# 85th United States Congress

The 85th 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, 1957, to January 3, 1959, during the fifth and sixth years of Dwight Eisenhower's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1950 United States census.
Both chambers had a Democratic majority.
To date, this is the earliest Congress with a member still living, Merwin Coad.

## Major events

* January 5, 1957: President Eisenhower announced the Eisenhower Doctrine in a special message to Congress
* January 20, 1957: Inauguration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower for a second term
* August 21, 1957: President Eisenhower announced a 2-year suspension of nuclear testing
* August 28, 1957: Senator Strom Thurmond set a record for the longest filibuster with his 24-hour, 18-minute speech against the Civil Rights Act of 1957
* September 24, 1957: Little Rock Crisis: President Eisenhower sent federal troops to Arkansas to provide safe passage into Central High School for the Little Rock Nine.
* October 4, 1957: The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to orbit Earth
* October 21, 1957: The U.S. military sustained its first combat fatality in Vietnam
* November 7, 1957: Gaither Report called for more American missiles and fallout shelters
* November 25, 1957: President Eisenhower suffers from a stroke
* January 31, 1958: U.S. launched its first satellite, Explorer 1
* July 15, 1958: U.S intervenes in the Lebanon Crisis, the first major application of the Eisenhower Doctorine.
* October 1, 1958: NASA started operations

## Major legislation

* August 14, 1957: Airways Modernization Act, Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 85–133, 71 Stat. 349
* September 2, 1957: Price-Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act, Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 85–256, 71 Stat. 576
* September 9, 1957: Civil Rights Act of 1957, Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 85–315, 71 Stat. 634
* July 29, 1958: National Aeronautics and Space Act, Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 85–568, 72 Stat. 426
* 1958: Transportation Act of 1958, Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 85–625
* August 23, 1958: Federal Aviation Act of 1958, Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 85–726, 72 Stat. 731
* August 28, 1958: EURATOM Cooperation Act of 1958, Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 85–846, 72 Stat. 1084
* August 28, 1958: Military Construction Appropriation Act (Advanced Research Projects Agency), Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 85–852, 72 Stat. 1096
* September 2, 1958: National Defense Education Act, Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 85–864, 72 Stat. 1580
* 1958: Department of Defense Reorganization Act, Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 85–899
* 1958: Pasatore-Walter Immigration Act

## States admitted

* January 3, 1959: Alaska was admitted as the 49th state.

## Party summary
### Senate

| | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Total | Vacant |
| | Democratic (D) | Republican (R) | Total | Vacant |
| End of previous congress | 47 | 49 | 96 | 0 |
| Begin | 49 | 47 | 96 | 0 |
| End | 50 | 45 | 95 | 1 |
| Final voting share | 52.6% | 47.4% | | |
| Beginning of next congress | 64 | 34 | 98 | 0 |

### House of Representatives

| | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Total | Vacant |
| | Democratic (D) | Republican (R) | Total | Vacant |
| End of previous congress | 228 | 200 | 428 | 7 |
| Begin | 233 | 200 | 433 | 2 |
| End | 232 | 193 | 425 | 10 |
| Final voting share | 54.6% | 45.4% | | |
| Beginning of next congress | 282 | 153 | 435 | 0 |

## Leadership
### Senate

* President: Richard Nixon (R)
* President pro tempore: Carl Hayden (D)

#### Majority (Democratic) leadership

* Majority Leader and Conference Chairman: Lyndon B. Johnson
* Majority Whip: Mike Mansfield
* Democratic Caucus Secretary: Thomas C. Hennings Jr.

#### Minority (Republican) leadership

* Minority Leader: William Knowland
* Minority Whip: Everett Dirksen
* Republican Conference Chairman: Leverett Saltonstall
* Republican Conference Secretary: Milton Young
* National Senatorial Committee Chair: Everett Dirksen
* Policy Committee Chairman: Styles Bridges

### House of Representatives

* Speaker: Sam Rayburn (D)

#### Majority (Democratic) leadership

* Majority Leader: John W. McCormack
* Majority Whip: Carl Albert
* Democratic Caucus Chairman: Melvin Price
* Democratic Campaign Committee Chairman: Michael J. Kirwan

#### Minority (Republican) leadership

* Minority Leader: Joseph W. Martin Jr.
* Minority Whip: Leslie C. Arends
* Republican Conference Chairman: Charles B. Hoeven
* Policy Committee Chairman: Joseph W. Martin Jr.
* Republican Campaign Committee Chairman: Richard M. Simpson

## 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. Preceding the names in the list below are Senate class numbers, which indicate the cycle of their election. Senators in each state are listed by class. In this Congress, Class 1 meant their term ended with this Congress, facing re-election in 1958; Class 2 meant their term began in the last Congress, facing re-election in 1960; and Class 3 meant their term began in this Congress, facing re-election in 1962.

### 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.

### Joint committees

* Atomic Energy (Chairman: Rep. Carl T. Durham; Vice Chairman: Sen. Clinton P. Anderson)
* Conditions of Indian Tribes (Special)
* Construction of a Building for a Museum of History and Technology for the Smithsonian
* Defense Production (Chairman: Sen. A. Willis Robertson; Vice Chairman: Rep. Paul Brown)
* Disposition of Executive Papers
* Economic (Chairman: Rep. Wright Patman; Vice Chairman: Sen. John J. Sparkman)
* Immigration and Nationality Policy (Chairman: Vacant; Vice Chairman: Vacant)
* Legislative Budget
* The Library (Chairman: Rep. Omar Burleson; Vice Chairman: Sen. Theodore F. Green)
* 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. Jere Cooper; Vice Chairman: Sen. Harry F. Byrd)
* Washington (DC) Metropolitan Problems

## 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: Raymond Blattenberger

### Senate

* Chaplain: Frederick Brown Harris, Methodist
* Parliamentarian: Charles Watkins
* Secretary: Felton McLellan Johnston
* Librarian: Richard D. Hupman
* Secretary for the Majority: Robert G. Baker
* 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 Alney E. Chaffee (R) (until 1957) then Joe Bartlett (R) (starting 1957)
* Sergeant at Arms: Zeake W. Johnson Jr.
* Chaplain: Bernard Braskamp (Presbyterian)