83rd United States Congress

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The 'Eighty-third United States Congress' was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3 1953 to January 3 1955, during the first two years of the first administration of U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower.

The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the Seventeenth Census of the United States in 1950. Both chambers had a Republican majority.

Dates of sessions

January 3 1953 – January 3 1955

First session: January 3 1953 – August 3 1953
Second session: January 6 1954 – December 2 1954

Previous: 82nd Congress • Next: 84th Congress

Major events

Major legislation

1953-07-03 — Small Business Act, , ch. 282,
1953 — Refugee Relief Act,
1953 — Public Law 280, ,
1953-08-07 — Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, ch. 345,
1954-05-13 — Saint Lawrence Seaway Act, ch. 201,
1954-08-02 — Federal National Mortgage Association Charter Act, ch. 649, title II, §201,
1954-08-13 — Multiple Mineral Development Act, ch. 730,
1954-08-16 — Internal Revenue Code of 1954, , ch. 736,

Federal Unemployment Tax Act, §1(d),
National Firearms Act, §1(d),

1954-08-24 — Communist Control Act of 1954, ch. 886,

Key Votes

Senate

Legislation	Party	Yea	Nay
Formosa Policy	Democrats	12	32
Jan 28, 1955	Republicans	1	42
(rejected)		13	74
China Mutual Defense Treaty	Democrats	9	33
Feb 9, 1955	Republicans	1	27
(rejected)		10	60
Raising Congressional Salaries	Democrats	30	13
Feb 23, 1955	Republicans	32	11
(passed)		62	24

House of Representatives

Legislation	Party	Yea	Nay
Raising Congressional Salaries	Democrats	166	59
Feb 16, 1955	Republicans	117	59
(passed)		283	118
Reciprical Trade Extension	Democrats	80	140
Feb 18, 1955	Republicans	119	66
(rejected)		199	206
Reciprical Trade Extension	Democrats	186	35
Feb 18, 1955	Republicans	109	75
(passed)		295	110
Taxation	Democrats	16	205
Feb 25, 1955	Republicans	189	5
(rejected)		205	210

Party summary

Senate

48 Republicans, 47 Democrats, 1 Independent

House of Representatives

221 Republicans, 213 Democrats, 1 Independent

Total Membership: 435 Representatives, 2 Delegates, 1 Resident Commissioner

Officers

Senate

President of the Senate (Vice President of the United States):

Alben W. Barkley (D-Kentucky), until January 20, 1953
Richard M. Nixon (R-California), beginning January 20, 1953

President pro tempore: Styles Bridges (R-New Hampshire)

Majority (Republican) leadership

Majority Leader: Robert Taft (R-Ohio), until July 31, 1953 (died in office)

William F. Knowland (R-California), beginning August 3, 1953

Majority Whip: Leverett Saltonstall (R-Massachusetts)

Minority (Democratic) leadership

Minority Leader: Lyndon B. Johnson (D-Texas)
Minority Whip: Earle Clements (D-Kentucky)

House of Representatives

Speaker: Joseph W. Martin, Jr. (R-Massachusetts)
Majority Leader: Charles A. Halleck (R-Indiana)
Minority Leader: Sam Rayburn (D-Texas)
Democratic Whip: John W. McCormack (D-Massachusetts)
Republican Whip: Leslie C. Arends (R-Illinois)
Democratic Caucus Chairman: Wilbur D. Mills (D-Arkansas)
Republican Conference Chairman: Clifford R. Hope (R-Kansas)

Members

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.

Alabama

2. John J. Sparkman (Dem.)
3. Joseph Lister Hill (Dem.)

Arizona

1. Barry Goldwater (Rep.)
3. Carl Hayden (Dem.)

Arkansas

3. J. William Fulbright (Dem.)
2. John Little McClellan (Dem.)

California

1. William F. Knowland (Rep.)
3. Thomas H. Kuchel (Rep.)

Colorado

3. Eugene D. Millikin (Rep.)
2. Edwin Carl Johnson (Dem.)

Connecticut

3. Prescott Bush (Rep.)
1. William A. Purtell (Rep.)

Delaware

2. J. Allen Frear, Jr. (Dem.)
1. John J. Williams (Rep.)

Florida

1. Spessard Holland (Dem.)
3. George Smathers (Dem.)

Georgia

2. Walter Franklin George (Dem.)
3. Richard Brevard Russell (Dem.)

Idaho

2. Henry Dworshak (Rep.)
3. Herman Welker (Rep.)

Illinois

3. Everett Dirksen (Rep.)
2. Paul Douglas (Dem.)

Indiana

1. William E. Jenner (Rep.)
3. Homer E. Capehart (Rep.)

Iowa

3. Bourke B. Hickenlooper (Rep.)
2. Guy M. Gillette (Dem.)

Kansas

2. Andrew F. Schoeppel (Rep.)
3. Frank Carlson (Rep.)

Kentucky

3. Earle C. Clements (Dem.)
2. John Sherman Cooper (Rep.)

Louisiana

2. Allen Joseph Ellender (Dem.)
3. Russell B. Long (Dem.)

Maine

1. Frederick G. Payne (Rep.)
2. Margaret Chase Smith (Rep.)

Maryland

1. James Glenn Beall (Rep.)
3. John M. Butler (Rep.)

Massachusetts

2. Leverett Saltonstall (Rep.)
1. John F. Kennedy (Dem.)

Michigan

2. Homer Ferguson (Rep.)
1. Charles E. Potter (Rep.)

Minnesota

2. Hubert Humphrey (DFL)
1. Edward John Thye (Rep.)

Mississippi

1. John C. Stennis (Dem.)
2. James O. Eastland (Dem.)

Missouri

3. Thomas C. Hennings, Jr. (Dem.)
1. Stuart Symington (Dem.)

Montana

2. James Edward Murray (Dem.)
1. Michael J. Mansfield (Dem.)

Nebraska

1. Hugh A. Butler (Rep.), died July 1, 1954

Samuel Williams Reynolds (Rep.), appointed to fill vacancy

Roman Hruska (Rep.), elected to fill vacancy

2. Dwight Griswold (Rep.), died April 12, 1954

Eva K. Bowring (Rep.), appointed to fill vacancy

Hazel Abel (Rep.), elected to fill vacancy, subsequently resigned

Carl Curtis (Rep.), appointed to fill vacancy

Nevada

3. Patrick Anthony Mccarran (Dem.), died September 28, 1954

Ernest S. Brown (Rep.), appointed to fill vacancy

Alan Bible (Dem.), elected to fill vacancy

1. George W. Malone (Rep.)

New Hampshire

2. Styles Bridges (Rep.)
3. Charles W. Tobey (Rep.), died July 24, 1953

Robert W. Upton (Rep.), appointed to fill vacancy

Norris Cotton (Rep.), elected to fill vacancy

New Jersey

1. H. Alexander Smith (Rep.)
2. Robert C. Hendrickson (Rep.)

New Mexico

1. Dennis Wyatt Chavez (Dem.)
2. Clinton Presba Anderson (Dem.)

New York

1. Irving M. Ives (Rep.)
3. Herbert H. Lehman (Dem.)

North Carolina

2. Willis Smith (Dem.), died June 26, 1953

Alton Asa Lennon (Dem.), appointed to fill vacancy

W. Kerr Scott (Dem.), elected to fill vacancy

3. Clyde Roark Hoey (Dem.), died May 12, 1954

Sam Ervin (Dem.), appointed to fill vacancy

North Dakota

1. William Langer (Rep.)
3. Milton Young (Rep.)

Ohio

3. Robert Taft (Rep.), died July 31, 1953

Thomas A. Burke (Dem.), appointed to fill vacancy

George H. Bender (Rep.), elected to fill vacancy

1. John W. Bricker (Rep.)

Oklahoma

2. Robert S. Kerr (Dem.)
3. A. S. Mike Monroney (Dem.)

Oregon

3. Wayne L. Morse (Independent)
2. Guy Cordon (Rep.)

Pennsylvania

3. James H. Duff (Rep.)
1. Edward Martin (Rep.)

Rhode Island

1. John O. Pastore (Dem.)
2. Theodore Francis Green (Dem.)

South Carolina

2. Burnet R. Maybank (Dem.), died September 1, 1954

Charles E. Daniel (Dem.), appointed to fill vacancy

Strom Thurmond (Dem.), elected to fill vacancy

3. Olin D. Johnston (Dem.)

South Dakota

2. Karl E. Mundt (Rep.)
3. Francis H. Case (Rep.)

Tennessee

1. Albert A. Gore Sr. (Dem.)
2. C. Estes Kefauver (Dem.)

Texas

1. Price Daniel (Dem.)
2. Lyndon Johnson (Dem.)

Utah

1. Arthur V. Watkins (Rep.)
3. Wallace F. Bennett (Rep.)

Vermont

1. Ralph E. Flanders (Rep.)
3. George Aiken (Rep.)

Virginia

1. Harry Flood Byrd (Dem.)
2. Absalom Willis Robertson (Dem.)

Washington

3. Warren G. Magnuson (Dem.)
1. Henry M. Jackson (Dem.)

West Virginia

1. Harley M. Kilgore (Dem.)
2. Matthew M. Neely (Dem.)

Wisconsin

3. Alexander Wiley (Rep.)
1. Joseph McCarthy (Rep.)

Wyoming

1. Frank A. Barrett (Rep.)
2. Lester C. Hunt (Dem.), died June 19, 1954

Edward D. Crippa (Rep.), appointed to fill vacancy

Joseph C. O'Mahoney (Dem.), elected to fill vacancy

House of Representatives

Alabama

Arizona

. John Jacob Rhodes (Rep.)
. Harold A. Patten (Dem.)

Arkansas

California

. Hubert B. Scudder (Rep.)
. Clair Engle (Dem.)
. John E. Moss (Dem.)
. William S. Mailliard (Rep.)
. John F. Shelley (Dem.)
. Robert Condon (Dem.)
. John J. Allen, Jr. (Rep.)
. George P. Miller (Dem.)
. Jesse A. Younger (Rep.)
. Charles S. Gubser (Rep.)
. Justin L. Johnson (Rep.)
. Allan O. Hunter (Rep.)
. Ernest K. Bramblett (Rep.)
. Harlan Hagen (Dem.)
. Gordon L. McDonough (Rep.)
. Donald L. Jackson (Rep.)
. Cecil R. King (Dem.)
. Craig Hosmer (Rep.)
. Chet Holifield (Dem.)
. John Carl Hinshaw (Rep.)
. Edgar W. Hiestand (Rep.)
. Joseph F. Holt (Rep.)
. Clyde Doyle (Dem.)
. Glenard P. Lipscomb (Rep.), starting 1953-11-10

C. Norris Poulson (Rep.), resigned 1953-06-11

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

. Herbert B. Warburton (Rep.)

Florida

Georgia

. Prince H. Preston, Jr. (Dem.)
. J. L. Pilcher (Dem.)
. Tic Forrester (Dem.)
. A. Sidney Camp (Dem.), died July 24, 1954

John J. Flynt, Jr. (Dem.), elected to fill vacancy

Idaho

. Gracie Pfost (Dem.)
. Hamer H. Budge (Rep.)

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

. Noble J. Gregory (Dem.)
. Garrett L. Withers (Dem.), died April 30, 1953

William Huston Natcher (Dem.), elected to fill vacancy

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

. Lee Metcalf (Dem.)
. Wesley A. D'Ewart (Rep.)

Nebraska

Nevada

. Clarence Clifton Young (Rep.)

New Hampshire

. Charles Earl Merrow (Rep.)
. Norris H. Cotton (Rep.)

New Jersey

New Mexico

At-large: John J. Dempsey (Dem.)
At-large: Antonio M. Fernández (Dem.)

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

. Otto Krueger (Rep.)
. Usher L. Burdick (Nonpartisan Republican)

Ohio

Oklahoma