The 71st United States Congress was a meeting of the legislature of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1929, to March 4, 1931, during the first two years of Herbert Hoover's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1910 United States census.
Both the House and Senate remained under Republican control, with increased majorities in each chamber. And with Herbert Hoover being sworn in as president on March 4, 1929, the Republicans maintained an overall federal government trifecta.
The 71st Congress also featured the most special elections of any Congress with 27 in all.
Major events
March 4, 1929: Herbert C. Hoover became President of the United States October 24, 1929 – October 29, 1929: Wall Street Crash of 1929: Three multi-digit percentage drops wipe out more than $30 billion from the New York Stock Exchange (3 times greater than the annual budget of the federal government). October 25, 1929: Former U.S. Interior Secretary Albert B. Fall is convicted of bribery for his role in the Teapot Dome scandal, becoming the first Presidential cabinet member to go to prison for actions in office.
Major legislation
June 15, 1929: Agriculture Marketing Act, ch. 24, June 18, 1929: Reapportionment Act of 1929, ch. 28, May 14, 1930: Federal Bureau of Prisons Act, ch. 274, June 17, 1930: Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act, ch. 497, , (including: Title III, Plant Patent Act, ) July 3, 1930: Veterans Administration Act, ch. 863, March 3, 1931: Davis–Bacon Act, ch. 411, March 3, 1931: An Act To make The Star-Spangled Banner the national anthem of the United States of America, ch. 436,
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: Charles Curtis (R) President pro tempore: George H. Moses (R) Majority leader: James E. Watson (R) Minority leader: Joseph T. Robinson (D) Majority whip: Simeon D. Fess (R) Minority whip: Morris Sheppard (D) Republican Conference Secretary: Frederick Hale Democratic Caucus Secretary: Hugo Black
House of Representatives Speaker: Nicholas Longworth (R) Majority leader: John Q. Tilson (R) Minority leader: John N. Garner (D) Majority Whip: Albert Henry Vestal (R) Minority Whip: John McDuffie (D) Republican Conference Chair: Willis C. Hawley Democratic Caucus Chairman: David Hayes Kincheloe Democratic Campaign Committee Chairman: Joseph W. Byrns Sr. Republican Campaign Committee Chairman: William R. Wood
Members This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed in order of seniority, and representatives are listed by district.
Senate
Senators were elected 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 began in this Congress, requiring reelection in 1934; Class 2 meant their term ended with this Congress, requiring reelection in 1930; and Class 3 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring reelection in 1932.
Alabama 2. J. Thomas Heflin (D) 3. Hugo Black (D)
Arizona 1. Henry F. Ashurst (D) 3. Carl Hayden (D)
Arkansas 2. Joseph Taylor Robinson (D) 3. Thaddeus H. Caraway (D)
California 1. Hiram W. Johnson (R) 3. Samuel M. Shortridge (R)
Colorado 2. Lawrence C. Phipps (R) 3. Charles W. Waterman (R)
Connecticut 1. Frederic C. Walcott (R) 3. Hiram Bingham III (R)
Delaware 1. John G. Townsend Jr. (R) 2. Daniel O. Hastings (R)
Florida 1. Park Trammell (D) 3. Duncan U. Fletcher (D)
Georgia 2. William J. Harris (D) 3. Walter F. George (D)
Idaho 2. William E. Borah (R) 3. John Thomas (R)
Illinois 2. Charles S. Deneen (R) 3. Otis F. Glenn (R)
Indiana 1. Arthur R. Robinson (R) 3. James E. Watson (R)
Iowa 2. Daniel F. Steck (D) 3. Smith W. Brookhart (R)
Kansas 2. Arthur Capper (R) 3. Henry Justin Allen (R), April 1, 1929 – November 30, 1930 George McGill (D), from December 1, 1930
Kentucky 2. Frederic M. Sackett (R), until January 9, 1930 John M. Robsion (R), January 11, 1930 – November 30, 1930 Ben M. Williamson (D), from December 1, 1930 3. Alben W. Barkley (D)
Louisiana 2. Joseph E. Ransdell (D) 3. Edwin S. Broussard (D)
Maine 1. Frederick Hale (R) 2. Arthur R. Gould (R)
Maryland 1. Phillips Lee Goldsborough (R) 3. Millard Tydings (D)
Massachusetts 1. David I. Walsh (D) 2. Frederick H. Gillett (R)
Michigan 1. Arthur H. Vandenberg (R) 2. James J. Couzens (R)
Minnesota 1. Henrik Shipstead (FL) 2. Thomas D. Schall (R)
Mississippi 1. Hubert D. Stephens (D) 2. Pat Harrison (D)
Missouri 1. Roscoe C. Patterson (R) 3. Harry B. Hawes (D)
Montana 1. Burton K. Wheeler (D) 2. Thomas J. Walsh (D)
Nebraska 1. Robert B. Howell (R) 2. George W. Norris (R)
Nevada 1. Key Pittman (D) 3. Tasker Oddie (R)
New Hampshire 2. Henry W. Keyes (R) 3. George H. Moses (R)
New Jersey 1. Hamilton Fish Kean (R) 2. Walter Evans Edge (R), until November 21, 1929 David Baird Jr. (R), November 30, 1929 – December 2, 1930 Dwight Morrow (R), from December 3, 1930
New Mexico 1. Bronson M. Cutting (R) 2. Sam G. Bratton (D)
New York 1. Royal S. Copeland (D) 3. Robert F. Wagner (D)
North Carolina 2. Furnifold M. Simmons (D) 3. Lee S. Overman (D), until December 12, 1930 Cameron A. Morrison (D), from December 13, 1930
North Dakota 1. Lynn Frazier (R-NPL) 3. Gerald Nye (R)
Ohio 1. Simeon D. Fess (R) 3. Theodore E. Burton (R), until October 28, 1929 Roscoe C. McCulloch (R), November 5, 1929 – November 30, 1930 Robert J. Bulkley (D), from December 1, 1930
Oklahoma 2. William B. Pine (R) 3. Elmer Thomas (D)
Oregon 2. Charles L. McNary (R) 3. Frederick Steiwer (R)
Pennsylvania 1. David A. Reed (R) 3. VacantWilliam S. Vare (R-PA) had been elected to the Senate for the term starting March 4, 1927, but the Senate had refused to qualify him due to charges of corruption and fraud concerning his election. The Senate finally unseated him on December 9, 1929. See http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=V000071 until December 9, 1929 Joseph R. Grundy (R), December 11, 1929 – December 1, 1930 James J. Davis (R), from December 2, 1930
Rhode Island 1. Felix Hebert (R) 2. Jesse H. Metcalf (R)
South Carolina 2. Coleman L. Blease (D) 3. Ellison D. Smith (D)
South Dakota 2. William H. McMaster (R) 3. Peter Norbeck (R)
Tennessee 1. Kenneth McKellar (D) 2. Lawrence Tyson (D), until August 24, 1929 William Emerson Brock (D), from September 2, 1929
Texas 1. Tom T. Connally (D) 2. Morris Sheppard (D)
Utah 1. William H. King (D) 3. Reed Smoot (R)
Vermont 1. Frank L. Greene (R), until December 17, 1930 Frank C. Partridge (R), from December 23, 1930 3. Porter H. Dale (R)
Virginia 1. Claude A. Swanson (D) 2. Carter Glass (D)
Washington 1. Clarence Cleveland Dill (D) 3. Wesley Livsey Jones (R)
West Virginia 1. Henry D. Hatfield (R) 2. Guy D. Goff (R)
Wisconsin 1. Robert M. La Follette Jr. (R) 3. John J. Blaine (R)
Wyoming 1. John B. Kendrick (D) 2. Francis E. Warren (R), until November 24, 1929 Patrick Joseph Sullivan (R), December 5, 1929 – November 20, 1930 Robert D. Carey (R), from December 1, 1930
House of Representatives
The names of representatives are preceded by their districts.
Alabama . John McDuffie (D) . J. Lister Hill (D) . Henry B. Steagall (D) . Lamar Jeffers (D) . LaFayette L. Patterson (D) . William B. Oliver (D) . Miles C. Allgood (D) . Edward B. Almon (D) . George Huddleston (D) . William B. Bankhead (D)
Arizona . Lewis W. Douglas (D)
Arkansas . William J. Driver (D) . Pearl Peden Oldfield (D) . Claude A. Fuller (D) . Otis Wingo (D), until October 21, 1930 Effiegene L. Wingo (D), from November 4, 1930 . Heartsill Ragon (D) . David D. Glover (D) . Tilman B. Parks (D)
California . Clarence F. Lea (D) . Harry L. Englebright (R) . Charles F. Curry (R), until October 10, 1930 . Florence P. Kahn (R) . Richard J. Welch (R) . Albert E. Carter (R) . Henry E. Barbour (R) . Arthur M. Free (R) . William E. Evans (R) . Joe Crail (R) . Philip D. Swing (R)
Colorado . William R. Eaton (R) . Charles B. Timberlake (R) . Guy U. Hardy (R) . Edward T. Taylor (D)
Connecticut . E. Hart Fenn (R) . Richard P. Freeman (R) . John Q. Tilson (R) . Schuyler Merritt (R) . James P. Glynn (R), until March 6, 1930 Edward W. Goss (R), from November 4, 1930
Delaware . Robert G. Houston (R)
Florida . Herbert J. Drane (D) . Robert A. Green (D) . Tom A. Yon (D) . Ruth Bryan Owen (D)
Georgia . Charles G. Edwards (D) . Edward E. Cox (D) . Charles R. Crisp (D) . William C. Wright (D) . Leslie J. Steele (D), until July 24, 1929 Robert Ramspeck (D), from October 2, 1929 . Samuel Rutherford (D) . Malcolm C. Tarver (D) . Charles H. Brand (D) . Thomas Montgomery Bell (D) . Carl Vinson (D) . William C. Lankford (D) . William W. Larsen (D)
Idaho . Burton L. French (R) . Addison T. Smith (R)
Illinois . Oscar S. De Priest (R) . Morton D. Hull (R) . Elliott W. Sproul (R) . Thomas A. Doyle (D) . Adolph J. Sabath (D) . James T. Igoe (D) . M. Alfred Michaelson (R) . Stanley H. Kunz (D) . Frederick A. Britten (R) . Carl R. Chindblom (R) . Frank R. Reid (R) . John T. Buckbee (R) . William R. Johnson (R) . John C. Allen (R) . Burnett M. Chiperfield (R), from November 4, 1930 . William E. Hull (R) . Homer W. Hall (R) . William P. Holaday (R) . Charles Adkins (R) . Henry T. Rainey (D) . Frank M. Ramey (R) . Edward M. Irwin (R) . William W. Arnold (D) . Thomas S. Williams (R), until November 11, 1929 Claude V. Parsons (D), from November 4, 1930 . Edward E. Denison (R) . Ruth Hanna McCormick (R) . Richard Yates Jr. (R)
Indiana . Harry E. Rowbottom (R) . Arthur H. Greenwood (D) . James W. Dunbar (R) . Harry C. Canfield (D) . Noble J. Johnson (R) . Richard N. Elliott (R) . Louis Ludlow (D) . Albert H. Vestal (R) . Fred S. Purnell (R) . William R. Wood (R) . Albert R. Hall (R) . David Hogg (R) . Andrew J. Hickey (R)
Iowa . William F. Kopp (R) . F. Dickinson Letts (R) . Thomas J. B. Robinson (R) . Gilbert N. Haugen (R) . Cyrenus Cole (R) . C. William Ramseyer (R) . Cassius C. Dowell (R) . Lloyd Thurston (R) . Charles E. Swanson (R) . Lester J. Dickinson (R) . Ed H. Campbell (R)
Kansas . William P. Lambertson (R) . Ulysses S. Guyer (R) . William H. Sproul (R) . Homer Hoch (R) . James G. Strong (R) . Charles I. Sparks (R) . Clifford R. Hope (R) . William A. Ayres (D)
Kentucky . William V. Gregory (D) . David Hayes Kincheloe (D), until October 5, 1930 John L. Dorsey Jr. (D), from November 4, 1930 . Charles W. Roark (R), until April 5, 1929 John W. Moore (D), from June 1, 1929 . John D. Craddock (R) . Maurice H. Thatcher (R) . J. Lincoln Newhall (R) . Robert E. L. Blackburn (R) . Lewis L. Walker (R) . Elva R. Kendall (R) . Katherine G. Langley (R) . John M. Robsion (R), until January 10, 1930 Charles Finley (R), from February 15, 1930
Louisiana . James O'Connor (D) . J. Zach Spearing (D) . Whitmell P. Martin (D), until April 6, 1929 Numa F. Montet (D), from August 6, 1929 . John N. Sandlin (D) . Riley Joseph Wilson (D) . Bolivar E. Kemp (D) . René L. De Rouen (D) . James Benjamin Aswell (D)
Maine . Carroll L. Beedy (R) . Wallace H. White Jr. (R) . John E. Nelson (R) . Donald F. Snow (R)