# 92nd United States Congress

The 92nd 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, 1971, to January 3, 1973, during the third and fourth years of Richard Nixon's presidency.
The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the 1960 census. Both chambers maintained a Democratic majority.

## Major events

Passing legislation on revenue-sharing was a key event of the congress. President Richard Nixon had it listed on his list of top policies to cover for the year. Nixon signed the bill into law at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. The law gained support from many state and local officials including: San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto whose city received $27 million in revenue-sharing money in the first year. Alioto said that many projects that would not have been possible could now be done, "That will effectively enable us to meet those programs which up to now because of very tough budgeting we've had to trench."

## Major legislation

* December 18, 1971: Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, Pub. L. 92–203, 85 Stat. 688
* December 23, 1971: National Cancer Act, Pub. L. 92–218, 85 Stat. 778
* February 7, 1972: Federal Election Campaign Act, Pub. L. 92–225, 86 Stat. 3
* March 24, 1972: Equal Employment Opportunity Act, Pub. L. 92–261, 86 Stat. 103
* June 23, 1972: Title IX Amendment of the Higher Education Act, Pub. L. 92–318, 86 Stat. 235
* October 6, 1972: Federal Advisory Committee Act, Pub. L. 92–463, 86 Stat. 770
* October 18, 1972: Federal Water Pollution Control Amendments of 1972, Pub. L. 92–500, 86 Stat. 816
* October 21, 1972: Marine Mammal Protection Act, Pub. L. 92–522, 86 Stat. 1027
* October 27, 1972: Consumer Product Safety Act, Pub. L. 92–573, 86 Stat. 1207
* October 27, 1972: Noise Control Act, Pub. L. 92–574, 86 Stat. 1234
* October 27, 1972: Coastal Zone Management Act, Pub. L. 92–583, 86 Stat. 1280

## Constitutional amendments

* March 23, 1971: Approved an amendment to the United States Constitution prohibiting the states and the federal government from using age as a reason for denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States who are at least eighteen years old, and submitted it to the state legislatures for ratification
** July 1, 1971: The Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified by the requisite number of states (38) to become part of the Constitution
* March 22, 1972: Approved an amendment to the Constitution designed to guarantee equal rights for women, and submitted it to the state legislatures for ratification
** This amendment, commonly known as the Equal Rights Amendment, was later rendered inoperative, as it was not ratified within the seven–year time frame set by Congress (nor the later time extension granted)

## 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

| | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Total | Vacant |
| | Democratic (D) | Republican (R) | Other (O) | Total | Vacant |
| End of previous congress | 59 | 41 | 0 | 100 | 0 |
| Begin | 54 | 44 | 2 | 100 | 0 |
| End | 54 | 44 | 2 | 100 | 0 |
| Final voting share | 54.0% | 44.0% | 2.0% | | |
| Beginning of next congress | 56 | 42 | 2 | 100 | 0 |

### House of Representatives

| | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Total | Vacant |
| | Democratic (D) | Republican (R) | Total | Vacant |
| End of previous congress | 242 | 189 | 431 | 4 |
| Begin | 254 | 180 | 434 | 1 |
| End | 252 | 178 | 430 | 5 |
| Final voting share | 58.6% | 41.4% | | |
| Beginning of next congress | 241 | 192 | 433 | 2 |

## Leadership
### Senate

* President: Spiro Agnew (R)
* President pro tempore:
** Richard Russell Jr. (D), until January 21, 1971
** Allen J. Ellender (D), January 22, 1971 – July 27, 1972
** James Eastland (D), from July 28, 1972
* Permanent Acting President pro tempore: Lee Metcalf (D)

#### Majority (Democratic) leadership

* Majority Leader: Mike Mansfield
* Majority Whip: Robert Byrd
* Caucus Secretary: Frank Moss

#### Minority (Republican) leadership

* Minority Leader: Hugh Scott
* Minority Whip: Robert P. Griffin
* Republican Conference Chairman: Margaret Chase Smith
* Republican Conference Secretary: Norris Cotton
* National Senatorial Committee Chair: Peter H. Dominick
* Policy Committee Chairman: Gordon Allott

### House of Representatives

* Speaker: Carl Albert (D)

#### Majority (Democratic) leadership

* Majority Leader: Hale Boggs
* Majority Whip: Tip O'Neill
* Democratic Caucus Chairman: Olin E. Teague
* Democratic Caucus Secretary: Leonor Sullivan
* Democratic Campaign Committee Chairman: Tip O'Neill

#### Minority (Republican) leadership

* Minority Leader: Gerald Ford
* Minority Whip: Leslie C. Arends
* Republican Conference Chairman: John B. Anderson
* Republican Conference Vice-Chairman: Robert Stafford then Samuel L. Devine
* Republican Conference Secretary: Richard H. Poff then Jack Edwards
* Policy Committee Chairman: John Jacob Rhodes
* Republican Campaign Committee Chairman: Bob Wilson

## Caucuses

* Congressional Black Caucus
* House Democratic Caucus
* Senate Democratic Caucus

## Members

This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed in order of 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 began with this Congress, requiring reelection in 1976; Class 2 meant their term ended with this Congress, requiring reelection in 1972; and Class 3 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring reelection in 1974.

### House of Representatives

The names of members of the House of Representatives are preceded by their district numbers.

## Changes in membership

The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress.

### Senate

* Replacements: 5
** Democratic: no net change
** Republican: no net change
* Deaths: 3
* Resignations: 0
* Total seats with changes: 3

### House of Representatives

* Replacements: 10
** Democratic: no net loss
** Republican: no net gain
* Deaths: 8
* Resignations: 6
* Total seats with changes: 16

## Committees

Lists of committees and their party leaders for members of the House and Senate committees can be found through the Official Congressional Directory at the bottom of this article. The directory after the pages of terms of service lists committees of the Senate, House (Standing with Subcommittees, Select and Special) and Joint and, after that, House/Senate committee assignments. On the committees section of the House and Senate in the Official Congressional Directory, the committee's members on the first row on the left side shows the chairman of the committee and on the right side shows the ranking member of the committee.

### Senate

* Aeronautical and Space Sciences (Chair: Clinton P. Anderson; Ranking Member: Carl T. Curtis)
* Agriculture and Forestry (Chair: Herman E. Talmadge; Ranking Member: Jack Miller)
* Appropriations (Chair: Allen J. Ellender; Ranking Member: Milton R. Young)
* Armed Services (Chair: John C. Stennis; Ranking Member: Margaret Chase Smith)
* Banking, Housing and Currency (Chair: John J. Sparkman; Ranking Member: John G. Tower)
* Commerce (Chair: Warren G. Magnuson; Ranking Member: Norris Cotton)
* District of Columbia (Chair: Thomas F. Eagleton; Ranking Member: Charles Mathias)
* Equal Educational Opportunity (Select) (Chair: Walter Mondale)
* Finance (Chair: Russell B. Long; Ranking Member: Wallace F. Bennett)
* Foreign Relations (Chair: J. William Fulbright; Ranking Member: George D. Aiken)
* Government Operations (Chair: John Little McClellan; Ranking Member: Karl E. Mundt)
* Interior and Insular Affairs (Chair: Henry M. Jackson; Ranking Member: Gordon Allott)
* Judiciary (Chair: James O. Eastland; Ranking Member: Roman L. Hruska)
* Labor and Public Welfare (Chair: Harrison A. Williams; Ranking Member: Jacob K. Javits)
* Nutrition and Human Needs (Select) (Chair: George McGovern)
* Post Office and Civil Services (Chair: Gale W. McGee; Ranking Member: Hiram L. Fong)
* Public Works (Chair: Jennings Randolph; Ranking Member: John Sherman Cooper)
* Rules and Administration (Chair: B. Everett Jordan; Ranking Member: Winston L. Prouty)
* Secret and Confidential Government Documents (Special) (Chair: [data missing]; Ranking Member: [data missing])
* Small Business (Select) (Chair: Alan Bible)
* Standards and Conduct (Select) (Chair: John C. Stennis; Vice Chair: Wallace F. Bennett)
* Subcommittee on Veterans' Affairs (Chair: Vance Hartke; Ranking Member: Strom Thurmond)
* Whole

### House of Representatives

* Agriculture (Chair: William R. Poage; Ranking Member: Page Belcher)
* Appropriations (Chair: George H. Mahon; Ranking Member: Frank T. Bow)
* Armed Services (Chair: F. Edward Hebert; Ranking Member: Leslie C. Arends)
* Banking and Currency (Chair: Wright Patman; Ranking Member: William B. Widnall)
* Crime (Select) (Chair: Claude Pepper)
* District of Columbia (Chair: John L. McMillan; Ranking Member: Ancher Nelsen)
* Education and Labor (Chair: Carl D. Perkins; Ranking Member: Al Quie)
* Foreign Affairs (Chair: Thomas E. Morgan; Ranking Member: William S. Mailliard)
* Government Operations (Chair: Chet Holifield; Ranking Member: Florence P. Dwyer)
* House Administration (Chair: Wayne L. Hays; Ranking Member: Samuel L. Devine)
* House Beauty Shop (Select) (Chair: Martha W. Griffiths)
* House Restaurant (Select) (Chair: John C. Kluczynski)
* Interior and Insular Affairs (Chair: Wayne N. Aspinall; Ranking Member: John P. Saylor)
* Internal Security (Chair: Richard H. Ichord; Ranking Member: John M. Ashbrook)
* Interstate and Foreign Commerce (Chair: Harley O. Staggers; Ranking Member: William L. Springer)
* Judiciary (Chair: Emanuel Celler; Ranking Member: William M. McCulloch)
* Merchant Marine and Fisheries (Chair: Emanuel Celler; Ranking Member: Thomas M. Pelly)
* Post Office and Civil Service (Chair: Edward A. Garmatz; Ranking Member: Robert J. Corbett)
* Public Works (Chair: John A. Blatnik; Ranking Member: Bill Harsha)
* Regulate Parking (Select) (Chair: B.F. Sisk)
* Rules (Chair: William M. Colmer; Ranking Member: H. Allen Smith)
* Science and Astronautics (Chair: George P. Miller; Ranking Member: James G. Fulton)
* Small Business (Select) (Chair: Joe L. Evins)
* Standards of Official Conduct (Chair: Charles Melvin Price; Ranking Member: Jackson E. Betts)
* Veterans' Affairs (Chair: Olin E. Teague; Ranking Member: Charles M. Teague)
* Ways and Means (Chair: Wilbur D. Mills; Ranking Member: John W. Byrnes)
* Whole

### Joint committees

* Atomic Energy (Chair: Sen. John O. Pastore; Vice Chair: Rep. Charles Melvin Price)
* Congressional Operations (Chair: Rep. Jack Brooks; Vice Chair: Sen. Lee Metcalf)
* Defense Production (Chair: Rep. Wright Patman; Vice Chair: Sen. John J. Sparkman)
* Economic (Chair: Sen. William Proxmire; Vice Chair: Rep. Wright Patman)
* The Library (Chair: Rep. Wayne L. Hays; Vice Chair: Sen. B. Everett Jordan)
* Navajo-Hopi Indian Administration
* Printing (Chair: N/A)
* Reduction of Nonessential Federal Expenditures (Chair: Rep. George H. Mahon)
* Taxation (Chair: Rep. Wilbur D. Mills; Vice Chair: Sen. Russell B. Long)

## Employees
### Legislative branch agency directors

* Architect of the Capitol: George M. White, appointed January 27, 1971
* Attending Physician of the United States Congress: Rufus Pearson
* Comptroller General of the United States: Elmer B. Staats
* Librarian of Congress: Lawrence Quincy Mumford
* Public Printer of the United States: Adolphus N. Spence, until 1972

### Senate

* Chaplain: Edward L.R. Elson (Presbyterian)
* Curator: James R. Ketchum
* Parliamentarian: Floyd Riddick
* Secretary: Francis R. Valeo
* Librarian: Richard D. Hupman
* Democratic Party Secretary: J. Stanley Kimmitt
* Republican Party Secretary: J. Mark Trice
* Sergeant at Arms: Robert G. Dunphy, until June 30, 1972 (resigned)
** William H. Wannall, from July 1, 1972

### House of Representatives

* Clerk: W. Pat Jennings
* Sergeant at Arms: Zeake W. Johnson Jr., January 21, 1971 – September 30, 1972 (resigned)
** Kenneth R. Harding, from October 1, 1972
* Doorkeeper: William M. Miller
* Postmaster: H. H. Morris, January 21, 1971 – June 30, 1972 (resigned)
** Robert V. Rota, from July 1, 1972
* Parliamentarian: Lewis Deschler
* Reading Clerks:
** Joe Bartlett (until 1971) (R), Bob Berry (starting 1971) (R)
** Charles W. Hackney Jr. (D)
* Chaplain: Edward G. Latch (Methodist)

## Footnotes

* ↑ "1972 congress"
* Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
* Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.