The Eighty-fifth 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 Seventeenth Census of the United States in 1950. Both chambers had a Democratic majority.
January 5, 1957: President Eisenhower announced the Eisenhower Doctrine in a special message to Congress
January 20, 1957: Inauguration of President Dwight Eisenhower and Vice President Richard Nixon 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 the 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 had 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
August 14, 1957: Airways Modernization Act, Pub.L. 85–133, 71 Stat. 349
September 2, 1957: Price-Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act, Pub.L. 85–256, 71 Stat. 576
September 9, 1957: Civil Rights Act of 1957, Pub.L. 85–315, 71 Stat. 634
July 29, 1958: National Aeronautics and Space Act, Pub.L. 85–568, 72 Stat. 426
1958: Transportation Act of 1958, Pub.L. 85–625
August 23, 1958: Federal Aviation Act of 1958, Pub.L. 85–726, 72 Stat. 731
August 28, 1958: EURATOM Cooperation Act of 1958, Pub.L. 85–846, 72 Stat. 1084
August 28, 1958: Military Construction Appropriation Act (Advanced Research Projects Agency), Pub.L. 85–852, 72 Stat. 1096
September 2, 1958: National Defense Education Act, Pub.L. 85–864, 72 Stat. 1580
1958: Department of Defense Reorganization Act, Pub.L. 85–899
1958: Pasatore-Walter Immigration Act
January 3, 1959: Alaska was admitted as the 49th state.
Democratic (D): 234 (majority)
Republican (R): 201
TOTAL: 435
President of the Senate: Richard Nixon (R)
President pro tempore: Carl Hayden (D)
Majority Leader and Conference Chairman: Lyndon B. Johnson
Majority Whip: Mike Mansfield
Caucus Secretary: Thomas C. Hennings Jr.
Minority Leader: William F. Knowland
Minority Whip: Everett Dirksen
Conference Chairman: Leverett Saltonstall
Republican Conference Secretary: Milton Young
Policy Committee Chairman: Styles Bridges
Speaker: Sam Rayburn (D)
Majority Leader: John William McCormack
Majority Whip: Carl Albert
Caucus Chairman: Charles Melvin Price
Democratic Campaign Committee Chairman: Michael J. Kirwan
Minority Leader: Joseph William Martin, Jr.
Minority Whip: Leslie C. Arends
Conference Chairman: Charles B. Hoeven
House Democratic Caucus
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 in order of seniority, except for replacements, who appear below the senator they replace.
Lists of committees and their party leaders.
Aeronautical and Space Sciences
Agriculture and Forestry
Appropriations
Banking and Currency
District of Columbia
Finance
Foreign Relations
Foreign Aid Program (Special)
Government Operations
Interior and Insular Affairs
Interstate and Foreign Commerce
Judiciary
Labor and Public Welfare
Labor-Management Relations (Select)
Political Activities, Lobbying and Campaign Contributions (Special)
Post Office and Civil Service
Preserve Historical Records of the Senate (Special)
Public Works
Senate Reception Room (Special)
Small Business (Select)
Space and Aeronautics (Special)
Subcommittee on Internal Security
Whole
Agriculture
Appropriations
Astronautics and Space Exploration (Select)
Banking and Currency
District of Columbia
Education and Labor
Foreign Affairs
Government Operations
House Administration
Interior and Insular Affairs
Merchant Marine and Fisheries
Post Office and Civil Service
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)
Construction of a Building for a Museum of History and Technology for the Smithsonian
Defense Production
Disposition of Executive Papers
Economic
Immigration and Nationality Policy
Legislative Budget
The Library
Navajo-Hopi Indian Administration
Printing
Reduction of Nonessential Federal Expenditures
Taxation
Washington (DC) Metropolitan Problems
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
Chaplain: Frederick Brown Harris, Methodist
Parliamentarian: Charles Watkins
Secretary: Felton McLellan Johnston
Sergeant at Arms: Joseph C. Duke
Clerk: Ralph R. Roberts
Doorkeeper: William Mosley "Fishbait" Miller
Parliamentarian: Lewis Deschler
Postmaster: H. H. Morris
Sergeant at Arms: Zeake W. Johnson, Jr., elected January 3, 1957
Chaplain: Bernard Braskamp (Presbyterian)
