1.
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
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110th United States Congress
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It was composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The apportionment of seats in the House was based on the 2000 U. S. census, the Democratic Party controlled a majority in both chambers for the first time since the end of the 103rd Congress in 1995. Although the Democrats held fewer than 50 Senate seats, they had a majority because the two independent senators caucused with the Democrats for organizational purposes. No Democratic-held seats had fallen to the Republican Party in the 2006 elections, democrat Nancy Pelosi became the first woman Speaker of the House. The House also received the first Muslim and Buddhist members of Congress, members debated initiatives such as the Democrats 100-Hour Plan and the Iraq War troop surge of 2007. Following President Bushs 2007 State of the Union Address, Congress debated his proposal to create a surge to increase security in Iraq. President Bush, however, vetoed the bill as promised, making this his second veto while in office, both houses of Congress subsequently passed a bill funding the war without timelines, but with benchmarks for the Iraqi government and money for other spending projects like disaster relief. January 23,2007, President Bush delivered the 2007 State of the Union Address August 2,2007 and this led to an investigation by the House Select Committee on Voting Irregularities. December 18,2007, The Senate set a record for the most cloture votes, November 4,2008, General elections - Democrats increased their congressional majorities and Senator Barack Obama was elected President. These are partial lists of prominent enacted legislation and pending bills, see also,2008 Congressional Record, Vol.154, Page D845, Resume of Congressional Activity February 2,2007 — House Page Board Revision Act of 2007, Pub. L. 110–2,121 Stat.4 May 25,2007 — U. S, troop Readiness, Veterans Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act,2007, Pub. L. 112, including Title VIII, Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007,121 Stat.188 June 14,2007 — Preserving United States Attorney Independence Act of 2007, Pub. L. 110–34,121 Stat.224 July 26,2007 — Foreign Investment and National Security Act of 2007, 110–49,121 Stat.246 August 3,2007 — Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007, Pub. L. 110–53,121 Stat.266 August 5,2007 — Protect America Act of 2007, 110–55,121 Stat.552 September 14,2007 — Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, Pub. L. 110–81,121 Stat.735 November 8,2007 — Water Resources Development Act of 2007, 110–114,121 Stat.1041 - Veto Overridden December 19,2007 — Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, Pub. L. 110–140,121 Stat.1492 February 13,2008 — Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, 110–185,122 Stat.613 May 21,2008 — Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, Pub. L. 110–233,122 Stat.881 May 22,2008 — Food and Energy Security Act of 2007, 110–234,122 Stat.923 - Veto Overridden June 30,2008 — Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2008, Pub. L. 2323, including Title V, Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 July 10,2008 — FISA Amendments Act of 2008, 110–261,122 Stat.2436 July 29,2008 — Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE Act of 2008, Pub. L
3.
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
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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.
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
6.
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
7.
Ted Stevens
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Theodore Fulton Ted Stevens Sr. was a United States Senator from Alaska, whose tenure extended from December 24,1968, until January 3,2009. He was thus the longest serving Republican senator in history at the time he left office, his record was surpassed in January 2017 by Orrin Hatch of Utah. He was President pro tempore in the 108th and 109th Congresses from January 3,2003, to January 3,2007, Stevens served for six decades in the American public sector, beginning with his service in World War II. In 1952, his law career took him to Fairbanks, Alaska, in 1956, he returned to Washington D. C. to work in the Eisenhower Interior Department, where he played an important role in bringing about statehood for Alaska. He was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives in 1964, in 1968, Stevens ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for U. S. Senate, but was appointed to Alaskas other Senate seat when it became vacant later that year. He was also known for his sponsorship of the Amateur Sports Act of 1978, in 2008, Stevens was embroiled in a federal corruption trial as he ran for re-election to the Senate. He was found guilty, and eight days later was defeated at the polls. Stevens is the most senior U. S, Senator to have ever lost a reelection bid. However, prior to sentencing, the indictment was dismissed—effectively vacating the conviction—when a Justice Department probe found evidence of prosecutorial misconduct. Many have argued the prosecution was unfair and politically motivated, Stevens died on August 9,2010, when a de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter he and several others were flying in crashed en route to a private fishing lodge. The family later lived in Chicago, where George Stevens was an accountant before losing his job during the Great Depression, the only adult in the household with a job was Stevenss grandfather. Stevens helped to support the family by working as a newsboy, and would later remember selling many newspapers on March 1,1932, in 1934 Stevenss grandfather punctured a lung in a fall down a tall flight of stairs, contracted pneumonia, and died. Stevenss father, George, died in 1957 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Stevens and his cousin Patricia moved to Manhattan Beach, California, to live with Patricias mother, Gladys Swindells. After graduating from school in 1942, Stevens enrolled at Oregon State University to study engineering, attending for a semester. With World War II in progress, Stevens attempted to join the Navy and serve in Naval Aviation and he corrected his vision through a course of prescribed eye exercises, and in 1943 he was accepted into an Army Air Force Air Cadet program at Montana State College. After scoring near the top of an aptitude test for training, Stevens was transferred to preflight training in Santa Ana, California. Stevens served in the China-Burma-India theater with the Fourteenth Air Force Transport Section and he and other pilots in the transport section flew C-46 and C-47 transport planes, often without escort, mostly in support of Chinese units fighting the Japanese. Stevens received the Distinguished Flying Cross for flying behind enemy lines, the Air Medal, and he was discharged from the Army Air Forces in March 1946
8.
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
9.
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
10.
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
11.
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
12.
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
13.
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
14.
United States Senate elections, 2000
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The United States Senate elections,2000 was held on November 7,2000. The elections coincided with other federal and state elections, including the election which was won by Republican George W. Bush. It featured a number of contested elections that resulted in a victory for the Democratic Party. This election marked the first election year since 1988 where Democrats made net gains in the Senate and this election took place six years after Republicans had won a net gain of eight seats in Senate Class 1 during the elections of 1994. Democrats defeated Republican senators Bill Roth, Spencer Abraham, Rod Grams, John Ashcroft, ashcrofts defeat was noteworthy in that his opponent, Mel Carnahan, had died before the election, but still won. The Republicans did defeat one incumbent, Chuck Robb, and won a seat in Nevada. The election resulted in an equal 50–50 split between Republicans and Democrats, meaning the Vice President would cast the votes in organizing the Senate. This resulted in the Democrats winning control of the Senate for only 17 days, since Al Gore was still Vice President and President of the Senate at the beginning of the new term, on January 3,2001. But the Republicans won control of the chamber with the vote of the new Vice President Dick Cheney on January 20. The Republican majority would last until June 6,2001 when Republican Senator Jim Jeffords of Vermont left the Republican Party, became an independent,1 Totals do not include participating voters who declined to cast a vote for U. S. Senate. Candidates in the Georgia Special Election to fill the seat of deceased Senator Paul Coverdell were required to be non-partisan, however, Zell Miller and Mack Mattingly were added to the Democratic and Republican columns respectively and all the other candidates were added to the Independent column. Campbell even lost his own district by almost 15 points. Five-term incumbent William V. Roth, Jr. was defeated by outgoing Governor Thomas R. Carper, the age of the two candidates was an unspoken issue of the campaign as Carpers relative youth contrasted that of the 79-year-old Roth. Incumbent Connie Mack III retired after two terms, former Congressman Bill Nelson would defeat Rep. Bill McCollum in a close race that was nevertheless overshadowed by the contentious presidential race in Florida. Incumbent Spencer Abraham was unseated after one term by Rep. Debbie Stabenow, the contentious election was highlighted by a series of third party ads attacking Abrahams record on border security. Incumbent Rod Grams lost his bid to former State Auditor Mark Dayton. An heir to a department store chain, Dayton was able to self-finance his $12 million campaign, in one of the more unusual races of the cycle, deceased Governor Mel Carnahan defeated incumbent John Ashcroft. Carnahan died in a plane crash three weeks before the election and his widow Jean received an interim appointment in her late husbands place
15.
United States Senate elections, 2002
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The Senate seats up for election, known as class 2 Senate seats, were last up for regular election in 1996. The election was held on November 5,2002, almost fourteen months after the September 11,2001 attacks, in addition, four incumbent Republicans and no Democrats announced their retirement before the election. However, the Republicans were able to hold the four open seats, ultimately, Republicans would pick up three seats and lose one, resulting in a net gain of two seats. This was the first time since 1962 in which a first-term presidents party made net gains in the Senate and this was the most recent Senate election cycle in which at least one incumbent senator from each party lost in the general election. This was the election cycle ever where the party of the incumbent President gained new control of a house of Congress in a midterm election. Defeated incumbents included Tim Hutchinson, Max Cleland, and Jean Carnahan, the Republicans also gained the seat of deceased senator Paul Wellstone. 1 Includes candidates from Louisianas General Election, not run-off, totals do not include participating voters who declined to cast a vote for U. S. Senate. Although the Democrats had lost the majority control, the Senate was not reorganized until the next Congress, even though Cleland was a combat veteran, Chambliss won the support of the VFW. Missouri, Sen. Jean Carnahan had been appointed to the Senate after her husband, minnesota, Sen. Paul Wellstone, in the middle of a tough fight against former St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman, died in a plane crash less than two weeks before the election. South Dakota, The Democratic Party also invested heavily in South Dakota to keep Sen. Thunes strategy would work successfully when he later defeated Daschle in 2004, Republicans challenged this late replacement of a weak candidate, but were not successful in the courts. Louisiana, Republicans ran several candidates at once against incumbent Mary Landrieu, hoping to push her vote below 50% and they did force a runoff, but Republican Suzanne Haik Terrell narrowly lost the runoff. He defeated Smith in the primary and went on to defeat Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, the retiring governor, in the general election
16.
United States Senate elections, 2004
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Senators who were elected in 1998, known as Senate Class 3, were seeking reelection or retiring in 2004. This was the third consecutive election for Senate Class 3 where the Democrats failed to end up with a net gain and this also marked the first time since 1980 in which a presidential candidate from either party won with coattails in the Senate. Also, Republican Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado chose not to run for re-election, summary of the United States Senate elections,2004 results Sources, Dave Leips Atlas of U. S. Elections United States Elections Project at George Mason University The Senate, as of the pre-election 108th Congress, was composed of 51 Republicans,48 Democrats, and 1 independent. The Democrats, therefore, needed to make a net gain of at least two seats from retiring or incumbent Republicans to gain control of the Senate, in the election, incumbent senators won reelection in all races but one. The seats of retiring senators were taken by the party in Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, North Carolina. In fact, the retiring senator whose seat was taken by a member of his party was Republican Don Nickles of Oklahoma. Republicans gained four seats in the 2004 elections, and entered the 109th Congress with a 55-44-1 lead, while such a majority is formidable, it is still less than the 60 seats needed to override a filibuster and completely control the bodys agenda and procedures. One Republican seat, that of retiring Senator Peter Fitzgerald in Illinois, was taken by Democrat Barack Obama. In Colorado, retiring Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbells seat was taken by Democrat Ken Salazar. In Alaska, Republican Lisa Murkowski won reelection in a tight race, in Oklahoma, Tom Coburn kept Don Nickles seat in Republican hands, while in Kentucky, Republican Jim Bunning won a second term by a very narrow margin. The Democrats prospects were weakened by the fact that five of their six incumbent Senators in Southern states were retiring, retiring Georgia Sen. Zell Millers seat, contested by Denise Majette, was lost in a landslide, as was that of South Carolina Sen. Ernest Hollings. In North Carolina, Democrat Erskine Bowles lost John Edwardss seat to Republican Richard Burr, especially close races in Florida, Louisiana, and South Dakota all resulted in turnovers to the Republicans. The Libertarian, Constitution, and Green parties contested many of the seats, of the 34 senate seats up for grabs, the Libertarians ran candidates in 20 of the races, the Constitutionalists ran 10 candidates, and the Greens ran 7 candidates. Minor parties in a number of states contested one or more Senate seats, examples include the America First Party, the Labor Party, the Peace and Freedom Party, and the Socialist Workers Party. None of these parties gained a seat in this election nor received a significant number of votes, main article, United States Senate election in Alabama,2004 The U. S. Senate election in Alabama was between Republican incumbent Richard Shelby and Democrat Wayne Sowell. Shelby easily won re-election to a term with 68% of the vote. Tony Knowles lost by nearly 3% after staying in a dead heat with incumbent Lisa Murkowski in opinion polling throughout the summer
17.
2000 United States Census
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This was the twenty-second federal census and was at the time the largest civilly administered peacetime effort in the United States. Approximately 16 percent of households received a form of the 2000 census. Full documentation on the 2000 census, including forms and a procedural history, is available from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series. Microdata from the 2000 census is available through the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series. Aggregate data for small areas, together with electronic boundary files, personally identifiable information will be available in 2072. The U. S. resident population includes the number of people in the 50 states. The Bureau also enumerated the residents of the U. S. territory of Puerto Rico, its population was 3,808,610, the 2000 Census was the first time survey options for multiracial Americans were provided. S. Households had access to computers, 42% have Internet access, regionally, the South and West experienced the bulk of the nations population increase,14,790,890 and 10,411,850, respectively. This meant that the center of U. S. population moved to Phelps County. The Northeast grew by 2,785,149, the Midwest by 4,724,144, the results of the census are used to determine how many congressional districts each state is apportioned. Congress defines the formula, in accordance with Title 2 of the U. S. Code, each member of the House represents a population of about 647,000. The populations of the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are excluded from the apportionment population because they do not have voting seats in the U. S, since the first census in 1790, the decennial count has been the basis for the United States representative form of government. Article I, Section II specifies that The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, in 1790, each member of the House represented about 34,000 residents. Since then, the House more than quadrupled in size, today, each member represents about 20 times as many constituents. This recommendation was followed by the Secretary of Commerce, after the census was tabulated, Utah challenged the results in two different ways. Utah was extremely close to gaining a fourth seat, falling 857 people short. The margin was later shortened to 80 people, after the government discovered that it overcounted the population of North Carolina by 2,673 residents. Utah claimed that individuals traveling abroad as religious missionaries should be counted as residents, almost half of all Mormon missionaries, more than 11,000 individuals, were from Utah, only 102 came from North Carolina
18.
2005 in the United States
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Events from the year 2005 in the United States. President, George W. January 12 – Deep Impact is launched from Cape Canaveral by a Delta 2 rocket, January 20 – George W. Bush is sworn in for his second term as President. January 26 Glendale train crash, Two trains derail, killing 11 and injuring 200, in Glendale, february 6 – Super Bowl XXXIX, The New England Patriots win their second consecutive Super Bowl title, defeating the Philadelphia Eagles by a score of 24 –21. February 10 – North Korea announces that it possesses nuclear weapons as a protection against the hostility it feels from the United States, february 15 – The Internet site YouTube goes online. February 16 The Kyoto Protocol goes into effect, without the support of the United States, february 24 – David Hernandez Arroyo goes on a shooting rampage at the Smith County Courthouse in Tyler, Texas. He kills two, including his ex-wife, and injures four people, before being killed in a police chase, february 25 – Wichita, Kansas police apprehend the BTK serial killer Dennis Rader,31 years after his first murder. February 27 – The 77th Academy Awards, hosted by Chris Rock, are held at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California, with Million Dollar Baby winning Best Picture. March 1 – Roper v. Simmons, The Supreme Court of the United States rules the death penalty unconstitutional for juveniles who committed their crimes before the age of 18. March 4 – The car of released Italian hostage Giuliana Sgrena is fired on by U. S. soldiers in Iraq, causing the death of one passenger and injuring two more. March 11 – Three people, including a judge, are murdered in the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta, Georgia, March 12 – Terry Ratzmann opens fire during a church serman in New Berlin, Wisconsin, killing 7 and injuring 4 before taking his own life. March 21 – Ten are killed in the Red Lake shootings in Minnesota by teenager Jeffrey Weise and it is the worst school shooting since the Columbine High School massacre. March 23 – The United States 11th Circuit Court of Appeals refuses by a vote of 2 –1 to stop the euthanasia of Terri Schiavo by not ordering the reinsertion of her feeding tube. April 30 – Newsweek alleges that American interrogators and guards have desecrated the Quran in attempts to rattle Islamic detainees, may 13 The United States Department of Defense issues a list of bases to be closed as part of the Base Realignment and Closure process. Serial killer Michael Bruce Ross becomes the first person executed in New England in 45 years, may 16 – George Galloway appears before a United States Senate committee, to answer allegations of making money from the Iraqi Oil-for-Food Programme. May 31 – W. Mark Felt reveals himself to be the Watergate scandal whistleblower called Deep Throat, June 2 – The construction of Northrop Grumman X–47B, the worlds first unmanned surveillance attack aircraft that can operate from both land bases and aircraft carriers, begins. June 17 – Because of quadruple-witching options and futures expiration, the New York Stock Exchange sees the heaviest first-hour trading on record,704 million shares are traded between 9, 30–10,30 a. m. June 21 – A Volna booster rocket carrying the first light sail spacecraft fails 83 seconds after its launch, June 30 – The Dominican Republic–Central America Free Trade Agreement is passed by the United States. July 4 The Italy–USA Foundation is established in Rome, Italy, nASAs Copper bullet from the Deep Impact spacecraft hits Comet Tempel 1, creating a crater for scientific studies
19.
2006 in the United States
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Events from the year 2006 in the United States. President, George W. Pepsico announces its purchase of Star Foods for an undisclosed price saying that the purchase would strengthen its place as Polands number one seller of potato chips. January 3 – Twelve dead coal miners and one survivor are discovered in the Sago Mine Disaster near Buckhannon, January 5 The Bush administration proposes spending $114 million on educational programs to expand the teaching of Arabic, Chinese, Persian and other languages typically not taught in public schools. IBM says that it would freeze pension benefits for its American employees starting in 2008, January 6 AOL agrees to pay customers as much as $25 million to settle claims that it wrongly billed them for some online services and products. NYSE says that it has picked Bear Wagner as the firm that will handle trading of its shares when it goes public, January 7 – Embroiled in multiple scandals, former U. S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay announces he will not seek to reassume his former post. January 9 Vice President Dick Cheney complains of shortness of breath, the White House says the trip was necessary because of fluid retention as a side effect of a drug Mr. Cheney had taken to treat chronic foot ailments. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 11,000 for the first time since June 7,2001, January 10 – Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proposes a $125.6 billion budget increasing spending without raising taxes. January 11 – The Augustine Volcano in Alaska erupts twice, marking its first major eruption since 1986, January 13 The US Government reports that wholesale inflation in 2005 increased by highest amount since 1990. Rick Wagoner, CEO of the loss-making General Motors says that results will improve in 2006 and 2007, January 15 – NASAs Stardust mission successfully ends, the first to return dust from a comet. January 17 – California executes Clarence Ray Allen sentenced to death in 1982 for arranging the murders of three people. January 18 – American International Group, the worlds largest insurer, January 20 – A Maryland judge strikes down a state law banning same-sex marriage saying the measure violated a state constitutional amendment prohibiting sex discrimination. January 26 – General Motors reports an $8.6 billion loss for 2005, January 27 – An inhaled form of insulin wins federal approval offering an alternative to injections for millions of people with diabetes. Jennifer San Marco kills 8 people before committing suicide at a facility in Goleta. San Marco had worked at the facility previously, but had let go due to her erratic behavior. January 31 Samuel Alito is sworn in as a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. February 1 – UAL Corporation, United Airlines parent company, emerges from bankruptcy after being in position since December 9,2002. February 2 – After over 30 years, the Metropolitan Museum of Art says it would relinquish ownership of a 2, 500-year-old Greek vase, February 3 – Suspicious fires destroy three small churches and damage two others in Bibb County, Alabama. February 5 – Super Bowl XL, The Pittsburgh Steelers defeat the Seattle Seahawks by a score of 21 –10, February 9 – AIG apologizes for deceptive business practices and reaches a $1.64 billion settlement with federal and state securities and insurance regulators
20.
2007 in the United States
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Events from the year 2007 in the United States. President, George W. John Abizaid as the head of Central Command in Iraq, Nancy Pelosi becomes the first female Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. January 9 War in Somalia, U. S. planes conduct air strikes in Somalia against suspected terrorists, steve Jobs publicly announces the release of the first iPhone. January 10 – President Bush announces a plan to station 21,500 additional troops in Iraq, january 12 – The U. S. Embassy in Athens is attacked with a rocket propelled grenade, which causes minimal damage and no injuries. January 28 – A battle between insurgents and U. S. -backed Iraqi troops kills 300 suspected resistance members in Najaf, january 30 – Microsoft releases Windows Vista and Office 2007. January 31 Delta Air Lines creditors officially reject US Airways hostile takeover bid, the Mooninite scare occurs in Boston when devices used in a guerrilla marketing campaign for the animated television series Aqua Teen Hunger Force are mistaken for improvised explosive devices. February 2 – An unseasonal tornado in central Florida kills at least 20 people, February 25 – The 79th Academy Awards ceremony, hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, is held at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. February 27 –2007 Bagram Air Base bombing, A Taliban suicide attack at Bagram Air Base while Vice President of the United States Dick Cheney is visiting kills 23, February 28 – The New Horizons space probe makes a gravitational slingshot against Jupiter which changes its trajectory towards Pluto. March 6 – Mega Millions sets a new record for the highest lottery jackpot of $370 million. March 16 – For the first time in the 23-year history of the version of the popular gameshow. April 1 – World Wrestling Entertainment put on WrestleMania 23 in Detroit, april 16 – Thirty-two people are killed in the Virginia Tech massacre on the premises of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia. Gunman Seung-Hui Cho is able to buy his firearms legally, despite having a record of mental illness, april 17 – The Pound Sterling hits a 15-year high against the US dollar, breaking through the $2 level for the first time since 1992. April 19 – US and allied air forces conduct massive exercises over South Korea with over 500 planes, april 25 The Dow Jones Industrial Average gains 135.95 points to close at 13089.89, its first close above 13000 in its history. The Burj Khalifa reaches the height of the Sears Tower on its way to becoming the tallest building in the world, congressman Dennis Kucinich introduces articles to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney. May 3 – The U. S. House of Representatives passes the Matthew Shepard Act and it is the first time that the House brings a gay rights bill to the floor for a vote. May 4 Tornado strikes Greensburg, Kansas, killing at least twelve people, executive Directive 51, which specifies the procedures for continuity of the federal government in the event of a catastrophic emergency is signed by President George W. Bush. May 9 – Subtropical Storm Andrea forms off the coast of Florida, may 31 – A calendar blue moon occurred in the Western Hemisphere and parts of the Eastern Hemisphere. June 1 – U. S. warships bombard a Somali village where Islamic militants had set up a base, june 2 – Four people are charged with a terror plot to blow up JFK International Airport in New York City
21.
Nancy Pelosi
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Nancy Patricia DAlesandro Pelosi is an American politician who is the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, representing Californias 12th congressional district. A member of the Democratic Party, Pelosi represents Californias 12th congressional district, the district was numbered as the 5th during Pelosis first three terms in the House, and as the 8th from 1993 to 2013. She served as the House Minority Whip from 2002 to 2003, Pelosi is the first woman, the first Californian and first Italian-American to lead a major party in Congress. On November 17,2010, Pelosi was elected as the Democratic Leader by House Democrats, Pelosi is Italian-American and was born Nancy Patricia DAlesandro in Baltimore, Maryland. She is the youngest of six children of Annunciata M. Nancy, who was born in Campobasso, South Italy, on 25 March 1909, Congressman from Maryland and a Mayor of Baltimore. Pelosis brother, Thomas DAlesandro III, also a Democrat, was mayor of Baltimore from 1967 to 1971, Pelosi was involved with politics from an early age. In her outgoing remarks as the 60th Speaker of the House and she graduated from the Institute of Notre Dame, a Catholic all-girls high school in Baltimore, and from Trinity College in Washington, D. C. in 1962 with a B. A. in political science. Pelosi interned for Senator Daniel Brewster alongside future House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and she met Paul Frank Pelosi while she was attending Trinity College. They married in Baltimore at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen on September 7,1963, after moving to San Francisco, Pelosi worked her way up in Democratic politics. She became a friend of one of the leaders of the California Democratic Party, in 1976, Pelosi was elected as a Democratic National Committee member from California, a position she would hold until 1996. She was elected as party chair for Northern California on January 30,1977, and for the California Democratic Party, Pelosi was appointed Finance Chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the campaign arm of the U. S. Senate Democrats, in 1985. That same year, she ran to succeed Chuck Manatt as chair of the Democratic National Committee, Pelosi left her post as DSCC finance chair in 1986. Phillip Burton died in 1983 and was succeeded by his wife, in late 1986, Sala became ill with cancer and decided not to run for reelection in 1988. She picked Pelosi as her successor, guaranteeing her the support of the Burtons contacts. Sala died on February 1,1987, just a month after being sworn in for a full term. Pelosi represents one of the safest Democratic districts in the country, Democrats have held the seat since 1949 and Republicans, who currently make up only 13 percent of registered voters in the district, have not made a serious bid for the seat since the early 1960s. She won the seat in her own right in 1988 and has been reelected 10 more times with no substantive opposition and she has not participated in candidates debates since her 1987 race against Harriet Ross. The strongest challenge Pelosi has faced was in 2008 when anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan polled 16%, in the House, she served on the Appropriations and Intelligence Committees, and was the ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee until her election as Minority Leader
22.
Harry Reid
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Harry Mason Reid is a retired American politician who served as a United States Senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017, and as the states senior Senator from 1989. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the Senate Minority Leader from 2015 to 2017, and had served as Majority Leader, Minority Whip. Previously, Reid was a member of the U. S. Reid was one of only three Senators to serve at least eight years as Majority Leader, Reid suffered a serious eye injury in early 2015. He is also the longest serving Senator from Nevada, Reid served as the United States Senate Minority Leader, after Republicans won the majority control of the Senate in the 2014 midterm elections. Reid was born in Searchlight, Nevada, the third of four sons of Harry Vincent Reid, a miner, and Inez Orena Reid and his father committed suicide with a gunshot to the head in 1972, at age 58, when Harry was 32 years old. His paternal grandmother was an English immigrant from Darlaston, Staffordshire, Reids boyhood home was a shack with no indoor toilet, hot water, or telephone. Since Searchlight had no school, Reid boarded with relatives 40 miles away in Henderson, Nevada to attend Basic High School, where he played football. While at Basic High, he met future Nevada governor Mike OCallaghan, Reid attended Southern Utah University, and graduated from Utah State University where he double majored in political science and history. He minored in economics at Utah States School of Commerce and Business Administration and he then went to George Washington University Law School earning a J. D. while working for the United States Capitol Police. Reid returned to Nevada after law school and served as Henderson city attorney before being elected to the Nevada Assembly for the fourth district of Clark County in 1968. In 1970, at age 30, Reid was chosen by OCallaghan as his running mate for Lieutenant Governor of Nevada. Reid and OCallaghan won the race, and Reid served as lieutenant governor from 1971 until 1974 and he lost by fewer than 700 votes to former governor Paul Laxalt. In 1975, Reid ran for mayor of Las Vegas and lost to Bill Briare, Reid served as chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission from 1977 to 1981. After FBI agents interrupted the transaction, as prearranged, Reid lost his temper and attempted to choke Gordon, saying You son of a bitch, Gordon was convicted in 1979 and sentenced to six months in prison. In 1981, Reids wife found a bomb attached to the station wagon, Reid suspected it was placed by Gordon. Reid won the Democratic nomination for the 1st district, based in Las Vegas, in 1982 and he served two terms in the House, from 1983 to 1987. In 1986, Reid won the Democratic nomination for the seat of retiring two-term incumbent Republican Senator Paul Laxalt, Reid defeated former at-large Congressman Jim Santini, a Democrat who had turned Republican, in the November election. Reid coasted to reelection in 1992, but narrowly defeated 1st District Congressman John Ensign in 1998 in the midst of a statewide Republican sweep, in 2004, Reid won reelection with 61 percent of the vote, gaining the endorsement of several Republicans
23.
United States elections, 2006
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The 2006 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 7,2006 in the middle of Republican President George W. Bushs second term. The victory of the Democratic Party in the 2006 Congressional elections was a milestone for an additional reason. Reasons for the Democratic party takeover include the decline of the image of George W. That May, just two months after the invasion, Bush announced the end of major combat operations in Iraq. In the following months, insurgents began resisting the American occupation, additionally, religious tensions between majority Shiite and minority Sunni Muslims, tensions which had been suppressed under the grip of the Hussein regime, began to result in violence. By the end of 2003, despite the war being initially popular, a November 2003 Gallup poll showed that Bush’s job approval rating had fallen to 50% from a high of 71% at the outset of the war. It was, however, the first time since 1988 that a winner garnered a popular majority, terrorism and the war in Iraq dominated the election, with domestic issues taking a secondary role. Bush began his term with a continuation of the occupation. Both policies proved unpopular, and violence in Iraq continued to increase, compounding the unpopularity of the war was that no weapons of mass destruction were found. August 2005 was the last time any public opinion poll recorded majority approval of Bush’s job. Negative perceptions of Bush following the slow response to Hurricane Katrina further weighed on his popularity. Simultaneously, the Republican-controlled 109th Congress’s popularity was declining as well, throughout 2006, sectarian violence was ongoing in Baghdad and other areas of Iraq, many claimed that the conflict was evolving into a civil war. President Bush’s job approval rarely rose above 40%, perceptions of Congress and Republicans in general remained highly negative. The Democratic Party won a majority of the governorships and the U. S. House and Senate seats each for the first time since 1994. For the first time since the creation of the Republican party in 1860, no Republican captured any House, Senate, Democrats took a 233–202 advantage in the House of Representatives, and achieved a 49–49 tie in the United States Senate. The Senate figure is quoted in the media as 51-49. The final Senate result was decided when Democrat James Webb was declared the winner in Virginia against incumbent George Allen, on November 9,2006, Allen and fellow Republican incumbent Sen. Conrad Burns both conceded defeat, ceding effective control of the Senate to the Democrats. The election made Nancy Pelosi the first-ever female, first-ever Italian-American, keith Ellison became the first Muslim ever elected to the U. S. Congress and Mazie Hirono and Hank Johnson became the first Buddhists in a United States governing body
24.
Hurricane Katrina disaster relief
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Tens of thousands of volunteers and troops responded or were deployed to the disaster - most in the affected area but also throughout the U. S. at shelters set up in at least 19 states. Monetary donations were way below the set by the tsunami. In a reversal of positions, the U. S. received international aid. Additional DMATs were deployed there as the volume and tempo of patient arrivals increased, over 3,000 patients were cared for, and as DOD Medevac assets began arriving, patients were handed over and moved out to over a dozen cities. This operation peaked during the weekend of September 3 and 4, over 20,000 evacuees were also flown out by the civilian airfleet drafted into service, and 25 deaths occurred there, mostly elderly nursing home and hospice evacuees. More than 10,000 Army and Air National Guardsmen and 7,200 active-duty troops were stationed in the Gulf Coast region to assist with relief operations with some remaining several weeks. The military relief effort, known as Joint Task Force Katrina, was commanded by Lieutenant General Russel L. Honoré, at President Bushs urging, the U. S. Senate quickly approved $10.5 billion in aid for victims September 1,2005. The U. S. House of Representatives voted and approved on the measure Friday, President Bush requested an additional $51.8 billion on September 7. Congress approved that funding package the next day and it is their mission to provide relief support for all of the areas in Texas and Louisiana effected by the two storms and to remove obstructions that might otherwise hinder help to those effected. Many had been critical of the response, with many people left without water. Hurricane Katrina, which struck the Gulf Coast of the United States in August 2005, exposed area residents to trauma, however, little is known about the long-run effects of the hurricane on the mental health of those who were exposed. Longitudinal surveys of 672 low-income mothers from New Orleans were conducted one year before, 4–19 months after. And operating dollars, never easy to come by, are drying up. The National Hurricane Center predicted for the first time that Katrina would become a Category 4 storm, President Bush declared a state of emergency under the authority of the Stafford Act for the inland parishes of Louisiana. Katrina became a Category 4 hurricane, and eventually evolved into a Category Five storm the very same day, with winds blowing at about 175 mph. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin decided not to declare a mandatory evacuation of the city,550 National Guard troops were stationed inside the Superdome to screen evacuees for weapons. At that point, it was known that the strength of the hurricane would almost certainly exceed the design capacity. If the levees did fail, people throughout the city would find it difficult to obtain food
25.
Iraq War
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The Iraq War was a protracted armed conflict that began in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition that toppled the government of Saddam Hussein. The conflict continued for much of the decade as an insurgency emerged to oppose the occupying forces. An estimated 151,000 to 600,000 or more Iraqis were killed in the first 3–4 years of conflict and it became re-involved in 2014 at the head of a new coalition, the insurgency and many dimensions of the civil armed conflict continue. The invasion began on 20 March 2003, with the U. S. joined by the United Kingdom and several allies, launching a shock. Iraqi forces were overwhelmed as U. S. forces swept through the country. The invasion led to the collapse of the Baathist government, President Hussein was captured during Operation Red Dawn in December of that same year, the United States responded with a troop surge in 2007. The winding down of U. S. involvement in Iraq accelerated under President Barack Obama, the U. S. formally withdrew all combat troops from Iraq by December 2011. Select U. S. officials accused Saddam of harboring and supporting al-Qaeda, while others cited the desire to end a repressive dictatorship, after the invasion, no substantial evidence was found to verify the initial claims about WMDs. The rationale and misrepresentation of pre-war intelligence faced heavy criticism within the U. S. in the aftermath of the invasion, Iraq held multi-party elections in 2005. Nouri al-Maliki became Prime Minister in 2006 and remained in office until 2014, the al-Maliki government enacted policies that were widely seen as having the effect of alienating the countrys Sunni minority and worsening sectarian tensions. The Iraq War caused hundreds of thousands of civilian, and thousands of military casualties, the majority of casualties occurred as a result of the insurgency and civil conflicts between 2004 and 2007. A1990 Frontline report on The arming of Iraq said, Officially, most Western nations participated in an arms embargo against Iraq during the 1980s. Western companies, primarily in Germany and Great Britain, but also in the United States, sold Iraq the key technology for its chemical, missile, any Western governments seemed remarkably indifferent, if not enthusiastic, about those deals. N Washington, the government consistently followed a policy which allowed and perhaps encouraged the growth of Saddam Husseins arsenal. The Western arming of Iraq took place in the context of the Iran-Iraq War, prior to September 2002, the CIA was the George W. Bush administrations main provider of intelligence on Iraq. The agency was out to disprove linkage between Iraq and terrorism the Pentagon adviser told me, the U. N. had prohibited Iraq from developing or possessing such weapons after the Gulf War and required Iraq to permit inspections confirming compliance. This was confirmed by The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, during 2002, Bush repeatedly warned of military action against Iraq unless inspections were allowed to progress unfettered. In accordance with U. N. Security Council Resolution 1441, Iraq agreed to new inspections under United Nations Monitoring, as part of its weapons inspection obligations, Iraq was required to supply a full declaration of its current weapons capabilities and manufacturing
26.
2006 United States immigration reform protests
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In 2006/07, millions of people participated in protests over a proposed change to U. S. immigration policy. The 2006 immigration protests were a series of demonstrations began in Chicago. A major demonstration in Chicago on March 10,2006 estimated at 100,000 people was the impetus for protests throughout the country. The largest single demonstration occurred in Los Angeles on March 25,2006 with a march of more than 500,000 people through downtown. The largest nationwide day of protest occurred on April 10,2006, in 102 cities across the country, with 350, most of the protests were peaceful and attracted considerable media attention. Additional protests took place on May Day, the marches reached a climax on May 1,2006 and were nicknamed A day without Immigrants after the film A Day Without a Mexican. Naming the protests in such way encouraged immigrants to quit their daily labor-intensive jobs for a day to draw attention to their significant contributions to U. S. daily life, Latina/o immigrants across the country were urged to boycott work, school and other economic activities. The mobilization of working-class undocumented immigrants challenged the belief that the United States would be able to prosper without undocumented immigrants, the protests took place on May 1, a date meant to honor workers throughout the country. The May 1st marches reflected the immigrant protesters’ identities as workers, therefore, missing work for a day burdened their families, but not overly so, as the families relied on government handouts. Yet, thousands of immigrants risked their jobs and joined the marches to demand political recognition, since the 19th century, mass unauthorized immigration from Latin America to the United States has greatly impacted Latina/o politics. Unauthorized immigrants are individuals who arrive and live in the United States without legal documentation, many others cross the borders between the United States and Mexico, or the United States and Canada, without legal documentation. Today, undocumented entry to the United States is a misdemeanor, unauthorized immigration did not always exist to the extent that it does today. Before 1965 the United States did not have restrictions on immigration from countries in the western hemisphere. The 1965 Act influenced Latinos/as citizens and permanent residents to request visas that allowed their members to immigrate to the United States. This resulted in a shift of the countrys ethno racial makeup, in the 1980s the United States government began to express concern about the large scale flow of unauthorized immigration, which led to the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. First, the Act made it illegal for employers to workers who could not provide proof of legal immigration to the United States. Second, it allowed for the legalization of immigrants who could prove residency in the U. S. since January 1,1982 and agricultural workers who began working in the United States prior to May 1986. Out of the 3 million migrants that applied for IRCA,2.7 million, however, in the long term, IRCA was not successful in reducing the flow of unauthorized immigration to the United States
27.
Bob Ney
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Robert William Bob Ney is an American politician from the U. S. state of Ohio. In 2007, he was convicted on charges of corruption and served 17 months of a 30-month jail sentence, a Republican, Ney represented Ohios 18th congressional district in the U. S. House of Representatives from 1995 until November 3,2006, when he resigned. Neys resignation took place after he pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy, from 2001 to 2006, Ney was Chairman of the House Administration Committee. As chair of that committee, he oversaw operations in the Capitol complex and was known as the Mayor of Capitol Hill. He also served as Chairman of the Housing Sub Committee, the Committee oversaw the Housing laws, H. U. D. India Housing Issues, Bank lending issues, and a variety of other housing measures, Ney also was a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, former member of the Veterans Affairs Committee, and served as a Deputy Whip in the Leadership Structure. Ney was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, the son of a TV cameraman for WTRF-TV, Ney grew up in Bellaire, Ohio, an industrial town across the Ohio River from Wheeling. He graduated in 1972 from St. Johns High School in Bellaire and he attended Ohio University Eastern Campus in Belmont County before transferring to Ohio State University in Columbus. He received a Bachelor of Science Secondary Education degree from OSU in 1976, during high school and college, Ney worked at a grocery store in Benwood, West Virginia and the Imperial Glass Company in Bellaire, Ohiol. Ney started his career as the manager for Ohio Governor James A. Rhodess comeback campaign to defeat incumbent Governor John j. In 1976 he served as one of the youngest At Large delegates at that time, in 1980, at the age of 26, Ney defeated state Representative Wayne Hays, a powerful former U. S. representative who had resigned from Congress in 1976 after a sex scandal. Ironically, Hays had also served as the Chairman of the powerful House Administration Committee, Ney served in the Ohio House of Representatives from 1981 to 1983. He was defeated in his bid in November 1982. After his defeat, Ney managed a security company in Saudi Arabia. He was appointed to the Ohio Senate in 1984 to replace former state senator Sam Speck, Ney won the seat in November 1984 and then re-election in 1988 and 1992. 1994 In November 1994, Ney decided to run for Ohios 18th congressional district after nine-term incumbent Democrat Douglas Applegate announced his retirement, Ney won the six-candidate Republican primary field with 69% of the vote. The 18th had a considerable Democratic lean, but Ney scored a considerable upset,1996 In 1996, he won re-election to a second term, defeating Democrat State Senator Rob Burch 50%–46%. 1998–2004 He went on to win four more times easily without difficult competition in 1998,2000,2002
28.
Duke Cunningham
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Cunningham resigned from the House on November 28,2005, after pleading guilty to accepting at least $2.4 million in bribes and under-reporting his taxable income for 2004. He pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud, wire fraud. He was sentenced to eight years and four months in prison and was ordered to pay $1.8 million in restitution, on June 4,2013, Cunningham completed his prison sentence and he currently lives in Arkansas. Prior to his career, Cunningham was an officer and pilot in the U. S. Navy for 20 years. Cunningham and Radar Intercept Officer William P, Irish Driscoll, working as a flight crew, became the only navy flying aces of the Vietnam War. He was one of the most highly decorated United States Navy pilots in the Vietnam War, receiving the Navy Cross once, the Silver Star twice, the Air Medal 15 times, Cunningham was born in Los Angeles to Randall and Lela Cunningham in December 1941. His father was a driver for Union Oil at the time. Around 1945, the moved to Fresno, California, where Cunninghams father purchased a gas station. In 1953 they moved to rural Shelbina, Missouri, where his parents purchased and managed the Cunningham Variety Store, Cunningham married his first wife, the former Susan Albrecht, in 1965, they met in college and had one adopted son. Susan filed for divorce and an order in January 1973, based on her claims of emotional abuse. Cunningham later stated that his life hit rock-bottom in that year, in 1973, he met Dan McKinnon, a publisher and son of former Congressman Clinton D. McKinnon who encouraged him to turn his life around. Cunningham married his wife, Nancy Jones in 1974. In 1976, she filed for divorce and an order, stating that he is a very aggressive spontaneously assaultive person. Nancy later requested that the court dismiss the divorce request in January 1977, Cunningham graduated from Shelbina High School in 1959. He attended Kirksville Teachers College for one year transferring to the University of Missouri in Columbia. Cunningham graduated with a degree in education and physical education in 1964. He was hired as a physical education teacher and swimming coach at Hinsdale Central High School where he stayed for one year, two members of his swim team competed in the 1968 Olympics, where they earned a gold and a silver medal. Cunningham joined the United States Navy in 1967, during his service, Cunningham and his Radar Intercept Officer Irish Driscoll became the only Navy aces in the Vietnam War, flying an F-4 Phantom II from aboard aircraft carrier USS Constellation
29.
William J. Jefferson
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William Jennings Bill Jefferson is an American former politician and convicted felon from the U. S. state of Louisiana. He served as a member of the U. S. House of Representatives for nine terms from 1991 to 2009 as a member of the Democratic Party and he represented Louisianas 2nd congressional district, which includes much of the greater New Orleans area. He was Louisianas first black congressman since the end of Reconstruction and he began serving that sentence in May 2012 at a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility in Beaumont, Texas. The Jeffersons were among the few African-American families in the area who owned their land. Nonetheless, he grew up in an environment of poverty, on graduation from Southern University he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States Army and served in a reserve capacity until 1975. In 1972, he earned a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School, in 1996, he received a LLM in taxation from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D. C. In 1972 and 1973 Jefferson began the practice of law, having served as a clerk for Judge Alvin Benjamin Rubin of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Jefferson is the brother of New Orleans assessor Betty Jefferson, a Democratic field operative, convicted felons Mose Jefferson and Archie Jefferson and he is the uncle of Angela Coleman. Jefferson and his wife, Andrea Jefferson, have five daughters, Jamila Jefferson-Jones, Jalila Jefferson-Bullock, Jelani Jefferson Exum, Nailah Jefferson, Jamila, Jalila, and Jelani are all graduates of Harvard College and Harvard Law School. Nailah is a graduate of Boston University and Emerson College, Akilah, a graduate of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, attends the Tulane University School of Medicine. From 1973 to 1975, Jefferson was an assistant to Democratic U. S. Senator J. Bennett Johnston, Jr. of Louisiana, Jefferson moved to New Orleans in 1976 and was elected to the Louisiana Senate in 1979, where he served until 1990. During the 1982 mayoral race, Morial attacked Jefferson by calling him Dollar Bill – a nickname which has stuck to this day, still, Jefferson was considered a rising star in Louisiana politics, with some even suggesting he would be his states second African-American governor. He finished first in the field with 24 percent of the vote. In the runoff, he defeated Marc Morial, the son of Dutch Morial, in the House, Jefferson joined the Congressional Black Caucus. He considered running for Governor in 1995 but ultimately did not do so, Jefferson ran for governor of Louisiana in the 1999 Louisiana gubernatorial election, and was the de facto official Democratic candidate. In 2002, the Progressive Democrats support helped elect Jeffersons protégée Renée Gill Pratt to the New Orleans City Council, Jeffersons Progressive Democrats organization also contributed to the election of Jeffersons sister Betty, as a municipal assessor, in 1998,2002 and 2006. New Orleans politics substantially changed after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, with many former voters no longer in the city, laura Maggi has described Mose Jefferson as the man responsible for running the Progressive Democrats street operation in New Orleans
30.
Mark Foley scandal
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The scandal grew to encompass the response of Republican congressional leaders to previous complaints about Foleys contacts with the pages and inconsistencies in the leaders public statements. There were also allegations that a second Republican Congressman, Jim Kolbe, had improper conduct with at least two youths, a 16-year-old page and a recently graduated page, the scandal led to Foleys resignation from Congress on September 29,2006. Kirk Fordham, chief of staff to Rep. Tom Reynolds and former chief of staff for Foley, also resigned as a result of the scandal. Newsweeks June 7,2010, issues BACK STORY listed Foley, among others, the questionable conversations, which took place between 1995 and 2005, were investigated by the FBI for possible criminal violations. In September 2008, Florida officials investigating Foley decided not to him, citing a lack of evidence. The House Ethics Committee investigated the response of the House Republican leadership, in early October 2006, two news organizations anonymously quoted former pages who said that they had sexual liaisons with Foley after turning 18 and 21. Foley was chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children, in 2005, Foley sent five e-mails to a 16-year-old former page from Monroe, Louisiana who had been sponsored by Rep. Rodney Alexander. They were the first messages to be public in the scandal. Among other things, Foley asked for a photo of the page, his age and birthday, Foley observed that another male page was in really great shape. I am just finished riding my bike on a 25 mile journey, the page forwarded the e-mails to a colleague in Alexanders office, saying this really freaked me out, and repeating the word sick 13 times in a row to describe the photo request. The page asked if you can, please tell Rodney about this, ABC News reported on October 5 that in 2002, Foley e-mailed one page with an invitation to stay at the congressmans home in exchange for oral sex. The page, who was 17 years old at the time, the same report stated that he e-mailed another with a request for a photograph of his erect penis. Another former page reported that he saw sexually explicit e-mails sent to one page from his class of 2001-2002. The Washington Post reported it had received its copies of the same IMs from a page who had served on Capitol Hill with the two pages to whom they had been addressed. Another former page, Tyson Vivyan, said that he had received sexually suggestive messages from Foley in 1997, a page from the class of 1998 also reported receiving explicit IMs from Foley. In November 2005, the initial five e-mails were leaked out of Alexanders office, two Florida newspapers, the St. Petersburg Times and Miami Herald, and the Fox News Channel acquired copies of these e-mails in November 2005, but decided not to publish a story. According to an editor at the St. Petersburg Times, they received the e-mails from a source in Alexanders office, the St. Petersburg Times editors decided the exchange was probably just friendly chit-chat. Nonetheless, they assigned two reporters to investigate in November 2005, the recipient of the e-mail refused to cooperate with the reporters, and no other pages they interviewed had complaints about correspondence with Foley
31.
80th United States Congress
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It met in Washington, DC from January 3,1947 to January 3,1949, during the third and fourth years of Harry S. Trumans presidency. The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the Sixteenth Census of the United States in 1940, republicans gained a majority in both chambers for this Congress having gained thirteen Senate seats and fifty-seven House seats. The 80th Congress passed several significant pro-business bills, most famously the Taft–Hartley Act, January 3,1947, Proceedings of Congress were televised for the first time. March 12,1947, In a Joint Session of Congress, July 18,1947, The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands entered into a trusteeship with the United Nations and administered by the United States. July 20,1947, President Truman issued the second peacetime draft in the United States amid increasing tensions with the Soviet Union. November 24,1947, The House of Representatives approved citations of contempt of Congress against the so-called Hollywood 10, July 26,1948, President Truman signed Executive Order 9981, ending racial segregation in the United States Armed Forces. August 25,1948, House Un-American Activities Committee held the first-ever televised congressional hearing, 80–75,61 Stat.103 June 23,1947, Taft–Hartley Act, Sess. 80–101,61 Stat.136 July 18,1947, Presidential Succession Act, 80–199,61 Stat.380 July 26,1947, National Security Act of 1947, Sess. 80–253,61 Stat.495 August 7,1947, Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands, 80–382,61 Stat.913 January 27,1948, United States Information and Educational Exchange Act, Sess. 80–402,62 Stat.6 April 3,1948, Foreign Assistance Act,169,62 Stat.137 April 3,1948, Greek-Turkish Assistance Act of 1948, Sess. 80–472, Title III,62 Stat.157 May 26,1948, Civil Air Patrol Act, 80–557,62 Stat.274 June 12,1948, Womens Armed Services Integration Act, Sess. 80–625,62 Stat.356 June 17,1948, Reed-Bulwinkle Act, 80–662,62 Stat.472 June 25,1948, Title 3 of the United States Code, Sess. 80–771,62 Stat.672 June 28,1948, Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act of 1948, 80–806,62 Stat.1070 June 30,1948, Federal Water Pollution Control Act, Sess. 80–845,62 Stat.1155 July 3,1948, War Claims Act of 1948, 80–896,62 Stat.1240 July 3,1948, Agricultural Act of 1948, Sess. The Democrats lost one seat, which remained vacant until the next Congress, the congressional district numbers are linked to articles describing the district itself. Since the boundaries of the districts have changed often and substantially, the article may only describe the district as it exists today. The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress There were 3 deaths,2 resignations, There were 9 deaths and 7 resignations. Official Congressional Directory for the 80th Congress, 1st Session, official Congressional Directory for the 80th Congress, 1st Session
32.
Harry S. Truman
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Harry S. Truman was an American politician who served as the 33rd President of the United States, assuming the office upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt during the waning months of World War II. In domestic affairs, he was a moderate Democrat whose liberal proposals were a continuation of Franklin Roosevelts New Deal, but the conservative-dominated Congress blocked most of them. He also used weapons to end World War II, desegregated the U. S. armed forces, supported a newly independent Israel. Truman was born in Lamar, Missouri, and spent most of his youth on his familys 600-acre farm near Independence, in the last months of World War I, he served in combat in France as an artillery officer with his National Guard unit. After the war, he owned a haberdashery in Kansas City, Missouri, and joined the Democratic Party. Truman was first elected to office as a county official in 1922. After serving as a United States Senator from Missouri and briefly as Vice President, he succeeded to the presidency on April 12,1945, upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Germany surrendered on Trumans 61st birthday, just a few weeks after he assumed the presidency, but the war with Imperial Japan raged on and was expected to last at least another year. Although this decision and the issues that arose as a result of it remain the subject of debate to this day. Truman presided over a surge in economic prosperity as America sought readjustment after long years of depression. His presidency was a point in foreign affairs, as the United States engaged in an internationalist foreign policy. Truman helped found the United Nations in 1945, issued the Truman Doctrine in 1947 to contain Communism and his political coalition was based on the white South, labor unions, farmers, ethnic groups, and traditional Democrats across the North. Truman was able to rally groups of supporters during the 1948 presidential election. The Soviet Union became an enemy in the Cold War, Truman oversaw the Berlin Airlift of 1948 and the creation of NATO in 1949, but was unable to stop Communists from taking over China. When communist North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950, he sent U. S. troops, after initial successes in Korea, however, the UN forces were thrown back by Chinese intervention, and the conflict was stalemated throughout the final years of Trumans presidency. Scholars, starting in 1962, ranked Trumans presidency as near great, Harry S. Truman was born on May 8,1884, in Lamar, Missouri, the oldest child of John Anderson Truman and Martha Ellen Young Truman. His parents chose the name Harry after his mothers brother, Harrison Harry Young, while the S did not stand for any one name, it was chosen as his middle initial to honor both of his grandfathers, Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young. The initial has been written and printed followed by a period
33.
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
34.
Eisenhower Executive Office Building
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Maintained by the General Services Administration, it is occupied by the Executive Office of the President, including the Office of the Vice President of the United States. It was for years the worlds largest office building, with 566 rooms, many White House employees have their offices in the massive edifice. The building—originally called the State, War, and Navy Building because it housed the Departments of State, War, and it was designed by Alfred B. The OEOB was referred to by Mark Twain as the ugliest building in America, President Harry S. Truman called it the greatest monstrosity in America. Historian Henry Adams called it Mulletts “architectural infant asylum, the total cost to construct the building came in at $10,038,482.42 when construction ended in 1888, after 17 years. The original tenants of the building quickly outgrew it and finally vacated it completely in the late 1930s, the building gradually came to be seen as inefficient and was nearly demolished in 1957. In 1969, the received the highest recognition possible, becoming a National Historic Landmark. In 1981, plans began to restore all the secretary of suites, the main office of the Secretary of the Navy was restored in 1987 and is now used as the ceremonial office of the Vice President of the United States. Shortly after September 11,2001, the 17th Street side of the building was vacated and has since been modernized and its most public function is that of the Vice Presidents Ceremonial Office, which is mainly used for special meetings and press conferences. Many celebrated national figures have participated in events that have taken place within the Old Executive Office Building. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Johnson, Gerald Ford, and George H. W. Bush all had offices in this building before becoming President. It has housed 16 Secretaries of the Navy,21 Secretaries of War, sir Winston Churchill once walked its corridors and Japanese emissaries met there with Secretary of State Cordell Hull after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. President Herbert Hoover occupied the Secretary of the Navys office for a few months following a fire in the Oval Office on Christmas Eve 1929, President Eisenhower held the first televised Presidential news conference in the buildings Indian Treaty Room on January 19,1955. In more recent history, Richard Nixon had an office there during his presidency. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was the first in a succession of Vice Presidents who have had offices in the building. The first wife of a Vice President to have an office in the building was Marilyn Quayle, wife of Dan Quayle, Vice President to George H. W. Bush. The Old Executive Office Building was renamed the Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building when President Bill Clinton approved legislation changing the name on November 9,1999, President George W. Bush participated in a rededication ceremony on May 7,2002. A small fire on December 19,2007 damaged an office of the vice-presidents staff, according to media reporting, the office of the Vice Presidents Political Director, Amy Whitelaw, was heavily damaged in the fire
35.
Class Action Fairness Act of 2005
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Class Action Fairness Act of 2005,28 U. S. C. Sections 1332,1453, and 1711–1715, expanded subject-matter jurisdiction over many large class-action lawsuits, the bill was the first major piece of legislation of the second term of the Bush Administration. Business groups and tort reform supporters had lobbied for the legislation, president George W. Bush had vowed to support this legislation. The court, however, may decline jurisdiction under certain circumstances, the Act also directs the Courts to give greater scrutiny to class action settlements, especially those involving corporations. Proponents argued that magnet jurisdictions such as Madison County, Illinois were rife with abuse of the class action procedure. For example, in an infamous Alabama class action involving Bank of Boston, the attorneys fees exceeded the relief to the class members, and class members lost money paying attorneys for the victory. The Act passed the Senate 72 to 26, with all 53 Republicans voting in favor, president George W. Bush signed the act into law on February 18,2005. Critics charged that the legislation would deprive Americans of legal recourse when they were wronged by powerful corporations, critics charge that this bill makes it far more difficult to bring class action suits, and may prolong such litigation, clogging the federal courts dockets. The act also gives the government some ability to control, through judicial appointments. This finding is consistent with the intent in enacting CAFA. The observed increase was due primarily to increases in class actions. Somewhat surprisingly, the FJC study found much of the increase in diversity class actions has been driven by an increase in original filings in federal courts. This finding suggests that plaintiffs attorneys are choosing the federal forum, post-CAFA, rather than defendants counsel through removal, tort reform Salon, Erin Brockovich, drop dead American Law Media, A Class Act. They’re Making a Federal Case Out of It, note, Fordham Law Review, November 2006 Emery G. Lee III & Thomas E
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