauty by Washington, along with praise from Thomas Jefferson. Thornton was inspired by the east front of the Louvre, as well as the Paris Pantheon for the portion of the design
4.
Vice President of the United States
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The executive power of both the vice president and the president is granted under Article Two, Section One of the Constitution. The vice president is elected, together with the president. The Office of the Vice President of the United States assists, as the president of the United States Senate, the vice president votes only when it is necessary to break a tie. Additionally, pursuant to the Twelfth Amendment, the president presides over the joint session of Congress when it convenes to count the vote of the Electoral College. Currently, the president is usually seen as an integral part of a presidents administration. The Constitution does not expressly assign the office to any one branch, causing a dispute among scholars whether it belongs to the executive branch, the legislative branch, or both. The modern view of the president as a member of the executive branch is due in part to the assignment of executive duties to the vice president by either the president or Congress. Mike Pence of Indiana is the 48th and current vice president and he assumed office on January 20,2017. The formation of the office of vice president resulted directly from the compromise reached at the Philadelphia Convention which created the Electoral College, the delegates at Philadelphia agreed that each state would receive a number of presidential electors equal to the sum of that states allocation of Representatives and Senators. The delegates assumed that electors would typically choose to favor any candidate from their state over candidates from other states, under a plurality election process, this would tend to result in electing candidates solely from the largest states. Consequently, the delegates agreed that presidents must be elected by a majority of the number of electors. To guard against such stratagems, the Philadelphia delegates specified that the first runner-up presidential candidate would become vice president, the process for selecting the vice president was later modified in the Twelfth Amendment. Each elector still receives two votes, but now one of those votes is for president, while the other is for vice president. The requirement that one of those votes be cast for a candidate not from the electors own state remains in effect. S, other statutorily granted roles include membership of both the National Security Council and the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. As President of the Senate, the president has two primary duties, to cast a vote in the event of a Senate deadlock and to preside over. For example, in the first half of 2001, the Senators were divided 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats and Dick Cheneys tie-breaking vote gave the Republicans the Senate majority, as President of the Senate, the vice president oversees procedural matters and may cast a tie-breaking vote. As President of the Senate, John Adams cast 29 tie-breaking votes that was surpassed by John C. Calhoun with 31. Adamss votes protected the presidents sole authority over the removal of appointees, influenced the location of the national capital, on at least one occasion Adams persuaded senators to vote against legislation he opposed, and he frequently addressed the Senate on procedural and policy matters
5.
Al Gore
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Albert Arnold Al Gore Jr. is an American politician and environmentalist who served as the 45th Vice President of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He was Clintons running mate in their campaign in 1992. At the end of Clintons second term, Gore was picked as the Democratic nominee for the 2000 presidential election, after leaving office, Gore remained prominent as an author and environmental activist, whose work in climate change activism earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. Gore was an official for 24 years. He was a Congressman from Tennessee and from 1985 to 1993 served as one of the states Senators and he served as Vice President during the Clinton administration from 1993 to 2001. In the 2000 presidential election, in what was one of the closest presidential races in history, Gore won the popular vote but lost in the Electoral College to Republican George W. Bush. A controversial election dispute over a vote recount in Florida was settled by the U. S. Supreme Court, and a senior adviser to Google. Gore is also a partner in the capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. He has served as a professor at Middle Tennessee State University, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Fisk University. He served on the Board of Directors of World Resources Institute, Gore was also the subject of the Academy Award-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth in 2006. In 2007, he was named a runner-up for Times 2007 Person of the Year, Gore was born in Washington, D. C. the second of two children of Albert Gore Sr. a U. S. Representative who later served for 18 years as U. S, Senator from Tennessee, and Pauline Gore, one of the first women to graduate from Vanderbilt University Law School. Gore is partly descended from Scots-Irish immigrants who first settled in Virginia in the mid-17th-century and his older sister Nancy LaFon Gore, who was born in 1938, died of lung cancer in 1984. During the school year he lived with his family in The Fairfax Hotel in the Embassy Row section in Washington D. C, during the summer months, he worked on the family farm in Carthage, Tennessee, where the Gores grew tobacco and hay and raised cattle. Gore attended St. Albans School, an independent college preparatory day and boarding school for boys in Washington, D. C. from 1956 to 1965, a prestigious feeder school for the Ivy League. He was the captain of the team, threw discus for the track and field team, and participated in basketball, art. He graduated 25th in his class of 51, applied to one college, Harvard. Gore met Mary Elizabeth Tipper Aitcheson from the nearby St. Agnes School at his St. Albans senior prom in 1965
6.
Dick Cheney
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Richard Bruce Dick Cheney is an American politician and businessman who was the 46th Vice President of the United States from 2001 to 2009, under President George W. Bush. Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, Cheney was primarily raised in Sumner, Nebraska and he attended Yale and then the University of Wyoming, at the latter of which he earned a BA and an MA in Political Science. Cheney was selected to be the Secretary of Defense during the Presidency of George H. W. Bush, during his time in the Department of Defense, Cheney oversaw the 1991 Operation Desert Storm, among other actions. Out of office during the Clinton administration, Cheney was the Chairman, in July 2000, Cheney was chosen by presumptive Republican Presidential nominee George W. Bush as his running mate in the 2000 Presidential election. They defeated their Democratic opponents, incumbent Vice President Al Gore, in 2004 Cheney was reelected to his second term as Vice President, defeating Senator John Kerrys running mate, Senator John Edwards. He was a proponent of Operation Iraqi Freedom and defender of the Administrations anti-terrorism record. He became at odds with President Bushs position against same-sex marriage in 2004 and he has been cited as the most powerful Vice President in American history. At the same time he has been among the least favored politicians in the history of the United States, Cheney was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, the son of Marjorie Lorraine and Richard Herbert Cheney. He is of predominantly English, as well as Welsh, Irish, although not a direct descendant, he is collaterally related to Benjamin Pierce Cheney, the early American expressman. His father was a soil conservation agent for the U. S. Department of Agriculture and his mother was a star in the 1930s. He attended Calvert Elementary School before his family moved to Casper, Wyoming and he attended Yale University, but by his own account had problems adjusting to the college, and failed out twice. Among the influential teachers from his days in New Haven was Professor H. Bradford Westerfield and he later attended the University of Wyoming, where he earned both a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts in political science. He subsequently started, but did not finish, doctoral studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, in November 1962, at the age of 21, Cheney was convicted of driving while intoxicated. He was arrested for DWI again the following year, Cheney said that the arrests made him think about where I was and where I was headed. I was headed down a bad road if I continued on that course, in 1964, he married Lynne Vincent, his high school sweetheart, whom he had met at age 14. When Cheney became eligible for the draft, during the Vietnam War, he applied for, initially, Cheney was not drafted due to his marriage to Lynne Cheney. When the draft was expanded to include married men without children and he applied for his fifth exemption on January 19,1966, when his wife was about 10 weeks pregnant. He was granted 3-A status, the exemption, which excluded men with children or dependent parents
7.
President pro tempore of the United States Senate
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The president pro tempore of the United States Senate, also president pro tem, is the second-highest-ranking official of the United States Senate. Unlike the vice president, the president pro tempore is a member of the Senate. Selected by the Senate at large, the president pro tempore has enjoyed many privileges, during the vice presidents absence, the president pro tempore is empowered to preside over Senate sessions. Since 1890, the most senior senator in the majority party has generally chosen to be president pro tempore. This tradition has been observed without interruption since 1949, the current President pro tempore of the Senate is Utah Republican Orrin Hatch. Elected on January 6,2015, he is the 90th person to serve in this office, although the position is in some ways analogous to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the powers of the president pro tempore are far more limited. The president pro tempore is third in the line of succession, following the vice president. Additional duties include appointment of various officers, certain commissions, advisory boards. The officeholder is an ex member of various boards and commissions. With the secretary and sergeant at arms, the president pro tempore maintains order in Senate portions of the Capitol, the office of president pro tempore was established by the Constitution of the United States in 1789. The first president pro tempore, John Langdon, was elected on April 6 the same year, originally, the president pro tempore was appointed on an intermittent basis when the vice president was not present to preside over the Senate. Until the 1960s, it was practice for the vice president to preside over daily Senate sessions. Until 1891, the president pro tempore only served until the return of the president to the chair or the adjournment of a session of Congress. Between 1792 and 1886, the president pro tempore was second in the line of succession following the vice president. When President Andrew Johnson, who had no president, was impeached and tried in 1868. Wades radicalism is thought by historians to be a major reason why the Senate. The President pro tempore and the Speaker of the House were removed from the line of succession in 1886. Both were restored to it in 1947, though this time with the president pro tempore following the speaker, William P. Frye served as President pro tempore from 1896 to 1911 (54th–62nd Congress, a tenure longer than anyone else
8.
Robert Byrd
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Robert Carlyle Bob Byrd was a United States Senator from West Virginia. A member of the Democratic Party, Byrd served as a U. S, Representative from 1953 until 1959 and as a U. S. He was the longest-serving Senator in United States history, in addition, he was, at the time of his death, the longest-serving member in the history of the United States Congress, a record later surpassed by Representative John Dingell of Michigan. Byrd was the last remaining member of the U. S. Senate to have served during the presidency of Dwight Eisenhower, Byrd is also the only West Virginian to have served in both houses of the state legislature and both houses of Congress. Byrd served in the West Virginia House of Delegates from 1947 to 1950, initially elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1952, Byrd served there for six years before being elected to the Senate in 1958. As President pro tempore—a position he held four times in his career—he was third in the line of succession, after the Vice President. Serving three different tenures as Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations enabled Byrd to steer a great deal of money toward projects in West Virginia. Critics derided his efforts as pork barrel spending, while Byrd argued that the federal projects he worked to bring to West Virginia represented progress for the people of his state. He filibustered against the 1964 Civil Rights Act and supported the Vietnam War, but later renounced racism and segregation, renowned for his knowledge of Senate precedent and parliamentary procedure, Byrd wrote a four-volume history of the Senate in later life. Near the end of his life, Byrd was in declining health and was hospitalized several times and he died on June 28,2010, and was buried at Columbia Gardens Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. Robert Byrd was born on November 20,1917 as Cornelius Calvin Sale, Jr. in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, to Cornelius Calvin Sale Sr. when he was ten months old, his mother died in the 1918 flu pandemic. In accordance with his mothers wishes, his father dispersed their children among relatives, Calvin Jr. was adopted by his aunt and uncle, Titus and Vlurma Byrd, who changed his name to Robert Carlyle Byrd and raised him in the coal-mining region of southern West Virginia. Byrd was valedictorian of his 1934 graduating class at Mark Twain High School in Tams, on May 29,1936, Byrd married Erma Ora James who was born to a coal mining family in Floyd County, Virginia. Her family moved to Raleigh County, West Virginia, where she met Byrd when they attended the high school. In the early 1940s, Byrd recruited 150 of his friends and associates to create a new chapter of the Ku Klux Klan in Sophia, according to Byrd, a Klan official told him, You have a talent for leadership, Bob. The country needs young men like you in the leadership of the nation, Byrd later recalled, Suddenly lights flashed in my mind. Someone important had recognized my abilities, I was only 23 or 24 years old, and the thought of a political career had never really hit me. But strike me that night, it did, Byrd became a recruiter and leader of his chapter
9.
Strom Thurmond
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James Strom Thurmond was an American politician who served for 48 years as a United States Senator from South Carolina. He ran for president in 1948 as the States Rights Democratic Party candidate, Thurmond represented South Carolina in the United States Senate from 1954 until 2003, at first as a Democrat and, after 1964, as a Republican. He left office as the member of either house of Congress to reach the age of 100 while still in office. Thurmond holds the record as the member of Congress to serve exclusively in the Senate. He is also the longest-serving Republican member of Congress in U. S. history, at 14 years, he was also the longest-serving Dean of the United States Senate in U. S. history. In opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1957, he conducted the longest filibuster ever by a senator, at 24 hours and 18 minutes in length. In the 1960s, he opposed the civil legislation of 1964 and 1965 to end segregation and enforce the constitutional rights of African-American citizens. He invariably insisted he had never been a racist, but was opposed to federal authority. He attributed the movement to Communist agitators, starting in the 1970s, he moderated his position on race, but continued to defend his early segregationist campaigns on the basis of states rights in the context of Southern society at the time. He never fully renounced his earlier viewpoints, six months after Thurmond died in 2003, his mixed-race, then 78-year-old daughter Essie Mae Washington-Williams revealed he was her father. Her mother Carrie Butler had been 16 years old and working as his familys maid when Thurmond initiated a relationship with her. Although Thurmond never publicly acknowledged Essie Mae Washington, he paid for her education at a black college. She said she kept silent out of respect for her father and his children by his marriage eventually acknowledged her. Her name has since been added as one of his children to his memorial at the state capital, James Strom Thurmond was born on December 5,1902, in Edgefield, South Carolina, the son of Eleanor Gertrude and John William Thurmond, a lawyer. His ancestry included English and German and he attended Clemson Agricultural College of South Carolina, where he was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. Thurmond graduated in 1923 with a degree in horticulture, Thurmond paid for his daughters college education and provided other support. Essie Mae Washington was raised by her aunt and uncle, and was not told about Thurmond as her father until she was in high school. After college, Thurmond worked as a farmer, teacher and athletic coach until 1929, Thurmond studied law with his father as a legal apprentice and was admitted to the South Carolina bar in 1930
10.
Dennis Hastert
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He represented Illinoiss 14th congressional district in the House for twenty years,1987 to 2007. He is the longest-serving Republican Speaker of the House in history, Hastert grew up in rural Illinois. He graduated from Wheaton College with a degree in economics in 1964, from 1965 to 1981, Hastert was a high school teacher and coach. He lost a 1980 bid for the Illinois House of Representatives and he was first elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1986, and re-elected every subsequent election until he retired in 2007. Hastert rose through the Republican ranks in the House, becoming chief deputy whip, as Speaker of the House, Hastert supported the George W. Bush administrations foreign and domestic policies. In May 2015, Hastert was indicted on charges of structuring bank withdrawals to evade bank reporting requirements. Federal prosecutors said that the money was to compensate for and conceal deliberately-unspecified misconduct by Hastert against an unnamed individual years earlier, soon afterward, public accusations emerged that Hastert had sexually abused three male students when he was a teacher more than three decades earlier. In October 2015, Hastert entered into an agreement with prosecutors. Under the agreement, Hastert pleaded guilty to the charge. At the sentencing hearing later that month, Hastert admitted that he had sexually abused boys whom he coached. The judge in the referred to Hastert as a serial child molester and imposed a sentence of fifteen months in prison. He entered the Federal Medical Center prison in Rochester, Minnesota on June 22,2016, Hastert was born on January 2,1942, in Aurora, Illinois, the eldest of three sons of Naomi and Jack Hastert. Hastert is of Luxembourgeois and Norwegian descent on his fathers side, Hastert grew up in a rural Illinois farming community. His middle-class family owned a farm business and a family farm. As a young man, Hastert also worked shifts in the familys Plainfield restaurant, The Clock Tower, Hastert became a born-again Christian as a teenager, during his sophomore year of high school. Hastert attended Oswego High School, where he was a star wrestler, Hastert briefly attended North Central College, but later transferred to Wheaton College, a Christian liberal arts college. Jim Parnalee, Hasterts roommate at North Central who transferred him to Wheaton, was a Marine Corps Reserve member who in 1965 became the schools first student to be killed in Vietnam. Hastert continued to visit Parnalees family each year in Michigan, because of a wrestling injury, Hastert never served in the military
11.
Party leaders of the United States Senate
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The Senate Majority and Minority Leaders are two United States Senators and members of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They are elected to their positions in the Senate by their party caucuses, the Senate Democratic Caucus. By rule, the Presiding Officer gives the Majority Leader priority in obtaining recognition to speak on the floor of the Senate, the Assistant Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States Senate are the second-ranking members of each partys leadership. The main function of the Majority and Minority Whips is to gather votes on major issues, because they are the second ranking member of the Senate, if there is no floor leader present, the whip may become acting floor leader. Before 1969, the titles were Majority Whip and Minority Whip. The Senate is currently composed of 52 Republicans,46 Democrats, the current leaders are Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. The current Assistant Majority Leader is Republican John Cornyn of Texas, the current Assistant Minority Leader/Whip is Democrat Dick Durbin of Illinois. The Democrats began the practice of electing floor leaders in 1920 while they were in the minority, John W. Kern was a Democratic Senator from Indiana. While the title was not official, he is considered to be the first Senate party leader from 1913 through 1917, the Constitution designates the Vice President of the United States as President of the United States Senate. The Constitution also calls for a President pro tempore to serve as the leader of the body when the President of the Senate is absent, for these reasons, it is the Majority Leader who, in practice, manages the Senate. This is in contrast to the House of Representatives where the elected Speaker of the House has a deal of discretionary power. The Democratic Party first selected a leader in 1920, the Republican Party first formally designated a leader in 1925. gov Republican Majority Democratic Minority
12.
Democratic Party (United States)
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The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The Democrats dominant worldview was once socially conservative and fiscally classical liberalism, while, especially in the rural South, since Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal coalition in the 1930s, the Democratic Party has also promoted a social-liberal platform, supporting social justice. Today, the House Democratic caucus is composed mostly of progressives and centrists, the partys philosophy of modern liberalism advocates social and economic equality, along with the welfare state. It seeks to provide government intervention and regulation in the economy, the party has united with smaller left-wing regional parties throughout the country, such as the Farmer–Labor Party in Minnesota and the Nonpartisan League in North Dakota. Well into the 20th century, the party had conservative pro-business, the New Deal Coalition of 1932–1964 attracted strong support from voters of recent European extraction—many of whom were Catholics based in the cities. After Franklin D. Roosevelts New Deal of the 1930s, the pro-business wing withered outside the South, after the racial turmoil of the 1960s, most southern whites and many northern Catholics moved into the Republican Party at the presidential level. The once-powerful labor union element became smaller and less supportive after the 1970s, white Evangelicals and Southerners became heavily Republican at the state and local level in the 1990s. However, African Americans became a major Democratic element after 1964, after 2000, Hispanic and Latino Americans, Asian Americans, the LGBT community, single women and professional women moved towards the party as well. The Northeast and the West Coast became Democratic strongholds by 1990 after the Republicans stopped appealing to socially liberal voters there, overall, the Democratic Party has retained a membership lead over its major rival the Republican Party. The most recent was the 44th president Barack Obama, who held the office from 2009 to 2017, in the 115th Congress, following the 2016 elections, Democrats are the opposition party, holding a minority of seats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The party also holds a minority of governorships, and state legislatures, though they do control the mayoralty of cities such as New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Washington, D. C. The Democratic Party traces its origins to the inspiration of the Democratic-Republican Party, founded by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and that party also inspired the Whigs and modern Republicans. Organizationally, the modern Democratic Party truly arose in the 1830s, since the nomination of William Jennings Bryan in 1896, the party has generally positioned itself to the left of the Republican Party on economic issues. They have been liberal on civil rights issues since 1948. On foreign policy both parties changed position several times and that party, the Democratic-Republican Party, came to power in the election of 1800. After the War of 1812 the Federalists virtually disappeared and the national political party left was the Democratic-Republicans. The Democratic-Republican party still had its own factions, however. As Norton explains the transformation in 1828, Jacksonians believed the peoples will had finally prevailed, through a lavishly financed coalition of state parties, political leaders, and newspaper editors, a popular movement had elected the president
13.
Republican Party (United States)
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The Republican Party, commonly referred to as the GOP, is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, the other being its historic rival, the Democratic Party. The party is named after republicanism, the dominant value during the American Revolution and it was founded by anti-slavery activists, modernists, ex-Whigs, and ex-Free Soilers in 1854. The Republicans dominated politics nationally and in the majority of northern States for most of the period between 1860 and 1932, there have been 19 Republican presidents, the most from any one party. The Republican Partys current ideology is American conservatism, which contrasts with the Democrats more progressive platform, further, its platform involves support for free market capitalism, free enterprise, fiscal conservatism, a strong national defense, deregulation, and restrictions on labor unions. In addition to advocating for economic policies, the Republican Party is socially conservative. As of 2017, the GOP is documented as being at its strongest position politically since 1928, in addition to holding the Presidency, the Republicans control the 115th United States Congress, having majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The party also holds a majority of governorships and state legislatures, the main cause was opposition to the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which repealed the Missouri Compromise by which slavery was kept out of Kansas. The Northern Republicans saw the expansion of slavery as a great evil, the first public meeting of the general anti-Nebraska movement where the name Republican was suggested for a new anti-slavery party was held on March 20,1854, in a schoolhouse in Ripon, Wisconsin. The name was chosen to pay homage to Thomas Jeffersons Republican Party. The first official party convention was held on July 6,1854, in Jackson and it oversaw the preserving of the union, the end of slavery, and the provision of equal rights to all men in the American Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861–1877. The Republicans initial base was in the Northeast and the upper Midwest, with the realignment of parties and voters in the Third Party System, the strong run of John C. Fremont in the 1856 United States presidential election demonstrated it dominated most northern states, early Republican ideology was reflected in the 1856 slogan free labor, free land, free men, which had been coined by Salmon P. Chase, a Senator from Ohio. Free labor referred to the Republican opposition to labor and belief in independent artisans. Free land referred to Republican opposition to the system whereby slaveowners could buy up all the good farm land. The Party strove to contain the expansion of slavery, which would cause the collapse of the slave power, Lincoln, representing the fast-growing western states, won the Republican nomination in 1860 and subsequently won the presidency. The party took on the mission of preserving the Union, and destroying slavery during the American Civil War, in the election of 1864, it united with War Democrats to nominate Lincoln on the National Union Party ticket. The partys success created factionalism within the party in the 1870s and those who felt that Reconstruction had been accomplished and was continued mostly to promote the large-scale corruption tolerated by President Ulysses S. Grant ran Horace Greeley for the presidency. The Stalwarts defended Grant and the system, the Half-Breeds led by Chester A. Arthur pushed for reform of the civil service in 1883
14.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
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United States Senate
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The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress which, along with the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, composes the legislature of the United States. The composition and powers of the Senate are established by Article One of the United States Constitution. S. From 1789 until 1913, Senators were appointed by the legislatures of the states represented, following the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913. The Senate chamber is located in the wing of the Capitol, in Washington. It further has the responsibility of conducting trials of those impeached by the House, in the early 20th century, the practice of majority and minority parties electing their floor leaders began, although they are not constitutional officers. This idea of having one chamber represent people equally, while the other gives equal representation to states regardless of population, was known as the Connecticut Compromise, there was also a desire to have two Houses that could act as an internal check on each other. One was intended to be a Peoples House directly elected by the people, the other was intended to represent the states to such extent as they retained their sovereignty except for the powers expressly delegated to the national government. The Senate was thus not designed to serve the people of the United States equally, the Constitution provides that the approval of both chambers is necessary for the passage of legislation. First convened in 1789, the Senate of the United States was formed on the example of the ancient Roman Senate, the name is derived from the senatus, Latin for council of elders. James Madison made the comment about the Senate, In England, at this day, if elections were open to all classes of people. An agrarian law would take place. If these observations be just, our government ought to secure the permanent interests of the country against innovation, landholders ought to have a share in the government, to support these invaluable interests, and to balance and check the other. They ought to be so constituted as to protect the minority of the opulent against the majority, the senate, therefore, ought to be this body, and to answer these purposes, the people ought to have permanency and stability. The Constitution stipulates that no constitutional amendment may be created to deprive a state of its equal suffrage in the Senate without that states consent, the District of Columbia and all other territories are not entitled to representation in either House of the Congress. The District of Columbia elects two senators, but they are officials of the D. C. city government. The United States has had 50 states since 1959, thus the Senate has had 100 senators since 1959. In 1787, Virginia had roughly ten times the population of Rhode Island, whereas today California has roughly 70 times the population of Wyoming and this means some citizens are effectively two orders of magnitude better represented in the Senate than those in other states. Seats in the House of Representatives are approximately proportionate to the population of each state, before the adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, Senators were elected by the individual state legislatures
16.
United States House of Representatives
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The United States House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the United States Congress which, along with the Senate, composes the legislature of the United States. The composition and powers of the House are established by Article One of the United States Constitution, since its inception in 1789, all representatives are elected popularly. The total number of voting representatives is fixed by law at 435, the House is charged with the passage of federal legislation, known as bills, which, after concurrence by the Senate, are sent to the President for consideration. The presiding officer is the Speaker of the House, who is elected by the members thereof and is traditionally the leader of the controlling party. He or she and other leaders are chosen by the Democratic Caucus or the Republican Conferences. The House meets in the wing of the United States Capitol. Under the Articles of Confederation, the Congress of the Confederation was a body in which each state was equally represented. All states except Rhode Island agreed to send delegates, the issue of how to structure Congress was one of the most divisive among the founders during the Convention. The House is referred to as the house, with the Senate being the upper house. Both houses approval is necessary for the passage of legislation, the Virginia Plan drew the support of delegates from large states such as Virginia, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, as it called for representation based on population. The smaller states, however, favored the New Jersey Plan, the Constitution was ratified by the requisite number of states in 1788, but its implementation was set for March 4,1789. The House began work on April 1,1789, when it achieved a quorum for the first time, during the first half of the 19th century, the House was frequently in conflict with the Senate over regionally divisive issues, including slavery. The North was much more populous than the South, and therefore dominated the House of Representatives, However, the North held no such advantage in the Senate, where the equal representation of states prevailed. Regional conflict was most pronounced over the issue of slavery, One example of a provision repeatedly supported by the House but blocked by the Senate was the Wilmot Proviso, which sought to ban slavery in the land gained during the Mexican–American War. Conflict over slavery and other issues persisted until the Civil War, the war culminated in the Souths defeat and in the abolition of slavery. Because all southern senators except Andrew Johnson resigned their seats at the beginning of the war, the years of Reconstruction that followed witnessed large majorities for the Republican Party, which many Americans associated with the Unions victory in the Civil War and the ending of slavery. The Reconstruction period ended in about 1877, the ensuing era, the Democratic and the Republican Party held majorities in the House at various times. The late 19th and early 20th centuries also saw an increase in the power of the Speaker of the House
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Washington, D.C.
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Washington, D. C. formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D. C. is the capital of the United States. The signing of the Residence Act on July 16,1790, Constitution provided for a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress and the District is therefore not a part of any state. The states of Maryland and Virginia each donated land to form the federal district, named in honor of President George Washington, the City of Washington was founded in 1791 to serve as the new national capital. In 1846, Congress returned the land ceded by Virginia, in 1871. Washington had an population of 681,170 as of July 2016. Commuters from the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the population to more than one million during the workweek. The Washington metropolitan area, of which the District is a part, has a population of over 6 million, the centers of all three branches of the federal government of the United States are in the District, including the Congress, President, and Supreme Court. Washington is home to national monuments and museums, which are primarily situated on or around the National Mall. The city hosts 176 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of international organizations, trade unions, non-profit organizations, lobbying groups. A locally elected mayor and a 13‑member council have governed the District since 1973, However, the Congress maintains supreme authority over the city and may overturn local laws. D. C. residents elect a non-voting, at-large congressional delegate to the House of Representatives, the District receives three electoral votes in presidential elections as permitted by the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1961. Various tribes of the Algonquian-speaking Piscataway people inhabited the lands around the Potomac River when Europeans first visited the area in the early 17th century, One group known as the Nacotchtank maintained settlements around the Anacostia River within the present-day District of Columbia. Conflicts with European colonists and neighboring tribes forced the relocation of the Piscataway people, some of whom established a new settlement in 1699 near Point of Rocks, Maryland. 43, published January 23,1788, James Madison argued that the new government would need authority over a national capital to provide for its own maintenance. Five years earlier, a band of unpaid soldiers besieged Congress while its members were meeting in Philadelphia, known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, the event emphasized the need for the national government not to rely on any state for its own security. However, the Constitution does not specify a location for the capital, on July 9,1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River. The exact location was to be selected by President George Washington, formed from land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia, the initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring 10 miles on each side, totaling 100 square miles. Two pre-existing settlements were included in the territory, the port of Georgetown, Maryland, founded in 1751, many of the stones are still standing
18.
Bill Clinton
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William Jefferson Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Prior to the Presidency he was the 40th Governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981, before that, he served as Arkansas Attorney General from 1977 to 1979. A member of the Democratic Party, Clinton was ideogically a New Democrat, Clinton is married to Hillary Clinton, who served as United States Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013 and U. S. Senator from New York from 2001 to 2009, and served the Democratic nominee for President in 2016, Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham both earned degrees from Yale Law School, where they met and began dating. As Governor of Arkansas, Clinton overhauled the states education system, Clinton was elected President of the United States in 1992, defeating incumbent George H. W. Bush. At age 46, he was the third-youngest president and the first from the Baby Boomer generation, Clinton presided over the longest period of peacetime economic expansion in American history and signed into law the North American Free Trade Agreement. After failing to pass health care reform, the Democratic House was ousted when the Republican Party won control of the Congress in 1994. Two years later, in 1996, Clinton became the first Democrat since Franklin D. Roosevelt to be elected to a second term, Clinton passed welfare reform and the State Childrens Health Insurance Program, providing health coverage for millions of children. Clinton was acquitted by the U. S. Senate in 1999, the Congressional Budget Office reported a budget surplus between the years 1998 and 2000, the last three years of Clintons presidency. In foreign policy, Clinton ordered U. S. Clinton left office with the highest end-of-office approval rating of any U. S. President since World War II, since then, Clinton has been involved in public speaking and humanitarian work. He created the William J. Clinton Foundation to address international causes, such as the prevention of AIDS, in 2004, Clinton published his autobiography, My Life. In 2009, Clinton was named the United Nations Special Envoy to Haiti, since leaving office, Clinton has been rated highly in public opinion polls of U. S. Presidents. Clinton was born on August 19,1946, at Julia Chester Hospital in Hope, Arkansas and he was the son of William Jefferson Blythe Jr. a traveling salesman who had died in an automobile accident three months before his birth, and Virginia Dell Cassidy. His parents had married on September 4,1943, but this later proved to be bigamous. Soon after their son was born, his mother traveled to New Orleans to study nursing, leaving her son in Hope with her parents Eldridge and Edith Cassidy, who owned and ran a small grocery store. At a time when the Southern United States was segregated racially, in 1950, Bills mother returned from nursing school and married Roger Clinton Sr. who owned an automobile dealership in Hot Springs, Arkansas, with his brother and Earl T. Ricks. The family moved to Hot Springs in 1950, although he immediately assumed use of his stepfathers surname, it was not until Clinton turned fifteen that he formally adopted the surname Clinton as a gesture toward his stepfather. In Hot Springs, Clinton attended St. Johns Catholic Elementary School, Ramble Elementary School, and Hot Springs High School—where he was a student leader, avid reader
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Presidency of Bill Clinton
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The presidency of Bill Clinton began on January 20,1993 at noon Eastern Standard Time, when Bill Clinton was inaugurated as President of the United States, and ended on January 20,2001. His running mate, Al Gore, took office as Vice President on the same day, Clinton, a Democrat, took office after defeating Republican incumbent President George H. W. Bush and Independent businessman Ross Perot in the 1992 presidential election. Four years later, he defeated Republican Bob Dole and Ross Perot to win a term of office. During both elections, Clinton ran as a New Democrat, and many of many of his administrations policy proposals reflected his centrist, Third Way thinking. He was succeeded in office by Republican George W. Bush, months into his first term, he signed the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, which raised taxes and set the stage for future budget surpluses. He also signed into law the North American Free Trade Agreement, a trade pact negotiated by President George H. W. Bush among the United States, Canada, and Mexico. His most ambitious legislative initiative, a plan to provide health care. Clintons party suffered a strong rebuke in the 1994 elections, the Republican Revolution, as the 1994 elections came to be known, empowered Congressional Republicans led by Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich to propose several conservative policies. While Clinton vetoed many of these policies, he signed some, including the Personal Responsibility. After disagreements with Congressional Republicans led to two shutdowns of the government between 1995 and 1996. In foreign policy, Clintons first term saw American interventions in Haiti and the Balkans, Clinton also appointed two Supreme Court Justices, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer. Clintons second term saw the first federal budget surpluses since the 1960s and his impeachment arose after he denied having an affair with a White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. Though the House of Representatives voted to impeach Clinton, he was acquitted of all charges by the Senate, in 1997, Clinton signed into law a bill creating the State Childrens Health Insurance Program, which was to help provide health care coverage for millions of children. In 1999, he signed the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act, which allowed for the consolidation of investment banks, commercial banks, in foreign policy, Clinton launched a major bombing campaign in the Balkans, which led to the creation of a United Nations protectorate in Kosovo. Clinton also pursued trade agreements, most notably with China. Since the end of his presidency, historians and political scientists have tended to rank Clinton as an average to above average president. In the 1992 presidential election, Clinton defeated incumbent Republican president George H. W. Bush to become the first Democratic president since Jimmy Carter left office in 1981, Clinton took office with Democratic majorities in both houses, and attempted to pass an ambitious health care reform bill. Republicans took control of both houses of Congress in 1994 and retained control throughout Clintons presidency, but Clinton won reelection in 1996
20.
George W. Bush
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George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009. He was also the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000 and he is the eldest son of Barbara and George H. W. Bush. After graduating from Yale University in 1968 and Harvard Business School in 1975, Bush married Laura Welch in 1977 and ran unsuccessfully for the House of Representatives shortly thereafter. He later co-owned the Texas Rangers baseball team before defeating Ann Richards in the 1994 Texas gubernatorial election and he is the second president to assume the nations highest office after his father, following the lead of John Quincy Adams. He is also a brother of Jeb Bush, a former Governor of Florida who was a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in the 2016 presidential election, the September 11 terrorist attacks occurred eight months into Bushs first term as president. Bush responded with what became known as the Bush Doctrine, launching a War on Terror, a military campaign that included the war in Afghanistan in 2001. He also promoted policies on the economy, health care, education, Social Security reform and his tenure included national debates on immigration, Social Security, electronic surveillance, and torture. In the 2004 Presidential race, Bush defeated Democratic Senator John Kerry in another close election. After his re-election, Bush received increasingly heated criticism from across the spectrum for his handling of the Iraq War, Hurricane Katrina. Amid this criticism, the Democratic Party regained control of Congress in the 2006 elections, Bush left office in 2009, returning to Texas where he purchased a home in Crawford. He wrote a memoir, Decision Points and his presidential library was opened in 2013. His presidency has been ranked among the worst in historians polls published in the late 2000s and 2010s. George Walker Bush was born on July 6,1946, at Grace-New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut, as the first child of George Herbert Walker Bush and his wife, the former Barbara Pierce. He was raised in Midland and Houston, Texas, with four siblings, Jeb, Neil, Marvin, another younger sister, Robin, died from leukemia at the age of three in 1953. His grandfather, Prescott Bush, was a U. S and his father, George H. W. Bush, was Ronald Reagans Vice President from 1981 to 1989 and the 41st U. S. President from 1989 to 1993. Bush has English and some German ancestry, along with more distant Dutch, Welsh, Irish, French, Bush attended public schools in Midland, Texas, until the family moved to Houston after he had completed seventh grade. He then spent two years at The Kinkaid School, a school in Houston. Bush attended high school at Phillips Academy, a school in Andover, Massachusetts
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Presidency of George W. Bush
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The presidency of George W. Bush began on January 20,2001 at noon Eastern Standard Time, when George W. Bush was inaugurated as President of the United States. Bushs presidency ended on January 20,2009, a Republican, he took office following a very close win in the 2000 presidential election over Democratic nominee Al Gore, the then–incumbent Vice President. Bush, the 43rd United States president, is the son of the 41st president, Bush was re-elected in 2004, defeating his Democratic opponent John Kerry by a slim margin. He was succeeded in office by Democrat Barack Obama, who won the 2008 presidential election, upon taking office, Bush pushed through a $1.3 trillion tax cut program and the No Child Left Behind Act, a major education bill. He also pushed for socially conservative efforts, such as the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act and that same month, he signed into law the controversial Patriot Act in order to strengthen security and allow for greater surveillance. In 2003, Bush ordered an invasion of Iraq, asserting that Iraq possessed stockpiles of weapons of destruction in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1441. Later that year, he signed the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act, Bush pushed for Social Security and immigration reform, but both efforts failed. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq continued, and in 2007 he launched a surge of troops in Iraq. The Bush administrations response to Hurricane Katrina and the dismissal of U. S. attorneys controversy earned wide coverage, and his second term saw a drop in his approval ratings. The financial crisis of 2007–2008 dominated his last days in office as policymakers looked to avert a major economic disaster, Bushs presidency is frequently ranked by historians as among the worst in American history. W. Vice President Dick Cheney served as Secretary of Defense under George H. W. Bush, Bush placed a high value on personal loyalty and, as a result, his administration had high message discipline. He maintained a style of management. Im confident in my management style, Im a delegator because I trust the people Ive asked to join the team. That makes it easier to be President, he said in an interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC in December 2003, critics alleged, however, that Bush was willing to overlook mistakes made by loyal subordinates. There was only one non-Republican in Bushs cabinet, Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta, Mineta resigned from Bushs cabinet on July 7,2006 to pursue other challenges. Mary Peters, a Republican, was nominated and confirmed to succeed him as Transportation Secretary, at least one other non-Republican was apparently offered a position in the administration but declined. CNN reported that in the transition to his term, Bush offered the positions of Ambassador to the United Nations. In 2006, Bush replaced long-time chief of staff Andrew Card with Joshua Bolten and made major staff, on November 8,2006, Bush announced plans to replace Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld with former CIA Director Robert Gates
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1990 United States Census
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Approximately 16 percent of households received a long form of the 1990 census, which contained over 100 questions. Full documentation on the 1990 census, including forms and a procedural history, is available from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series. It was the first census to designate Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander as a group separate from Asians. To increase black participation in the 1990 United States Census, the bureau recruited Bill Cosby, Magic Johnson, Alfre Woodard, the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series. Aggregate data for small areas, together with electronic boundary files, personally identifiable information will be available in 2062. The results of the 1990 census determined the number of seats that each state receives in the United States House of Representatives starting with the 1992 elections, consequently, this affected the number of votes each state has in the Electoral College for the 1992 presidential election. Because of population changes, twenty-one states had changes in their number of seats, eight states gained at least one seat, and thirteen states lost at least one seat. The final result involved 19 seats being switched
23.
2001 in the United States
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Events from the year 2001 in the United States. President, Bill Clinton, George W. January 2 – Sila Calderón becomes the first female governor of US territory Puerto Rico, January 11 – The U. S. Federal Trade Commission approves the merger of America Online and Time Warner to form AOL Time Warner. A man drives a truck into the side of the California State Capitol building, killing the driver. January 18 - President Bill Clinton delivers his farewell address to the nation, January 20 George W. Bush is sworn in as the 43rd President of the United States. January 22 –24 – The Texas Seven, a group of convicts who escaped from the John B, connally Unit in Texas, are found in Colorado. January 28 – Super Bowl XXXV, The Baltimore Ravens defeat the New York Giants 34–7, february 9 – The submarine USS Greeneville accidentally strikes and sinks the Japanese fishing vessel Ehime-Maru near Hawaii. February 16 – Iraq disarmament crisis, British and U. S. forces carry out bombing raids, february 18 NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt dies in a last lap crash in the 43rd annual Daytona 500. FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested and charged with spying for Russia for 15 years, february 19 – An Oklahoma City bombing museum is dedicated at the Oklahoma City National Memorial. February 23 – Isla Vista massacre, In Isla Vista, California, David Attias drives a car into five pedestrians, killing four and he is later convicted of murder and declared legally insane. February 28 – The Nisqually earthquake strikes Seattle, Washington, march – The United States enters the early 2000s recession, The Unemployment Rate rises to 4. 4%. March 25 – The 73rd Academy Awards, hosted by Steve Martin, are held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California, march 28 – The Bush administration withdraws U. S. support for the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on the reduction of greenhouse gases. April 1 – A Chinese fighter jet collides with a U. S. EP-3E surveillance aircraft, forcing it to make a landing in Hainan. The U. S. crew is detained for 10 days, April 7 – Timothy Thomas, a 19-year-old African-American, is shot by a police officer in Cincinnati, sparking riots in downtown Cincinnati from April 10 to April 12. April 21 – The small Kansas town of Hoisington is hit by an F4 tornado destroying one-third of the city, April 28 – Soyuz TM-32 lifts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, carrying the first space tourist, American Dennis Tito. May 6 – Space tourist Dennis Tito returns to Earth aboard Soyuz TM-31, senator Jim Jeffords leaves the Republican Party, an act which changes control of the United States Senate from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party. June 5–9 – Tropical Storm Allison produces 36 inches of rain in Houston, Texas, killing 22, damaging the Texas Medical Center, june 7 – The Bush tax cuts are signed into law by U. S. president George W. Bush. June 9 – The Colorado Avalanche wins their second Stanley Cup, june 11 – In Terre Haute, Indiana, Timothy McVeigh is executed for the Oklahoma City bombing. June 19 – A missile hits a soccer field in Tal Afar, Iraq, killing 23, the Iraqi government claims it was an American-British airstrike, U. S. officials say it was actually an Iraqi missile that malfunctioned
24.
2002 in the United States
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Events from the year 2002 in the United States. President, George W. January 8 – The No Child Left Behind Act is signed into law by U. S. President George W. Bush, January 9 – The United States Department of Justice announces it will pursue a criminal investigation of Enron. January 11 – The first detainees arrive at Camp X-Ray, January 14 – The asylum case of Adelaide Abankwah is heard in New York. January 18 – A Canadian Pacific Railway train carrying anhydrous ammonia derails outside of Minot, North Dakota, January 23 – Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl is kidnapped in Pakistan, accused of being a CIA agent by his captors. January 29 – In his State of the Union Address, President Bush describes North Korea, Iran, January 31 – US special forces deployed in the Philippines in Operation Enduring Freedom - Philippines, part of the War on Terrorism. February 1 – Kidnapped Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl is murdered in Karachi, February 3 – Super Bowl XXXVI, The New England Patriots beat the St. Louis Rams 20–17 in New Orleans. February 8 – February 24 – The Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City, the U. S. wins 10 gold,13 silver and 11 bronze medals. February 12 – The U. S. Secretary of Energy makes the decision that Yucca Mountain is suitable to be the United States nuclear repository, February 13 – Queen Elizabeth II gives former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani an honorary knighthood. February 19 – NASAs Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars using its thermal imaging system. March 1 STS-109, Space Shuttle Columbia flies the Hubble Space Telescope service mission, U. S. invasion of Afghanistan, In eastern Afghanistan, Operation Anaconda begins. March 12 – In Houston, Texas, Andrea Yates is found guilty of drowning her five children on June 20,2001 and she is later sentenced to life in prison. March 14 –125 vehicles are involved in a pile up on Interstate 75 in Ringgold. March 19 – US war in Afghanistan, Operation Anaconda ends after killing 500 Taliban and al Qaeda fighters, March 21 – In Pakistan, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and three others are charged with the kidnapping and killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. March 24 – The 74th Academy Awards, hosted by Whoopi Goldberg, are held at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, april 1 – Maryland defeats Indiana 64–52 to win the NCAA Mens Basketball Championship at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia. April 17 – Four Canadian infantrymen are killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire from two US F-16s, april 19 – The Senate defeats President Bushs plan to authorize oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. April 27 – The Laughlin, Nevada River Run Riot kills three, may 10 – FBI agent Robert Hanssen is sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for selling American secrets to Moscow for $1.4 million in cash and diamonds. May 21 – The US State Department releases a report naming seven state sponsors of terrorism, Iran, Iraq, Cuba, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria. May 22 – 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, A jury in Birmingham, may 26 – A barge collides with the Interstate 40 bridge across the Arkansas River in eastern Oklahoma, killing 14
25.
2003 in the United States
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Events from the year 2003 in the United States. The Ohio State University defeats the University of Miami in double-overtime in the Fiesta Bowl, 31–24, january 8 – US Airways Express Flight 5481 crashes at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, killing all 21 people aboard. January 15 – Eldred v. Ashcroft, The Supreme Court of the United States allows the extension of terms in the U. S. January 16 – STS-107, Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on what turns out to be its last flight, january 23 – The last signal is received from NASAs Pioneer 10 spacecraft, some 7.5 billion miles from Earth. January 24 – The new United States Department of Homeland Security begins operation, january 25 – An international group of volunteers leaves London for Baghdad to act as voluntary human shields, hoping to avert a U. S. invasion. January 26 – Super Bowl XXXVII, The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeat the Oakland Raiders 48–21, february 1 – STS-107, Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates over Texas upon re-entry, killing all 7 astronauts on board. February 3 – John W. Snow is sworn in as the new Secretary of Treasury, february 5 – Iraq disarmament crisis, U. S. Secretary of State Colin Powell addresses the UN Security Council on Iraq. February 7 – An unsuccessful attempt is made to contact Pioneer 10, february 20 – The Station nightclub fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island claims the lives of 100 people. March 1 The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, the United States Customs Service, the Turkish parliament vetoes U. S. troop access to airbases in Turkey in order to attack Iraq from the north. The Bush administration starts working on Plan B, namely attacking Iraq from the south, through the Persian Gulf. March 5 – Lockyer v. Andrade, Ewing v. California, In two separate opinions, the Supreme Court of the United States, by 5–4 margins, upholds Californias three strikes and youre out law. March 11 – Iraq disarmament crisis, Iraqi fighters threaten two U. S. U-2 surveillance planes, on missions for U. N. weapons inspectors, forcing them to abort their mission and return to base. March 16 – Iraq disarmament crisis, The leaders of the United States, Britain, Portugal, march 18 FBI agents raid the corporate headquarters of HealthSouth Corporation in Birmingham, Alabama, on suspicion of massive corporate fraud led by the companys top executives. About $1 billion is taken from Iraqs Central Bank by Saddam Hussein and his family, just hours before the United States begins bombing Iraq. March 19 – The first American bombs drop on Baghdad after Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, march 20 – The US-led Iraq War begins. March 22 – The United States and the United Kingdom begin their shock and awe campaign, march 23 Hasan Akbar, a Muslim soldier with the 101st Airborne, kills two fellow soldiers in a grenade attack at Camp Pennsylvania, Kuwait. The 75th Academy Awards ceremony, hosted by Steve Martin, is held at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, march 30 – Meigs Field Airport in Chicago, Illinois, is demolished overnight. April 3 – U. S. forces seize control of Saddam International Airport, April 3–12 – Iraq War, US forces defeat the Iraqi Army and the Iraqi Republican Guard in the Battle of Baghdad
26.
September 11 attacks
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The September 11 attacks were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda on the United States on the morning of Tuesday, September 11,2001. The attacks killed 2,996 people, injured over 6,000 others, two of the planes, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, were crashed into the North and South towers, respectively, of the World Trade Center complex in New York City. A third plane, American Airlines Flight 77, was crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia and it was the deadliest incident for firefighters and law enforcement officers in the history of the United States, with 343 and 72 killed respectively. Suspicion for the attack fell on al-Qaeda. The United States responded to the attacks by launching the War on Terror and invading Afghanistan to depose the Taliban, many countries strengthened their anti-terrorism legislation and expanded the powers of law enforcement and intelligence agencies to prevent terrorist attacks. Although al-Qaedas leader, Osama bin Laden, initially denied any involvement, al-Qaeda and bin Laden cited U. S. support of Israel, the presence of U. S. troops in Saudi Arabia, and sanctions against Iraq as motives. Having evaded capture for almost a decade, bin Laden was located and killed by SEAL Team Six of the U. S. Navy in May 2011. S. many closings, evacuations, and cancellations followed, out of respect or fear of further attacks. Cleanup of the World Trade Center site was completed in May 2002, on November 18,2006, construction of One World Trade Center began at the World Trade Center site. The building was opened on November 3,2014. The origins of al-Qaeda can be traced to 1979 when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden traveled to Afghanistan and helped organize Arab mujahideen to resist the Soviets. Under the guidance of Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin Laden became more radical, in 1996, bin Laden issued his first fatwā, calling for American soldiers to leave Saudi Arabia. Bin Laden used Islamic texts to exhort Muslims to attack Americans until the stated grievances are reversed, Muslim legal scholars have throughout Islamic history unanimously agreed that the jihad is an individual duty if the enemy destroys the Muslim countries, according to bin Laden. Bin Laden, who orchestrated the attacks, initially denied but later admitted involvement, in November 2001, U. S. forces recovered a videotape from a destroyed house in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. In the video, bin Laden is seen talking to Khaled al-Harbi, on December 27,2001, a second bin Laden video was released. In the video, he said, It has become clear that the West in general and it is the hatred of crusaders. Terrorism against America deserves to be praised because it was a response to injustice, aimed at forcing America to stop its support for Israel, the transcript refers several times to the United States specifically targeting Muslims. He said that the attacks were carried out because, we are free, and want to regain freedom for our nation. As you undermine our security we undermine yours, Bin Laden said he had personally directed his followers to attack the World Trade Center and the Pentagon
27.
2001 anthrax attacks
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Letters containing anthrax spores were mailed to several news media offices and two Democratic U. S. Senators, killing five people and infecting 17 others. According to the FBI, the investigation became one of the largest and most complex in the history of law enforcement. A major focus in the years of the investigation was a bio-weapons expert named Steven Hatfill. Another suspect, Bruce Edwards Ivins, became a focus of investigation around April 4,2005, Ivins was a scientist who worked at the governments biodefense labs at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Maryland. On April 11,2007, Ivins was put under periodic surveillance, on July 29,2008, Ivins committed suicide with an overdose of acetaminophen. On August 6,2008, based on DNA evidence leading to an anthrax vial in Ivinss lab, two days later, Senator Charles Grassley and Rep. Rush Holt called for hearings into the DOJ and FBIs handling of the investigation. On February 19,2010, the FBI formally closed its investigation, the report cast doubt on the U. S. Some information about the related to Ivinss mental problems is still under seal. Lawsuits filed by the widow of the first anthrax victim Bob Stevens were settled by the government for $2.5 million with no admission of liability. According to a statement in the settlement agreement, the settlement was reached solely for the purpose of avoiding the expenses, the anthrax attacks came in two waves. The first set of letters had a Trenton, New Jersey postmark dated September 18,2001. Only the New York Post and NBC News letters were found, scientists examining the anthrax from the New York Post letter said it appeared as a coarse brown granular material looking like Purina Dog Chow. Two more anthrax letters, bearing the same Trenton postmark, were dated October 9, the letters were addressed to two Democratic Senators, Tom Daschle of South Dakota and Patrick Leahy of Vermont. At the time, Daschle was the Senate Majority leader and Leahy was head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Daschle letter was opened by an aide, Grant Leslie, on October 15, and the government mail service was shut down. The unopened Leahy letter was discovered in an impounded mailbag on November 16, the Leahy letter had been misdirected to the State Department mail annex in Sterling, Virginia, because a ZIP code was misread, a postal worker there, David Hose, contracted inhalational anthrax. More potent than the first anthrax letters, the material in the Senate letters was a highly refined dry powder consisting of one gram of nearly pure spores. A series of conflicting news reports appeared, some claiming the powders had been weaponized with silica, bioweapons experts who later viewed images of the attack anthrax saw no indication of weaponization. Tests by Sandia National Laboratories in early 2002 confirmed that the powders were not weaponized
28.
Iraq Resolution
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The Iraq Resolution is a joint resolution passed by the United States Congress in October 2002 as Public Law No, 107-243, authorizing military action against Iraq. Iraqs brutal repression of its civilian population, iraqs capability and willingness to use weapons of mass destruction against other nations and its own people. Iraqs continu to aid and harbor other international terrorist organizations, including anti-United States terrorist organizations, Iraq paid bounty to families of suicide bombers. The efforts by the Congress and the President to fight terrorists, the authorization by the Constitution and the Congress for the President to fight anti-United States terrorism. The governments in Turkey, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia feared Saddam, citing the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998, the resolution reiterated that it should be the policy of the United States to remove the Saddam Hussein regime and promote a democratic replacement. The resolution supported and encouraged diplomatic efforts by President George W. Bush to strictly enforce through the U. N, of the legislation introduced by Congress in response to President Bushs requests, S. J. Res. 45 sponsored by Sen. Daschle & Sen. Lott was based on the original White House proposal authorizing the use of force in Iraq,114 sponsored by Rep. Hastert & Rep. Gephardt and the substantially similar S. J. Res. 46 sponsored by Sen. Lieberman were modified proposals,110 sponsored by Rep. Hastings was a separate proposal never considered on the floor. Eventually, the Hastert-Gephardt proposal became the legislation Congress focused on, introduced in Congress on October 2,2002, in conjunction with the Administrations proposals, H. J. Res. It was signed into law as Pub. L, 107–243 by President Bush on October 16,2002. 215 of 223 Republican Representatives voted for the resolution,82 of 209 Democratic Representatives voted for the resolution. Duncan, Hostettler, Houghton, Leach, Morella, Paul,126 of 209 Democratic Representatives voted against the resolution. The only Independent Representative voted against the resolution, Rep. Sanders Reps, ortiz, Roukema, and Stump did not vote on the resolution. 58% of Democratic senators voted for the resolution, the only independent senator voted against the resolution, Sen. Sponsored by Rep. Barbara Lee. Failed by the Yeas and Nays,72 -355 Amendment in the nature of a substitute sought to authorize the use of U. S. armed forces to any new U. N. Provided expedited consideration for authorization in the latter case, failed by the Yeas and Nays,155 -270 An amendment considered as adopted pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. Amendment SA4865 not agreed to by Yea-Nay Vote,30 -70 There have been no findings by any legal tribunal with both authority and legal jurisdiction that any laws were violated. There are only two legal tribunals with both authority and jurisdiction to make such a finding, The US federal courts and the United Nations, advisory opinions are prohibited in US Courts and are also prohibited by the UN Charter unless the security council authorizes them
29.
Hillary Clinton
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Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is an American politician who was the 67th United States Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013, U. S. Senator from New York from 2001 to 2009, First Lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001, and the Democratic Partys nominee for President of the United States in the 2016 election. Born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in the Chicago suburb of Park Ridge, Clinton graduated from Wellesley College in 1969, after serving as a congressional legal counsel, she moved to Arkansas and married Bill Clinton in 1975. In 1977, she co-founded Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families and she was appointed the first female chair of the Legal Services Corporation in 1978 and became the first female partner at Rose Law Firm the following year. As First Lady of Arkansas, she led a force whose recommendations helped reform Arkansass public schools. As First Lady of the United States, Clinton fought for gender equality, because her marriage survived the Lewinsky scandal, her role as first lady drew a polarized response from the public. Clinton was elected in 2000 as the first female senator from New York and she was re-elected to the Senate in 2006. Running for president in 2008, she won far more delegates than any previous female candidate, as Secretary of State in the Obama administration from 2009 to 2013, Clinton responded to the Arab Spring, during which she advocated the U. S. military intervention in Libya. Leaving office after Obamas first term, she wrote her book and undertook speaking engagements. Clinton made a presidential run in 2016. She became the first female candidate to be nominated for president by a major U. S. political party, despite winning a plurality of the national popular vote, Clinton lost the Electoral College and the presidency to her Republican rival Donald Trump. Hillary Diane Rodham was born on October 26,1947, at Edgewater Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. In 1995, Clinton claimed that her mother had named her after Sir Edmund Hillary, co-first mountaineer to scale Mount Everest, however, the Everest climb did not take place until 1953, more than five years after Clinton was born. Clinton was raised in a United Methodist family, living first in Chicago and her father, Hugh Ellsworth Rodham, was of English and Welsh descent, and managed a small but successful textile business. Her mother, Dorothy Emma Howell, was a homemaker of Dutch, English, French Canadian, Scottish, Clinton has two younger brothers, Hugh and Tony. As a child, Rodham was a student of her teachers at the public schools that she attended in Park Ridge. She participated in such as swimming and baseball, and earned numerous badges as a Brownie. She attended Maine East High School, where she participated in the student council, the school newspaper, and was selected for the National Honor Society
30.
President of the United States
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The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the executive branch of the government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces. The president is considered to be one of the worlds most powerful political figures, the role includes being the commander-in-chief of the worlds most expensive military with the second largest nuclear arsenal and leading the nation with the largest economy by nominal GDP. The office of President holds significant hard and soft power both in the United States and abroad, Constitution vests the executive power of the United States in the president. The president is empowered to grant federal pardons and reprieves. The president is responsible for dictating the legislative agenda of the party to which the president is a member. The president also directs the foreign and domestic policy of the United States, since the office of President was established in 1789, its power has grown substantially, as has the power of the federal government as a whole. However, nine vice presidents have assumed the presidency without having elected to the office. The Twenty-second Amendment prohibits anyone from being elected president for a third term, in all,44 individuals have served 45 presidencies spanning 57 full four-year terms. On January 20,2017, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th, in 1776, the Thirteen Colonies, acting through the Second Continental Congress, declared political independence from Great Britain during the American Revolution. The new states, though independent of each other as nation states, desiring to avoid anything that remotely resembled a monarchy, Congress negotiated the Articles of Confederation to establish a weak alliance between the states. Out from under any monarchy, the states assigned some formerly royal prerogatives to Congress, only after all the states agreed to a resolution settling competing western land claims did the Articles take effect on March 1,1781, when Maryland became the final state to ratify them. In 1783, the Treaty of Paris secured independence for each of the former colonies, with peace at hand, the states each turned toward their own internal affairs. Prospects for the convention appeared bleak until James Madison and Edmund Randolph succeeded in securing George Washingtons attendance to Philadelphia as a delegate for Virginia. It was through the negotiations at Philadelphia that the presidency framed in the U. S. The first power the Constitution confers upon the president is the veto, the Presentment Clause requires any bill passed by Congress to be presented to the president before it can become law. Once the legislation has been presented, the president has three options, Sign the legislation, the bill becomes law. Veto the legislation and return it to Congress, expressing any objections, in this instance, the president neither signs nor vetoes the legislation
31.
Jim Jeffords
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James Merrill Jim Jeffords was a U. S. Sworn in to the Senate in 1989, he served as a Republican until 2001, Jeffords retired from the Senate in 2007. Prior to the Senate, he served as the U. S, representative for Vermonts at-large congressional district from 1975 to 1989. Jeffords was born in Rutland, Vermont, the son of Marion and Olin Merrill Jeffords and he had said that his mother was a relative of French architect Georges-Eugène Haussmann. Jeffords graduated from Yale University in 1956 and Harvard Law School in 1962, after three years of active duty in the United States Navy, Jeffords served in the Naval Reserves until retiring as a Captain in 1990. During 1962 and 1963 he was a law clerk for Ernest W. Gibson, Jr. Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Vermont and he also served as Rutland Countys Chairman of the Board of Property Tax Appeals. Jeffords married his wife, Elizabeth Liz Daley twice. Their first marriage was in 1961, in June 1978, the couple divorced, on August 26,1986, they married again,25 years after their first marriage. Liz Jeffords died on the morning of April 13,2007, Senator Jeffords and his wife had two children, Leonard and Laura, both of whom live and work in the Washington, D. C. area. After his wifes death, Jeffords resided in Washington, D. C. a move he made in order to live near his son, Jeffords won a seat in the Vermont State Senate in 1966. He followed that success in 1968 with a victory in the race for attorney general of Vermont and he was a Presidential Elector for Vermont in 1972, and voted for reelection of the Nixon-Agnew ticket. Jeffords sought the Republican Party nomination for Governor in 1972, but was defeated in the primary by Luther Fred Hackett, in 1988, Jeffords was elected to the U. S. Senate, and was reelected in 1994 and 2000. Jeffords work in Congress focused on legislation involving education, job training, in his later years in the Senate, his emphasis shifted somewhat, as he pushed through Congress several important pieces of environmental legislations. According to Dallaires book, Shake Hands with the Devil, he owe a debt of gratitude to both senators. Jeffords was one of the founders of the Congressional Solar Coalition, Jeffords was frequently recognized for his performance as a legislator, receiving Parenting magazines Legislator of the Year award in 1999, and the Sierra Clubs highest commendation in 2002. During part of his tenure in the Senate, Jeffords sat at the Candy Desk, on May 24,2001, Jeffords left the Republican Party, with which he had always been affiliated, and announced his new status as an independent. Jeffords discussed this decision during his announcement that he was leaving the Republican Party, I will make this change and will caucus with the Democrats for organizational purposes once the conference report on the tax bill is sent to the president. I gave my word to the president that I would not intercept or try to intervene in the signing of that bill, Jeffords opposition to the policies of the George W. Bush administration, including concerns over the size of the Bush tax cuts, motivated his party switch
32.
Joint session of the United States Congress
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Joint sessions and meetings are traditionally presided over by the Speaker of the House and take place at the House chamber. However, the Constitution requires the Vice President to preside over the counting of electoral votes, the speech is modeled on the Speech from the Throne, given by the British monarch. There is a difference, however. The President is the author of his own State of the Union message. Written reports were standard until 1913, when Woodrow Wilson reestablished the practice of attending to deliver the speech. Few Presidents have deviated from this custom since, the Twelfth Amendment mandates that the Congress assemble in joint session to count the electoral votes and declare the winners of the election. The session is ordinarily required to place on January 6 in the calendar year immediately following the meetings of the presidential electors. Since the Twentieth Amendment, the newly elected Congress declares the winner of the election, in elections before 1936, the outgoing Congress counted the electoral votes. The meeting is held at 1,00 p. m. Eastern time in the Chamber of the U. S. House of Representatives. The sitting Vice President is expected to preside, but in cases the President pro tempore of the Senate has chaired the proceedings instead. The Vice President and the Speaker of the House sit at the podium, Senate pages bring in the two mahogany boxes containing each states certified vote and place them on tables in front of the Senators and Representatives. Each house appoints two tellers to count the vote, relevant portions of the Certificate of Vote are read for each state, in alphabetical order. Members of Congress can object to any states vote count, provided that the objection is supported by at least one member of house of Congress. Bush of Texas and the Vice President of the United States, if there are no objections or all objections are overruled, the presiding officer declares the result of the vote and states who is elected President and Vice President. The Senators then depart from the House Chamber, in addition to State of the Union Addresses, inaugurals and counting of electoral votes, Joint Sessions usually fall into one of several topics. Foreign heads of state and heads of government from 48 countries have addressed joint meetings of Congress more than a hundred times, Israel, the United Kingdom, and France lead the list with eight joint meeting addresses by heads of state or dignitaries. Other leading countries are, Mexico, Italy, Ireland, South Korea, Germany, including West Germany and unified Germany, India, Canada, Australia, Argentina, and the Philippines. Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Winston Churchill have each made three joint addresses to Congress, more than any other foreign dignitaries
33.
War on Terror
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The War on Terror, also known as the Global War on Terrorism, is a metaphor of war referring to the international military campaign that started after the September 11th attacks on the United States. U. S. President George W. Bush first used the term War on Terror on 20 September 2001 and it was originally used with a particular focus on countries associated with Islamic terrorist organizations including al-Qaeda and like-minded organizations. In 2013, President Barack Obama announced that the United States was no longer pursuing a War on Terror, in 2017 Donald Trump assumed presidency of the United States and vowed that the fight against ISIL is his number one priority. Trump has also agreed to work together and carry joint operations with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the war on terror. The phrase War on Terror has been used to refer to the ongoing military campaign led by the U. S. The conflict has also referred to by names other than the War on Terror. Author Shane Harris asserts this was a reaction to the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing, Bush later apologized for this remark due to the negative connotations the term crusade has to people, e. g. of the Muslim faith. The word crusade was not used again, on 20 September 2001, during a televised address to a joint session of Congress, Bush stated that ur war on terror begins with al-Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped, in April 2007, the British government announced publicly that it was abandoning the use of the phrase War on Terror as they found it to be less than helpful. This was explained more recently by Lady Eliza Manningham-Buller, in her 2011 Reith lecture, the former head of MI5 said that the 9/11 attacks were a crime, not an act of war. So I never felt it helpful to refer to a war on terror. U. S. President Barack Obama has rarely used the term, in March 2009 the Defense Department officially changed the name of operations from Global War on Terror to Overseas Contingency Operation. In March 2009, the Obama administration requested that Pentagon staff members avoid the use of the term, basic objectives of the Bush administration war on terror, such as targeting al Qaeda and building international counterterrorism alliances, remain in place. Because the actions involved in the war on terrorism are diffuse, jackson cites among many examples a statement by John Ashcroft that the attacks of September 11 drew a bright line of demarcation between the civil and the savage. Administration officials also described terrorists as hateful, treacherous, barbarous, mad, twisted, perverted, without faith, parasitical, inhuman, Americans, in contrast, were described as brave, loving, generous, strong, resourceful, heroic, and respectful of human rights. The origins of al-Qaeda can be traced to the Soviet war in Afghanistan, a small number of Afghan Arab volunteers joined the fight against the Soviets, including Osama bin Laden, but there is no evidence they received any external assistance. On 7 August 1998, al-Qaeda struck the U. S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing 224 people, the plant produced much of the regions antimalarial drugs and around 50% of Sudans pharmaceutical needs. The strikes failed to kill any leaders of WIFJAJC or the Taliban, next came the 2000 millennium attack plots, which included an attempted bombing of Los Angeles International Airport
34.
Operation Enduring Freedom
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Operation Enduring Freedom comprises several subordinate operations, Operation Enduring Freedom – Afghanistan, lasted from October 2001 to 31 December 2014. Government used the term Operation Enduring Freedom – Afghanistan to officially describe the War in Afghanistan, continued operations in Afghanistan by the United States military forces, both non-combat and combat, now occur under the name Operation Freedoms Sentinel. In September 2001, U. S. President George W, the term OEF-A typically refers to the phase of the War in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. Other operations, such as the Georgia Train and Equip Program, are loosely or nominally connected. All the operations, however, have a focus on counterterrorism activities, Operation Enduring Freedom – Afghanistan, which was a joint U. S. U. K. and Afghan operation, was separate from the International Security Assistance Force, which was an operation of North Atlantic Treaty Organization nations including the U. S. and the U. K. The two operations ran in parallel, although it had suggested that they merge. S. and British ships. The initial military objectives of OEF-A, as articulated by President George W, of those groups included are Abu Sayyaf Group, al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah. The operation consisted of training the AFP in counter-terrorist operations as well as supporting the people with humanitarian aid in Operation Smiles. In October 2002, the Combined Task Force 150 and United States military Special Forces established themselves in Djibouti at Camp Lemonnier, the stated goals of the operation were to provide humanitarian aid and patrol the Horn of Africa to reduce the abilities of terrorist organizations in the region. The military aspect involves coalition forces searching and boarding ships entering the region for illegal cargo as well as providing training, the humanitarian aspect involves building schools, clinics and water wells to enforce the confidence of the local people. Since 2001, the expenditure by the U. S. government on Operation Enduring Freedom has exceeded $150 billion. The operation continues, with military direction mostly coming from United States Central Command, seizing upon a power vacuum after the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan after their invasion, the Taliban assumed the role of government from 1996–2001. Their extreme interpretation of Islamic law prompted them to ban music, television, sports, and dancing, amputation was an accepted form of punishment for stealing, and public executions could often be seen at the Kabul football stadium. Womens rights groups around the world were frequently critical as the Taliban banned women from appearing in public or holding many jobs outside the home and they drew further criticism when they destroyed the Buddhas of Bamyan, historical statues nearly 1500 years old, because the Buddhas were considered idols. In 1996, Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden moved to Afghanistan upon the invitation of the Northern Alliance leader Abdur Rabb ur Rasool Sayyaf, when the Taliban came to power, bin Laden was able to forge an alliance between the Taliban and his al-Qaeda organization. It is understood that al-Qaeda-trained fighters known as the 055 Brigade were integrated with the Taliban army between 1997 and 2001 and it has been suggested that the Taliban and bin Laden had very close connections. On 20 September 2001, the U. S. stated that Osama bin Laden was behind the 11 September attacks in 2001, the US made a five-point ultimatum to the Taliban, Deliver to the U. S
35.
Tom Daschle
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Thomas Andrew Tom Daschle is a policy advisor, lobbyist, former U. S. Senator from South Dakota, and former U. S. Senate Majority Leader and he is a member of the Democratic Party. A South Dakota native, Daschle obtained a degree at South Dakota State University and he was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1978 and served four terms. In 1986, he was elected to the Senate, becoming minority leader in 1994, defeated for re-election in 2004, he took a position as a policy advisor with a lobbying firm, and also became a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. He co-authored a book advocating universal health care, however, Daschle withdrew his name on February 3,2009, amid a growing controversy over his failure to report and pay income taxes accurately. He is currently working for The Daschle Group, a Public Policy Advisory of Baker Donelson, Daschle was born in Aberdeen, South Dakota, the son of Elizabeth B. and Sebastian C. His paternal grandparents were Volga Germans, Daschle grew up in a working-class Roman Catholic family as the eldest of four brothers. He became the first person in his family to graduate from college when he earned a B. A. in political science from South Dakota State University in 1969, while attending South Dakota State University, Daschle became a brother of Alpha Phi Omega. From 1969 to 1972, Daschle served in the United States Air Force as an officer with the Strategic Air Command. In the mid-1970s Daschle was an aide to then Senator James Abourezk of South Dakota, Daschle has been married to Linda Hall, who was Miss Kansas in 1976, since 1984, one year after his marriage to his first wife, Laurie, ended in divorce. Hall was acting administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration in the Clinton administration and her lobbying clients have included American Airlines, Lockheed Martin, and Boeing, Senate lobbying records show. Daschle has three children from his first marriage, Kelly, Nathan, and Lindsay, Nathan is the CEO of Ruck. us and former Executive Director of the Democratic Governors Association. In 1978 Daschle was elected to the United States House of Representatives, winning the race by a margin of 139 votes, following a recount, Daschle served four terms in the House of Representatives and quickly became a part of the Democratic leadership. At the 1980 Democratic National Convention Congressman Daschle received 10 delegate votes for Vice President of the United States, although he was not a candidate, Daschle received votes against incumbent Walter Mondale, who was renominated easily. In 1986, Daschle was elected to the Senate in a victory over incumbent Republican James Abdnor. In his first year, he was appointed to the Finance Committee, in 1994 he was chosen by his colleagues to succeed the retiring Senator George Mitchell as Democratic Minority Leader. In the history of the Senate, only Lyndon B. Johnson had served fewer years before being elected to lead his party. In addition to the Minority Leaders post, Daschle also served as a member of the U. S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, South Dakotans reelected Daschle to the Senate by overwhelming margins in 1998
36.
Enron
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Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was founded in 1985 as the result of a merger between Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both relatively small companies in the U. S. Fortune named Enron Americas Most Innovative Company for six consecutive years, at the end of 2001, it was revealed that its reported financial condition was sustained by institutionalized, systematic, and creatively planned accounting fraud, known since as the Enron scandal. Enron has since become an example of willful corporate fraud. The scandal also brought into question the practices and activities of many corporations in the United States and was a factor in the enactment of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002. The scandal also affected the business world by causing the dissolution of the Arthur Andersen accounting firm. Enron filed for bankruptcy in the Southern District of New York in late 2001 and selected Weil, on September 7,2006, Enron sold Prisma Energy International Inc. its last remaining business, to Ashmore Energy International Ltd. One of Enrons primary predecessors was the Northern Natural Gas Company, the low cost of natural gas and cheap labor supply during the Great Depression helped to fuel the companys early beginnings. The company doubled in size by 1932 and was able to bring the first natural gas to Minnesota, over the next 50 years, Northern expanded even more as it acquired many energy companies and created new divisions within. It was reorganized in 1979 as the subsidiary of a holding company, InterNorth. Although most of the acquisitions conducted were successful, some ended poorly, InterNorth competed with Cooper Industries over a hostile takeover of Crouse-Hinds Company, who manufactured electrical products. InterNorth was ultimately unsuccessful as Cooper bought out Crouse-Hinds, Cooper and InterNorth feuded over numerous suits over the course of the takeover that were eventually settled after the transaction was completed. The subsidiary Northern Natural Gas operated the largest natural gas company in North America. By the 1980s, InterNorth became a force for natural gas production, transmission and marketing as well as for natural gas liquids. The Houston Natural Gas corporation was formed from the Houston Oil Co. in 1925 to provide gas to customers in the Houston market through the building of gas pipelines. This growth was seen from the exploitation of unregulated Texas natural gas market. Towards the end of the 1970s HNGs luck began to run out with rising gas prices forcing clients to switch to oil. In addition, with the passing of the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978, after Herrings death in 1981, M. D. Matthews briefly took over as CEO in a 3-year stint with initial success but ultimately saw a big dip in earnings that led to his exit
37.
MCI Communications
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It was headquartered in Washington, D. C. Founded in 1963, it grew to be the second-largest long-distance provider in the U. S and it was purchased by WorldCom in 1998 and became MCI WorldCom, with the name afterwards being shortened to WorldCom in 2000. WorldComs financial scandals and bankruptcy led that company to change its name in 2003 to MCI Inc, the MCI name disappeared in January 2006 after the company was bought by Verizon. MCI was founded as Microwave Communications, Inc. on October 3,1963 with John D. Goeken being named the companys first president. The initial business plan was for the company to build a series of relay stations between Chicago, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri. The relay stations would then be used to interface with limited-range two-way radios used by truckers along U. S. Route 66 or by barges on the Illinois Waterway. The long-distance communication service would then be marketed to shipping companies that were too small to build their own private relay systems. In addition to the radio services, MCI soon made plans to offer voice, computer information. The fledgling business began a process of raising capital and submitting applications to the Federal Communications Commission for appropriate licenses, hearings on Microwave Communications initial application between February 13,1967 and April 19,1967 resulted in a recommendation that the FCC approve MCIs application. AT&T quickly sought a reversal of the ruling, and when the FCC denied their request, the FCCs decision was upheld, thus creating a new industry, privately manufactured devices could be connected to the telephone network as long as the manufacturer met interface standards. In 1968, William G. McGowan, an investor from New York with experience in raising venture capital, met with the board of Microwave Communications to discuss financing plans for the business. As a result of meetings in June and July, Microwave Communications of America, McGowan also made an investment into the new corporation large enough to pay all outstanding debts of the combined businesses and create a cash reserve. The investment also provided McGowan a stake in the company and a seat on the board, despite a 1967 recommendation that MCIs application be approved, final authorization for MCI to begin operations was delayed until after H. Rex Lee became an FCC Commissioner in October 1968. The FCC issued a ruling on Docket 16509, MCIs licensing request. By a decision of 4–3 MCI was licensed for operation and this ruling was quickly appealed by AT&T, and after a denial of the appeal by the commission, AT&T filed a suit with the U. S. Court of Appeals to have the ruling overturned. Between September 1969 and February 1971, fifteen new regional carriers were created, in July 1969, MICOM also purchased an equity position in Interdata, an independent regional carrier that was applying to build a microwave relay chain between New York City and Washington, D. C. MCI began selling data transmission services to paying customers on January 1,1972, to pay for the microwave transmission and relay equipment needed for build-out, MICOM began a series of private stock offerings in May 1971. In July 1971, MICOM was restructured into MCI Communications, MCI went public on June 22,1972, selling an initial offering of 3.3 million shares
38.
Prime Minister of Australia
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The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the head of government of Australia. The individual who holds the office is the most senior Minister of the Crown, the leader of the Cabinet, the office is not mentioned in the Constitution of Australia and exists only through longstanding political convention and tradition. Despite this, in practice it is the most powerful position in Australia. The individual who holds the office is commissioned by the Governor-General of Australia, almost always and according to convention, the Prime Minister is the leader of the majority party or largest party in a coalition of parties in the House of Representatives. However, there is no requirement that the prime minister sit in the House of Representatives. The only case where a member of the Senate was appointed minister was John Gorton. Malcolm Turnbull has held the office of Prime Minister since 15 September 2015, the Prime Minister and Treasurer are traditionally members of the House, but the Constitution does not have such a requirement. Before being sworn in as a Minister of the Crown, a person must first be sworn in as a member of the Federal Executive Council if they are not already a member. Membership of the Federal Executive Council entitles the member to the style of The Honourable for life, the senior members of the Executive Council constitute the Cabinet of Australia. The Prime Minister is, like ministers, normally sworn in by the Governor-General. When defeated in an election, or on resigning, the Prime Minister is said to hand in the commission, in the event of a Prime Minister dying in office, or becoming incapacitated, the Governor-General can terminate the commission. Despite the importance of the office of minister, the Constitution does not mention the office by name. The conventions of the Westminster system were thought to be entrenched in Australia by the authors of the Constitution that it was deemed unnecessary to detail them. The formal title of the portfolio has always been simply Prime Minister, except for the period of the Fourth Deakin Ministry, Page was the leader of the smaller party in the governing coalition, the Country Party. He held the office for three weeks until the UAP elected a new leader, Robert Menzies, in August 1941 Menzies resigned as prime minister. In July 1945 John Curtin died suddenly and his deputy, Frank Forde, was sworn in the next day as prime minister, although the Labor Party had not had an opportunity to meet and elect a new leader. Forde served for eight days until Ben Chifley was elected leader, Chifley was then sworn in, replacing Forde, who became Australias shortest-serving prime minister. Harold Holt disappeared while swimming on 17 December 1967 and was declared presumed dead on 19 December, the governor-general, Lord Casey, commissioned the Leader of the Country Party, John McEwen, to form a government until the Liberal Party elected a new leader
39.
John Howard
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John Winston Howard, OM, AC was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, serving from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. Only Sir Robert Menzies has served in the position longer, born in Sydney, Howard was a solicitor at Clayton Utz before entering politics, having studied law at the University of Sydney. A member of the Liberal Party and former president of the Young Liberals, he first stood for office at the 1968 New South Wales state election, but lost narrowly. At the 1974 federal election, Howard was elected to the Division of Bennelong and he was promoted to cabinet in 1977, and later in the year replaced Phillip Lynch as Treasurer of Australia, remaining in that position until the defeat of Malcolm Frasers government in 1983. In 1985, Howard was elected leader of the Liberal Party for the first time and he led the Liberal–National coalition to the 1987 federal election, but lost to Bob Hawkes Labor government, and was removed from the leadership in 1989. Remaining a key figure in the party, Howard was re-elected leader in 1995, after defeating Paul Keatings Labor government in 1996, the Howard Government was re-elected at the 1998,2001 and 2004 elections. Howards actions as prime minister included new gun laws, the introduction of a nationwide value-added tax, immigration reform, Australia also contributed troops to the War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War under his government, and led the International Force for East Timor. The Howard government was defeated at the 2007 federal election, with the Labor Partys Kevin Rudd succeeding him as prime minister, Howard also lost his own seat at the election, becoming only the second prime minister to do so. John Howard is the son of Mona and Lyall Howard. His parents were married in 1925 and his eldest brother Stanley was born in 1926, followed by Walter in 1929, and Robert in 1936. Lyall Howard was an admirer of Winston Churchill, and sympathetic to the New Guard during its early years, Howards ancestors were English, Scottish and Irish. Howard was born and raised in the Sydney suburb of Earlwood and his mother had been an office worker until her marriage. His father and his grandfather, Walter Howard, were both veterans of the First AIF in World War I. They also ran two Dulwich Hill petrol stations where Howard worked as a boy, Lyall Howard died in 1955 when John was sixteen, leaving his mother to take care of John. Howard suffered an impairment in his youth, leaving him with a slight speech impediment. It also influenced him in ways, limiting his early academic performance, encouraging a reliance on an excellent memory. Howard attended the state schools Earlwood Primary School and Canterbury Boys High School, Howard won a citizenship prize in his final year at Earlwood, and subsequently represented his secondary school at debating as well as cricket and rugby. In his final year at school he took part in a show hosted by Jack Davey, Give It a Go broadcast on the commercial radio station, 2GB
40.
Jim Talent
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James Matthes Jim Talent is an American politician and former U. S. He is a Republican and resided in the St. Louis area while serving in elected office and he identifies with the conservative wing of the Republican party, being outspoken on judicial appointments, abortion, flag burning, and defense issues. In the Democratic wave of November 2006, Talent lost his bid to Claire McCaskill. Talent, an adviser to Mitt Romneys 2008 presidential campaign. Talent is a fellow at the Heritage Foundation. He is also a co-chairman at Mercury, a Washington D. C. lobbying firm, following Donald Trumps victory in the 2016 presidential election, Talent was rumored to be on the short list for United States Secretary of Defense, a position ultimately offered to James Mattis. Talent grew up in a family in Des Peres, Missouri. His father, Milton Oscar Talent, was the son of Russian Jewish immigrants, Talents mother, Marie Frieda, was an independent court reporter who was raised on a small farm near DeSoto, Missouri. She was from a Christian background, her German ancestors had settled in Jefferson County, Talent graduated from Kirkwood High School in 1973. He earned his B. A. in political science from Washington University in St. Louis, Talent graduated Order of the Coif from the University of Chicago Law School, receiving his J. D. in 1981. Following law school, he served as a law clerk to Judge Richard A. Posner of the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, before winning political office Talent served as an adjunct professor at the Washington University Law school. He married Brenda Lee Lyons in 1984, the Talents have three children, Katy, Chrissy, and Michael. Talents interfaith family did not attend services, and later in life Talent became a member of the Presbyterian Church in America. He was inspired to become a Christian while listening to one of Luis Palaus radio broadcasts in his car and he pulled over and accepted Jesus Christ into his life then. He refers to it as the moment he passed from death to life, Talent began his political career in 1984 when he was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives. He served four terms there, the last two as minority leader and he went on to defeat Democratic incumbent Joan Kelly Horn in the general election, despite being heavily outspent. The district had been altered after the 1990 census to preserve large Democratic majorities in the neighboring 1st District of Bill Clay, Horn had appealed for a new map, even asking for a share of St. Louis, but was rebuffed by Clay and Gephardt. Although Talent won in 1992, he never had another race in what became a solidly Republican district
41.
United States Statutes at Large
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Each act and resolution of Congress is called a slip law, which is classified as either public law or private law, and designated and numbered accordingly. At the end of a Congress session, slip laws are compiled into Statutes at Large and they are part of a three-part model for publication of federal statutes consisting of slip laws, session laws, and codification. Today, large portions of slip laws denominated as public laws are now drafted as amendments to the United States Code. Once enacted into law, an Act will be published in the Statutes at Large and will add to, modify, provisions of a public law that contains only enacting clauses, effective dates, and similar matters are not generally codified. Private laws also are not generally codified, some portions of the United States Code have been enacted as positive law and other portions have not been so enacted. Publication of the United States Statutes at Large began in 1845 by the firm of Little, Brown. During Little, Brown and Companys time as publisher, Richard Peters, George Minot, in 1874, Congress transferred the authority to publish the Statutes at Large to the Government Printing Office under the direction of the Secretary of State. 633, was enacted July 30,1947 and directed the Secretary of State to compile, edit, index,980, was enacted September 23,1950 and directed the Administrator of General Services to compile, edit, index, and publish the Statutes at Large. Since 1985 the Statutes at Large have been prepared and published by the Office of the Federal Register of the National Archives, sometimes very large or long Acts of Congress are published as their own volume of the Statutes at Large. For example, the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 was published as volume 68A of the Statutes at Large. Volumes 1 to 18 of the Statutes at Large made available by the Library of Congress Volumes 1 to 64 of the Statutes at Large made available by the Congressional Data Coalition via LEGISWORKS
42.
USA PATRIOT Act
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The USA PATRIOT Act is an Act of Congress that was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 26,2001. With its ten-letter abbreviation expanded, the title is Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept. Following a lack of Congressional approval, parts of the Patriot Act expired on June 1,2015, with the passage of the USA Freedom Act on June 2,2015, the expired parts were restored and renewed through 2019. However, Section 215 of the law was amended to stop the National Security Agency from continuing its mass phone data collection program, instead, phone companies will retain the data and the NSA can obtain information about targeted individuals with permission from a federal court. From broad concern felt among Americans from both the September 11 attacks and the 2001 anthrax attacks, Congress rushed to pass legislation to strengthen security controls. On October 23,2001, Republican Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner introduced H. R.3162 incorporating provisions from a previously sponsored House bill, the next day, the Act passed the House 357 to 66, with Democrats comprising the overwhelming portion of dissent. The three Republicans voting no were Robert Ney of Ohio, Butch Otter of Idaho and Ron Paul of Texas, on October 25, the Act passed the Senate by 98 to 1. Since its passage, several legal challenges have been brought against the act, many provisions of the act were to sunset beginning December 31,2005, approximately four years after its passage. In July 2005, the U. S. Senate passed a bill with substantial changes to several sections of the act. The two bills were reconciled in a conference committee that was criticized by Senators from both the Republican and Democratic parties for ignoring civil liberty concerns. The bill, which removed most of the changes from the Senate version, passed Congress on March 2,2006, Title I authorizes measures to enhance the ability of domestic security services to prevent terrorism. The title established a fund for counter-terrorist activities and increased funding for the Terrorist Screening Center which is administered by the FBI, the military was authorized to provide assistance in some situations that involve weapons of mass destruction when so requested by the Attorney General. The National Electronic Crime Task Force was expanded, along with the Presidents authority and it primarily made amendments to FISA, and the ECPA, and many of the most controversial aspects of the USA PATRIOT Act reside in this title. In particular, the title allows government agencies to gather foreign intelligence information from both U. S. and non-U. S, Citizens, and changed FISA to make gaining foreign intelligence information the significant purpose of FISA-based surveillance, where previously it had been the primary purpose. However, that this wall even existed was found by the Federal Surveillance Court of Review to have actually been a long-held misinterpretation by government agencies, also removed was the statutory requirement that the government prove a surveillance target under FISA is a non-U. S. Citizen and agent of a power, though it did require that any investigations must not be undertaken on citizens who are carrying out activities protected by the First Amendment. The title also expanded the duration of FISA physical search and surveillance orders, the scope and availability of wiretapping and surveillance orders were expanded under Title II. The Act allowed any district judge in the United States to issue such surveillance orders
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No Child Left Behind Act
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The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 was a U. S. Act of Congress that reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and it supported standards-based education reform based on the premise that setting high standards and establishing measurable goals could improve individual outcomes in education. The Act required states to develop assessments in basic skills, to receive federal school funding, states had to give these assessments to all students at select grade levels. The act did not assert a national achievement standard – each state developed its own standards, the bill passed in the Congress with bipartisan support. By 2015, criticism from right, left, and center had accumulated so much that a bipartisan Congress stripped away the national features of No Child Left Behind and its replacement, the Every Student Succeeds Act, turned the remnants over to the states. The legislation was proposed by President George W. Bush on January 23,2001 and it was coauthored by Representatives John Boehner, George Miller, and Senators Edward Kennedy and Judd Gregg. The United States House of Representatives passed the bill on May 23,2001, President Bush signed it into law on January 8,2002. No Child Left Behind requires all public schools receiving federal funding to administer a statewide standardized test annually to all students, schools that receive Title I funding through the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 must make Adequate Yearly Progress in test scores. If the schools results are poor, then steps are taken to improve the school. Schools that miss AYP for a consecutive year are publicly labeled as In Need of Improvement. Students have the option to transfer to a school within the school district. Missing AYP in the third year forces the school to offer free tutoring, a fifth year of failure results in planning to restructure the entire school, the plan is implemented if the school unsuccessfully hits its AYP targets for the sixth consecutive year. Common options include closing the school, turning the school into a school, hiring a private company to run the school. The objectives must be set with the goal of having all students at the proficient level or above within 12 years, AYP must be primarily based on state assessments, but must also include one additional academic indicator. The AYP objectives must be assessed at the school level, schools that failed to meet their AYP objective for two consecutive years are identified for improvement. School AYP results must be reported separately for each group of students identified above so that it can be determined whether each student group met the AYP objective, at least 95% of each group must participate in state assessments. States may aggregate up to three years of data in making AYP determinations, the act requires states to provide highly qualified teachers to all students. Each state sets its own standards for what counts as highly qualified, similarly, the act requires states to set one high, challenging standard for its students
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Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act
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The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 is a United States federal law that amended the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, which regulates the financing of political campaigns. Its chief sponsors were Senators Russ Feingold and John McCain, the law became effective on 6 November 2002, and the new legal limits became effective on January 1,2003. The decision in Citizens United v. FEC overturns this provision, although the legislation is known as McCain–Feingold, the Senate version is not the bill that became law. Instead, the legislation, H. R. 2356—introduced by Rep. Chris Shays, is the version that became law. Shays–Meehan was originally introduced as H. R.380, in the aftermath of Watergate, Congress passed the Federal Election Campaign Act Amendments of 1974, which put new limits on contributions to campaigns. Both the Republican and Democratic parties nonetheless used this money to support their candidates, in 1992, President George H. W. Bush vetoed a bill passed by the Democratic Congress that would have, among other things, restricted the use of soft money. President Clinton pushed for a bill, but was unable to get both houses to agree on one bill. In 1995, Senators John McCain and Russ Feingold jointly published an op-ed calling for campaign finance reform, in 1998, the Senate voted on the bill, but the bill failed to meet the 60 vote threshold to defeat a filibuster. All 45 Senate Democrats and 6 Senate Republicans voted to invoke cloture and this effectively killed the bill for the remainder of the 105th Congress. McCains 2000 campaign for president and a series of scandals brought the issue of finance to the fore of public consciousness in 2001. McCain and Feingold pushed the bill in the Senate, while Chris Shays, in just the second successful use of the discharge petition since the 1980s, a mixture of Democrats and Republicans defied Speaker Dennis Hastert and passed a campaign finance reform bill. The House approved the bill with a 240-189 vote, sending the bill to the Senate, the bill passed the Senate in a 60-40 vote, the bare minimum required to overcome the filibuster. Throughout the Congressional battle on the bill, President Bush declined to take a strong position, provisions of the legislation were challenged as unconstitutional by a group of plaintiffs led by then–Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell, a long-time opponent of the bill. President Bush signed the law despite reservations about the constitutionality of the ban on issue advertising. He appeared to expect that the Supreme Court would overturn some of its key provisions, but, in December 2003, the Supreme Court upheld most of the legislation in McConnell v. FEC. These organizations have established on both sides of the political aisle, and have included high-profile organizations such as the Media Fund. 527s are financed in part by wealthy individuals, labor unions. 527s pre-dated McCain–Feingold but grew in popularity after the law took effect, in May 2004, the FEC voted to not write new rules on the application of federal campaign finance laws to 527 organizations
This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress website http://bioguide.congress.gov.