# 88th United States Congress

The 88th 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, 1963, to January 3, 1965, during the final months of the presidency of John F. Kennedy, and the first years of the presidency of his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson. The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the 1960 United States census, and the number of members was again 435 (it had temporarily been 437 in order to seat one member each from recently admitted states of Alaska and Hawaii).
Both chambers maintained a Democratic majority - including a filibuster-proof supermajority in the Senate - and with President Kennedy, the Democrats maintained an overall federal government trifecta.

## Major events

* November 22, 1963: Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson became President of the United States on the death of President John F. Kennedy.
* March 30 – June 10, 1964: The longest filibuster in the history of the Senate was waged against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, with 57 days of debate over a 73-day period. It ended when the Senate voted 71–29 to invoke cloture, with the filibuster carried out by southern members of the Democratic Party, the first successful cloture motion on a civil rights bill.
* August 2–4, 1964: Gulf of Tonkin Incident
* November 3, 1964: President Lyndon Johnson is elected to a full term in the 1964 United States Presidential election, defeating Republican nominee Barry Goldwater.

## Major legislation

* June 10, 1963: Equal Pay Act, Pub. L. 88–38
* October 17, 1963: Department of Defense Appropriations Act, Pub. L. 88–149
* October 31, 1963: Community Mental Health Centers Act, Pub. L. 88–164, title II, including Mental Retardation Facilities Construction Act
* December 17, 1963: Clean Air Act, Pub. L. 88–206
* July 2, 1964: Civil Rights Act of 1964, Pub. L. 88–352
* July 9, 1964: Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964 (Federal Transit Act), Pub. L. 88–365
* August 7, 1964: Tonkin Gulf Resolution, Pub. L. 88–408
* August 20, 1964: Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, Pub. L. 88–452
* August 31, 1964: Food Stamp Act of 1964, Pub. L. 88–525
* September 3, 1964: Wilderness Act, Pub. L. 88–577
* September 4, 1964: Nurse Training Act, Pub. L. 88–581
* 1964: Library Services and Construction Act

## Constitutional amendments

* January 23, 1964: Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, prohibiting both Congress and the states from conditioning the right to vote in federal elections on payment of a poll tax or other types of tax, was ratified by the requisite number of states (then 38) to become part of the Constitution

## Party summary
### Senate

| | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Total | Vacant |
| | Democratic (D) | Republican (R) | Total | Vacant |
| End of previous congress | 62 | 37 | 99 | 1 |
| Begin | 65 | 33 | 98 | 2 |
| End | 66 | 34 | 100 | 0 |
| Final voting share | 66.0% | 34.0% | | |
| Beginning of next congress | 68 | 32 | 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 | 260 | 174 | 434 | 3 |
| Begin | 258 | 176 | 434 | 1 |
| End | 253 | 177 | 430 | 5 |
| Final voting share | 58.8% | 41.2% | | |
| Beginning of next congress | 295 | 140 | 435 | 0 |

## Leadership
### Senate

* President: Lyndon B. Johnson (D), until November 22, 1963; thereafter vacant
* President pro tempore: Carl Hayden (D)
* Permanent Acting President pro tempore: Lee Metcalf (D), from June 15, 1963

#### Majority (Democratic) leadership

* Majority Leader: Mike Mansfield
* Majority Whip: Hubert Humphrey
* Caucus Secretary: George Smathers

#### Minority (Republican) leadership

* Minority Leader: Everett Dirksen
* Minority Whip: Thomas Kuchel
* Republican Conference Chairman: Leverett Saltonstall
* Republican Conference Secretary: Milton Young
* National Senatorial Committee Chair: Thruston Ballard Morton
* Policy Committee Chairman: Bourke B. Hickenlooper

### House of Representatives

* Speaker: John W. McCormack (D)

#### Majority (Democratic) leadership

* Majority Leader: Carl Albert
* Majority Whip: Hale Boggs
* Democratic Caucus Chairman: Francis E. Walter, until May 31, 1963
** Albert Thomas, from January 21, 1964
* Democratic Campaign Committee Chairman: Michael J. Kirwan

#### Minority (Republican) leadership

* Minority Leader: Charles A. Halleck
* Minority Whip: Leslie C. Arends
* Republican Conference Chairman: Gerald Ford
* Policy Committee Chairman: John W. Byrnes
* Republican Campaign Committee Chairman: Bob Wilson

## Caucuses

* House Democratic Caucus
* Senate Democratic Caucus

## Members
### Senate

Senators are popularly elected statewide every two years, with one-third beginning new six-year terms with each Congress. Senators are ordered first by state, and then by class. 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 reelection in 1964; Class 2 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring reelection in 1966; and Class 3 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring reelection in 1968.

### House of Representatives
## 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 (Chairman: Clinton P. Anderson; Ranking Member: Margaret Chase Smith)
* Agriculture and Forestry (Chairman: Allen J. Ellender; Ranking Member: George D. Aiken)
* Appropriations (Chairman: Carl Hayden; Ranking Member: Leverett Saltonstall)
* Armed Services (Chairman: Richard B. Russell; Ranking Member: Leverett Saltonstall)
* Banking and Currency (Chairman: A. Willis Robertson; Ranking Member: Wallace F. Bennett)
* Commerce (Chairman: Warren G. Magnuson; Ranking Member: Norris Cotton)
* District of Columbia (Chairman: Alan Bible; Ranking Member: J. Glenn Beall)
* Finance (Chairman: Harry F. Byrd; Ranking Member: John J. Williams)
* Foreign Relations (Chairman: J. William Fulbright; Ranking Member: Bourke B. Hickenlooper)
* Government Operations (Chairman: John Little McClellan; Ranking Member: Karl E. Mundt)
* Interior and Insular Affairs (Chairman: Henry M. Jackson; Ranking Member: Thomas H. Kuchel)
* Judiciary (Chairman: James O. Eastland; Ranking Member: Everett Dirksen)
* Labor and Public Welfare (Chairman: J. Lister Hill; Ranking Member: Barry Goldwater)
* Post Office and Civil Service (Chairman: Olin D. Johnston; Ranking Member: Frank Carlson)
* Public Works (Chairman: Pat McNamara; Ranking Member: John Sherman Cooper)
* Rules and Administration (Chairman: B. Everett Jordan; Ranking Member: Carl T. Curtis)
* Small Business (Select) (Chairman: John J. Sparkman)
* Standards and Conduct (Select) (Chairman: [data missing])
* Whole

### House of Representatives

* Agriculture (Chairman: Harold D. Cooley; Ranking Member: Charles B. Hoeven)
* Appropriations (Chairman: Clarence Cannon; Ranking Member: Ben F. Jensen)
* Armed Services (Chairman: Carl Vinson; Ranking Member: Leslie C. Arends)
* Banking and Currency (Chairman: Wright Patman; Ranking Member: Clarence E. Kilburn)
* District of Columbia (Chairman: John L. McMillan; Ranking Member: Joel T. Broyhill)
* Education and Labor (Chairman: Adam Clayton Powell; Ranking Member: Peter Frelinghuysen)
* Foreign Affairs (Chairman: Thomas E. Morgan; Ranking Member: Frances P. Bolton)
* Government Research (Select) (Chair: Carl Elliott)
* Government Operations (Chairman: William L. Dawson; Ranking Member: R. Walter Riehlman)
* House Administration (Chairman: Omar Burleson; Ranking Member: Paul F. Schenck)
* Interior and Insular Affairs (Chairman: Wayne N. Aspinall; Ranking Member: John P. Saylor)
* Interstate and Foreign Commerce (Chairman: Oren Harris; Ranking Member: John B. Bennett)
* Judiciary (Chairman: Emanuel Celler; Ranking Member: William M. McCulloch)
* Merchant Marine and Fisheries (Chairman: Herbert C. Bonner; Ranking Member: Thor C. Tollefson)
* Post Office and Civil Service (Chairman: Tom J. Murray; Ranking Member: Robert J. Corbett)
* Public Works (Chairman: Charles A. Buckley; Ranking Member: James C. Auchincloss)
* Rules (Chairman: Howard W. Smith; Ranking Member: Clarence J. Brown)
* Science and Astronautics (Chairman: George Paul Miller; Ranking Member: Joseph W. Martin Jr.)
* Small Business (Select) (Chairman: Joe L. Evins)
* Standards of Official Conduct
* Un-American Activities (Chairman: Francis E. Walter; Ranking Member: August E. Johansen)
* Veterans' Affairs (Chairman: Olin E. Teague; Ranking Member: William H. Ayres)
* Ways and Means (Chairman: Wilbur D. Mills; Ranking Member: John W. Byrnes)
* Whole

### Joint committees

* Atomic Energy (Chairman: Sen. John O. Pastore; Vice Chairman: Rep. Chester E. Holifield)
* Conditions of Indian Tribes (Special)
* Construction of a Building for a Museum of History and Technology for the Smithsonian
* Defense Production (Chairman: Rep. Wright Patman; Vice Chairman: Sen. A. Willis Robertson)
* Disposition of Executive Papers
* Economic (Chairman: Sen. Paul H. Douglas; Vice Chairman: Rep. Richard Walker Bolling)
* Immigration and Nationality Policy (Chairman: Vacant; Vice Chairman: Vacant)
* Legislative Budget
* The Library (Chairman: Rep. Omar Burleson; Vice Chairman: Sen. B. Everett Jordan)
* Navajo-Hopi Indian Administration
* Printing (Chairman: Sen. Carl Hayden; Vice Chairman: Rep. Omar Burleson)
* Reduction of Nonessential Federal Expenditures (Chairman: Sen. Harry F. Byrd; Vice Chairman: Rep. Clarence Cannon)
* Taxation (Chairman: Rep. Wilbur D. Mills; Vice Chairman: Sen. Harry F. Byrd)

## Employees
### Legislative branch agency directors

* Architect of the Capitol: J. George Stewart
* Attending Physician of the United States Congress: George Calver
* Comptroller General of the United States: Joseph Campbell
* Librarian of Congress: Lawrence Quincy Mumford
* Public Printer of the United States: James L. Harrison

### Senate

* Chaplain: Frederick Brown Harris, Methodist
* Parliamentarian: Charles Watkins, until 1964
** Floyd Riddick, from 1964
* Secretary: Felton McLellan Johnston
* Librarian: Richard D. Hupman
* Secretary for the Majority: Robert G. Baker, until 1963
** Francis R. Valeo, from 1963
* Secretary for the Minority: J. Mark Trice
* Sergeant at Arms: Joseph C. Duke

### House of Representatives

* Clerk: Ralph R. Roberts
* Doorkeeper: William Mosley "Fishbait" Miller
* Parliamentarian: Lewis Deschler
* Postmaster: H. H. Morris
* Reading Clerks: George J. Maurer (D) and Joe Bartlett (R)
* Sergeant at Arms: Zeake W. Johnson Jr.
* Chaplain: Bernard Braskamp - Presbyterian