The Eighty-first 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, 1949 to January 3, 1951, during the fifth and sixth years of Harry S. Truman's presidency.
The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the Sixteenth Census of the United States in 1940. Both chambers had a Democratic majority.
January 20, 1949: Inauguration of President Truman and Vice President Barkley
August 16, 1949: Office of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff created
January 21, 1950: Accused communist spy Alger Hiss was convicted of perjury
January 31, 1950: President Truman ordered the development of the hydrogen bomb, in response to the detonation of the Soviet Union's first atomic bomb in 1949
June 27, 1950: Korean War: President Truman ordered American military forces to aid in the defense of South Korea
June 20, 1949: Central Intelligence Agency Act, ch. 227, 63 Stat. 208, 50 U.S.C. § 403a
May 5, 1950: Uniform Code of Military Justice, ch. 169, 64 Stat. 109
October 25, 1949: Hospital Survey and Construction Amendments of 1949, ch. 722, Pub.L. 81–380, 63 Stat. 898
October 26, 1949: Fair Labor Standards Amendment, ch. 736, Pub.L. 81–393, 63 Stat. 910, 29 U.S.C. ch. 8
October 31, 1949: Agricultural Act of 1949, ch. 792, 63 Stat. 1051
May 10, 1950: National Science Foundation Act, ch. 171, Pub.L. 81–507, 64 Stat. 149, 42 U.S.C. ch. 16
September 8, 1950: Defense Production Act of 1950, Pub.L. 81–774, 64 Stat. 798
September 12, 1950: Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950, ch. 946, 64 Stat. 832
September 23, 1950: McCarran Internal Security Act (including Subversive Activities Control Act of 1950), ch. 1024, 64 Stat. 987, 50 U.S.C. § 781
September 30, 1950: Performance Rating Act, ch. 1123, 64 Stat. 1098
August 15, 1950: Omnibus Medical Research Act, Pub.L. 81–692, 64 Stat. 443 (including Public Health Services Act Amendments, which established the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Blindness)
December 29, 1950: Celler–Kefauver Act (Anti-Merger Act), ch. 1184, 64 Stat. 1125
January 12, 1951: Federal Civil Defense Act of 1950, ch. 1228, 64 Stat. 1245 (codified in 50 U.S.C. App., here [1])
July 21, 1949: North Atlantic Treaty ratified, establishing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
May 11, 1950: Kefauver Committee hearings into U.S. organized crime began
President: Vacant until January 20, 1949
Alben W. Barkley (D), from January 20, 1949
Majority Leader: Scott W. Lucas
Majority Whip: Francis J. Myers
Caucus Secretary: Brien McMahon
Minority Leader: Kenneth S. Wherry
Minority Whip: Leverett Saltonstall
Conference Chairman: Eugene Millikin
Republican Conference Secretary: Milton Young
National Senatorial Committee Chair: Styles Bridges
Policy Committee Chairman: Robert A. Taft
Speaker: Sam Rayburn (D)
Majority Leader: John W. McCormack
Majority Whip: J. Percy Priest
Caucus Chairman: Francis E. Walter
Caucus Secretary: Chase G. Woodhouse
Democratic Campaign Committee Chairman: Michael J. Kirwan
Minority Leader: Joseph W. Martin, Jr.
Minority Whip: Leslie C. Arends
Conference Chair: Roy O. Woodruff
House Democratic Caucus
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 seniority. Preceding the names in the list below are Senate class numbers, which indicate the cycle of their election.
The count below reflects changes from the beginning of this Congress.
Lists of committees and their party leaders.
Agriculture and Forestry
Appropriations
Banking and Currency
District of Columbia
Expenditures in Executive Departments
Finance
Foreign Relations
Interior and Insular Affairs
Subcommittee on Internal Security
Interstate and Foreign Commerce
Judiciary
Labor and Public Welfare
Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce (Select)
Post Office and Civil Service
Public Works
Remodeling the Senate Chamber (Special)
Small Business (Select)
Small Business Enterprises (Special)
Whole
Agriculture
Appropriations
Banking and Currency
District of Columbia
Education and Labor
Expenditures in the Executive Departments
Foreign Affairs
House Administration
Merchant Marine and Fisheries
Post Office and Civil Service
Public Lands
Public Works
Rules
Small Business (Select)
Standards of Official Conduct
Un-American Activities
Veterans' Affairs
Ways and Means
Whole
Atomic Energy
Conditions of Indian Tribes (Special)
Defense Production
Disposition of Executive Papers
Foreign Economic Cooperation
Economic
Labor Management Relations
Legislative Budget
The Library
Navajo-Hopi Indian Administration
Printing
Reduction of Nonessential Federal Expenditures
Taxation
Architect of the Capitol: David Lynn
Attending Physician of the United States Congress: George Calver
Comptroller General of the United States: Lindsay C. Warren
Librarian of Congress: Luther H. Evans
Public Printer of the United States: John J. Deviny
Chaplain: Peter Marshall (Presbyterianism) (until February 3, 1949), Frederick Brown Harris (Methodist) (starting February 3, 1949)
Parliamentarian: Charles Watkins
Secretary: Leslie Biffle
Sergeant at Arms: Joseph C. Duke
Chaplain:
James Shera Montgomery (Methodist)
Bernard Braskamp (Presbyterian)
Clerk: Ralph R. Roberts
Doorkeeper: William Mosley Miller
Parliamentarian: Lewis Deschler
Postmaster: Finis E. Scott
Sergeant at Arms: Joseph H. Callahan
