The 91st United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from January 3, 1969, to January 3, 1971, during the final weeks of the presidency of Lyndon Johnson and the first two years of the first presidency of Richard Nixon.
The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the 1960 United States census.
Both chambers had a Democratic majority, though the party had lost its supermajority status in the Senate. With Richard Nixon being sworn in as president on January 20, 1969, this ended the Democrats' overall federal government trifecta that they had held since the 87th Congress.
Major events
January 20, 1969: Richard M. Nixon became 37th President of the United States. July 20, 1969: Space Race: Apollo 11 lands on the Moon's surface, the first human landing on Moon. November 15, 1969: Vietnam War: In Washington, D.C., 250,000–500,000 protesters stage a peaceful demonstration against the war, including a symbolic "March Against Death". December 1, 1969: Vietnam War: The first draft lottery in the United States is held since World War II. November 30, 1970: The 1969–1970 recession ends.
Major legislation
June 17, 1969: Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act, December 30, 1969: Tax Reform Act of 1969, December 30, 1969: Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, January 1, 1970: National Environmental Policy Act, April 3, 1970: Environmental Quality Improvement Act, May 21, 1970: Airport and Airway Development Act of 1970, , title I August 12, 1970: Postal Reorganization Act (United States Postal Service), August 15, 1970: Economic Stabilization Act of 1970, Title II of September 22, 1970: District of Columbia Delegate Act, October 15, 1970: Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, (including the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ("RICO") October 15, 1970: Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1970, October 26, 1970: Bank Secrecy Act, October 26, 1970: Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 October 27, 1970: Controlled Substances Act, October 30, 1970: Rail Passenger Service Act (Amtrak), December 24, 1970: Family Planning Services and Population Research Act of 1970, December 24, 1970: Plant Variety Protection Act of 1970, December 29, 1970: Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), December 31, 1970: Clean Air Act Extension, December 31, 1970: Housing and Urban Development Act of 1970, , including title VII, National Urban Policy and New Community Development Act of 1970 January 12, 1971: Foreign Military Sales Act of 1971, January 13, 1971: Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act,
Party summary The count below identifies party affiliations at the beginning of the first session of this Congress, and includes members from vacancies and newly admitted states, when they were first seated. Changes resulting from subsequent replacements are shown below in the "Changes in membership" section.
Senate
House of Representatives
Leadership
Senate President: Hubert Humphrey (D), until January 20, 1969 Spiro Agnew (R), from January 20, 1969 President pro tempore: Richard Russell Jr. (D) Permanent Acting President pro tempore: Lee Metcalf (D)
Majority (Democratic) leadership Majority Leader: Mike Mansfield Majority Whip: Ted Kennedy Caucus Secretary: Robert Byrd
Minority (Republican) leadership Minority Leader: Everett Dirksen, until September 7, 1969 Hugh Scott, from September 24, 1969 Minority Whip: Hugh Scott, until September 24, 1969 Robert P. Griffin, from September 24, 1969 Republican Conference Chairman: Margaret Chase Smith Republican Conference Secretary: Milton Young National Senatorial Committee Chair: John Tower Policy Committee Chairman: Gordon Allott
House of Representatives Speaker: John W. McCormack (D)
Majority (Democratic) leadership Majority Leader: Carl Albert Majority Whip: Hale Boggs Democratic Caucus Chairman: Dan Rostenkowski Democratic Caucus Secretary: Leonor Sullivan Democratic Campaign Committee Chairman: Michael A. Feighan
Minority (Republican) leadership Minority Leader: Gerald Ford Minority Whip: Leslie C. Arends Republican Conference Chairman: John B. Anderson Republican Conference Secretary: Richard H. Poff Policy Committee Chairman: John Jacob Rhodes Republican Campaign Committee Chairman: Bob Wilson
Caucuses House Democratic Caucus Senate Democratic Caucus
Members This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed by class, and representatives are listed by district.
Senate
Senators are popularly elected statewide every two years, with one-third beginning new six-year terms with each Congress. Preceding the names in the list below are Senate class numbers, which indicate the cycle of their election. In this Congress, Class 1 meant their term ended with this Congress, requiring re-election in 1970; Class 2 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring re-election in 1972; and Class 3 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring re-election in 1974.
Alabama 2. John Sparkman (D) 3. James Allen (D)
Alaska 2. Ted Stevens (R) 3. Mike Gravel (D)
Arizona 1. Paul Fannin (R) 3. Barry Goldwater (R)
Arkansas 2. John L. McClellan (D) 3. J. William Fulbright (D)
California 1. George Murphy (R), until January 2, 1971 John V. Tunney (D), from January 2, 1971 3. Alan Cranston (D)
Colorado 2. Gordon Allott (R) 3. Peter H. Dominick (R)
Connecticut 1. Thomas J. Dodd (D) 3. Abraham Ribicoff (D)
Delaware 1. John J. Williams (R), until December 30, 1970 William Roth (R), from January 1, 1971 2. J. Caleb Boggs (R)
Florida 1. Spessard Holland (D) 3. Edward Gurney (R)
Georgia 2. Richard Russell Jr. (D) 3. Herman Talmadge (D)
Hawaii 1. Hiram Fong (R) 3. Daniel Inouye (D)
Idaho 2. Len Jordan (R) 3. Frank Church (D)
Illinois 2. Charles H. Percy (R) 3. Everett Dirksen (R), until September 7, 1969 Ralph Tyler Smith (R), September 17, 1969 - November 3, 1970 Adlai Stevenson III (D), from November 17, 1970
Indiana 1. Vance Hartke (D) 3. Birch Bayh (D)
Iowa 2. Jack Miller (R) 3. Harold Hughes (D)
Kansas 2. James B. Pearson (R) 3. Bob Dole (R)
Kentucky 2. John Sherman Cooper (R) 3. Marlow Cook (R)
Louisiana 2. Allen J. Ellender (D) 3. Russell B. Long (D)
Maine 1. Edmund Muskie (D) 2. Margaret Chase Smith (R)
Maryland 1. Joseph Tydings (D) 3. Charles Mathias (R)
Massachusetts 1. Ted Kennedy (D) 2. Edward Brooke (R)
Michigan 1. Philip Hart (D) 2. Robert P. Griffin (R)
Minnesota 1. Eugene McCarthy (DFL) 2. Walter Mondale (DFL)
Mississippi 1. John C. Stennis (D) 2. James Eastland (D)
Missouri 1. Stuart Symington (D) 3. Thomas Eagleton (D)
Montana 1. Mike Mansfield (D) 2. Lee Metcalf (D)
Nebraska 1. Roman Hruska (R) 2. Carl Curtis (R)
Nevada 1. Howard Cannon (D) 3. Alan Bible (D)
New Hampshire 2. Thomas J. McIntyre (D) 3. Norris Cotton (R)
New Jersey 1. Harrison A. Williams (D) 2. Clifford P. Case (R)
New Mexico 1. Joseph Montoya (D) 2. Clinton P. Anderson (D)
New York 1. Charles Goodell (R) 3. Jacob Javits (R)
North Carolina 2. B. Everett Jordan (D) 3. Sam Ervin (D)
North Dakota 1. Quentin Burdick (D-NPL) 3. Milton Young (R)
Ohio 1. Stephen M. Young (D) 3. William B. Saxbe (R)
Oklahoma 2. Fred R. Harris (D) 3. Henry Bellmon (R)
Oregon 2. Mark Hatfield (R) 3. Bob Packwood (R)
Pennsylvania 1. Hugh Scott (R) 3. Richard Schweiker (R)
Rhode Island 1. John Pastore (D) 2. Claiborne Pell (D)
South Carolina 2. Strom Thurmond (R) 3. Fritz Hollings (D)
South Dakota 2. Karl E. Mundt (R) 3. George McGovern (D)
Tennessee 1. Albert Gore Sr. (D) 2. Howard Baker (R)
Texas 1. Ralph Yarborough (D) 2. John Tower (R)
Utah 1. Frank Moss (D) 3. Wallace F. Bennett (R)
Vermont 1. Winston L. Prouty (R) 3. George Aiken (R)
Virginia 1. Harry F. Byrd Jr. (D) 2. William B. Spong Jr. (D)
Washington 1. Henry M. Jackson (D) 3. Warren G. Magnuson (D)
West Virginia 1. Robert Byrd (D) 2. Jennings Randolph (D)
Wisconsin 1. William Proxmire (D) 3. Gaylord Nelson (D)
Wyoming 1. Gale W. McGee (D) 2. Clifford Hansen (R)
House of Representatives
Some representatives were elected statewide on the general ticket or otherwise at-large, and others were elected from districts, as listed here as the districts existed at this time.
Alabama . Jack Edwards (R) . William Louis Dickinson (R) . George W. Andrews (D) . Bill Nichols (D) . Walter Flowers (D) . John Hall Buchanan Jr. (R) . Tom Bevill (D) . Robert E. Jones Jr. (D)
Alaska . Howard Wallace Pollock (R)
Arizona . John Jacob Rhodes (R) . Mo Udall (D) . Sam Steiger (R)
Arkansas . William Vollie Alexander Jr. (D) . Wilbur Mills (D) . John Paul Hammerschmidt (R) . David Pryor (D)
California . Donald H. Clausen (R) . Harold T. Johnson (D) . John E. Moss (D) . Robert L. Leggett (D) . Phillip Burton (D) . William S. Mailliard (R) . Jeffery Cohelan (D) . George P. Miller (D) . Don Edwards (D) . Charles Gubser (R) . Pete McCloskey (R) . Burt Talcott (R) . Charles M. Teague (R) . Jerome Waldie (D) . John J. McFall (D) . B. F. Sisk (D) . Glenn M. Anderson (D) . Bob Mathias (R) . Chester E. Holifield (D) . H. Allen Smith (R) . Augustus Hawkins (D) . James C. Corman (D) . Del M. Clawson (R) . Glenard P. Lipscomb (R), until February 1, 1970 John H. Rousselot (R), from June 30, 1970 . Charles E. Wiggins (R) . Thomas M. Rees (D) . Edwin Reinecke (R), until January 21, 1969 Barry Goldwater Jr. (R), from April 29, 1969 . Alphonzo E. Bell Jr. (R) . George Brown Jr. (D) . Edward R. Roybal (D) . Charles H. Wilson (D) . Craig Hosmer (R) . Jerry Pettis (R) . Richard T. Hanna (D) . James B. Utt (R), until March 1, 1970 John G. Schmitz (R), from June 30, 1970 . Bob Wilson (R) . Lionel Van Deerlin (D) . John V. Tunney (D), until January 2, 1971
Colorado . Byron G. Rogers (D) . Donald G. Brotzman (R) . Frank Evans (D) . Wayne N. Aspinall (D)
Connecticut . Emilio Q. Daddario (D) . William St. Onge (D), until May 1, 1970 Robert H. Steele (R), from November 3, 1970 . Robert Giaimo (D) . Lowell Weicker (R) . John S. Monagan (D) . Thomas Meskill (R)
Delaware . William Roth (R), until December 31, 1970
Florida . Robert L. F. Sikes (D) . Don Fuqua (D) . Charles E. Bennett (D) . Bill Chappell (D) . Louis Frey Jr. (R) . Sam Gibbons (D) . James A. Haley (D) . William C. Cramer (R) . Paul Rogers (D) . J. Herbert Burke (R) . Claude Pepper (D) . Dante Fascell (D)
Georgia . George Elliott Hagan (D) . Maston E. O'Neal Jr. (D) . Jack Brinkley (D) . Benjamin B. Blackburn (R) . Fletcher Thompson (R) . John Flynt (D) . John William Davis (D) . W. S. Stuckey Jr. (D) . Phillip M. Landrum (D) . Robert Grier Stephens Jr. (D)
Hawaii Both members were elected statewide on a general ticket. . Spark Matsunaga (D) . Patsy Mink (D)
Idaho . James A. McClure (R) . Orval H. Hansen (R)
Illinois . William L. Dawson (D), until November 9, 1970 . Abner J. Mikva (D) . William T. Murphy (D) . Ed Derwinski (R) . John C. Kluczynski (D) . Daniel J. Ronan (D), until August 13, 1969 George W. Collins (D), from November 3, 1970 . Frank Annunzio (D) . Dan Rostenkowski (D) . Sidney R. Yates (D) . Harold R. Collier (R) . Roman Pucinski (D) . Robert McClory (R) . Donald Rumsfeld (R), until May 25, 1969 Phil Crane (R), from November 25, 1969 . John N. Erlenborn (R) . Charlotte Thompson Reid (R) . John B. Anderson (R) . Leslie C. Arends (R) . Robert H. Michel (R) . Tom Railsback (R) . Paul Findley (R) . Kenneth J. Gray (D) . William L. Springer (R) . George E. Shipley (D) . Melvin Price (D)
Indiana . Ray Madden (D)