The 64th 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 March 4, 1915, to March 4, 1917, during the third and fourth years of Woodrow Wilson's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1910 United States census.

The Democrats maintained a majority in both chambers (albeit reduced in the House) and, along with President Wilson, also maintained an overall federal government trifecta.

Major events

350px|thumb|President Wilson before Congress, announcing the break in the official relations with Germany. February 3, 1917.

  • June 9, 1915 (Prelude to World War I): U.S. Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan resigned over a disagreement regarding the nation's handling of the RMS Lusitania sinking.
  • July 24, 1915: The steamer SS Eastland capsized in central Chicago, with the loss of 844 lives.
  • July 28, 1915: The United States occupation of Haiti began.
  • August 5–August 23, 1915: Hurricane Two of the 1915 Atlantic hurricane season over Galveston and New Orleans left 275 dead.
  • March 8–March 9, 1916: Mexican Revolution: Pancho Villa led about 500 Mexican raiders in an attack against Columbus, New Mexico, killing 12 U.S. soldiers. A garrison of the U.S. 13th Cavalry Regiment fights back and drives them away.
  • March 15, 1916: President Woodrow Wilson sent 12,000 United States troops over the U.S.-Mexico border to pursue Pancho Villa.
  • May 5, 1916: United States Marines invaded and started the occupation of the Dominican Republic.
  • July 30, 1916: German agents caused the Black Tom explosion in Jersey City, New Jersey, an act of sabotage destroying an ammunition depot and killing at least seven people.
  • November 7, 1916: U.S. presidential election, 1916: Democratic President Woodrow Wilson narrowly defeated Republican Charles E. Hughes.
  • January 11, 1917 (Prelude to World War I): German saboteurs set off the Kingsland explosion at Kingsland, New Jersey (now Lyndhurst, New Jersey), one of the events leading to U.S. involvement in World War I.
  • February 3, 1917 (Prelude to World War I): The United States severs diplomatic relations with Germany

Major legislation

  • May 15, 1916: Kern Amendment
  • May 29, 1916: Fraudulent Advertising Act of 1916
  • May 31, 1916: Tillman Act
  • June 3, 1916: National Defense Act of 1916
  • June 9, 1916: Chamberlain–Ferris Act
  • July 11, 1916: Federal Aid Road Act of 1916 (Bankhead–Shackleford Act, also known as Federal "Good Roads" Act)
  • July 11, 1916: Terminal Inspection Act of 1916
  • July 17, 1916: Federal Farm Loan Act (Hollis–Lever Act)
  • July 27, 1916: River and Harbors Act of 1916
  • July 28, 1916: Post Office Appropriation Act of 1916
  • August 9, 1916: Uniform Bill of Lading Act of 1916
  • August 11, 1916: Irrigation District Act of 1916 (Smith Act)
  • August 11, 1916: Wildlife Game Refuges Act of 1916
  • August 11, 1916: Grain Standards Act of 1916
  • August 11, 1916: Cotton Futures Act of 1916
  • August 11, 1916: Brush Disposal Act of 1916
  • August 11, 1916: Warehouse Act of 1916
  • August 25, 1916: National Park Service Act (Kent–Smoot Act)
  • August 29, 1916: 2nd Uniform Bill of Lading Act of 1916
  • August 29, 1916: Jones Act (Philippines)
  • August 29, 1916: Federal Possession and Control Act of 1916
  • August 29, 1916: Army Appropriations Act of 1916
  • August 29, 1916: Naval Act of 1916
  • August 29, 1916: Naval Reserve Force Act
  • August 31, 1916: Federal Standard Container Act
  • August 31, 1916: Standard Fruits and Vegetable Baskets and Containers Act of 1916
  • September 1, 1916: Keating–Owen Act
  • September 3, 1916: Adamson Act
  • September 7, 1916: Merchant Marine Act of 1916 (Alexander Act)
  • September 7, 1916: Workingmen's Compensation Act (Kern–McGillicuddy Act)
  • September 8, 1916: Anti-Dumping Act of 1916
  • September 8, 1916: Emergency Revenue Act of 1916
  • October 20, 1916: Special Air Preparedness Act
  • December 29, 1916: Stock-Raising Homestead Act
  • February 5, 1917: Immigration Act of 1917
  • February 22, 1917: Federal Interpleader Act of 1917
  • February 23, 1917: Smith–Hughes Act
  • February 26, 1917: Mount McKinley National Park Act of 1917
  • March 1, 1917: Flood Control Act of 1917 (Ransdell–Humphreys Act)
  • March 2, 1917: Jones–Shafroth Act
  • March 3, 1917: Reed Amendment
  • March 3, 1917: Sheppard Bone-Dry Act
  • March 3, 1917: Special Preparedness Fund Act of 1917
  • March 4, 1917: Timber Export Act

Treaties

  • January 17, 1917: Treaty of the Danish West Indies signed by President Wilson, ceding the Danish West Indies to the United States after their purchase from Denmark and renaming them the US Virgin Islands.

Party summary

Senate

House of Representatives

Leadership

Senate

  • President: Thomas R. Marshall (D)
  • Presidents pro tempore: James P. Clarke (D) and Willard Saulsbury Jr. (D)
  • Majority Whip: J. Hamilton Lewis (D)
  • Minority Whip: Charles Curtis (R)
  • Republican Conference Chairman: Jacob Harold Gallinger
  • Democratic Caucus Chairman: John W. Kern
  • Republican Conference Secretary: James Wolcott Wadsworth Jr.
  • Democratic Caucus Secretary: Willard Saulsbury Jr., until December 14, 1916
  • Key Pittman, acting

House of Representatives

  • Speaker: Champ Clark (D)

Majority (Democratic) leadership

  • Majority Leader: Claude Kitchin
  • Majority Whip: vacant
  • Democratic Caucus Chairman: Edward W. Saunders
  • Democratic Campaign Committee Chairman: Frank Ellsworth Doremus

Minority (Republican) leadership

  • Minority Leader: James R. Mann
  • Minority Whip: Charles M. Hamilton
  • Republican Conference Chairman: William S. Greene
  • Republican Campaign Committee Chairman: Frank P. Woods

Members

:Skip to House of Representatives, below

Senate

Prior to the 64th Congress, per Article 1, Section 3, Clause 1 of the Constitution, all senators had been "chosen by the [State] Legislature thereof." (As a practical matter, many senators had been "elected"; however, technically, those elections were subject to affirmation by the State Legislatures.)

However, 32 senators of the 64th Congress - those of Senate Class 3 - were directly elected by popular vote in the 1914 United States Senate Elections as directed by the 17th Amendment. The 17th stipulated that it "...shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution." Thus, Class 1 and 2 senators were not subject to election until 1916 and 1918, respectively. (Note, however, that should a senator have perished prior to the end of his term, then their replacement would have been subject to direct election as they would not have been "chosen before" ratification. This is why Augustus Bacon was the first senator constitutionally elected on July 15, 1913.)