76th United States Congress

76th United States Congress
75th ← → 77th
United States Capitol (1956)
January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1941
Senate President	John N. Garner (D)
Senate Pres. pro tem	Key Pittman (D), until Nov. 10, 1940 William H. King (D), from Nov. 19, 1940
House Speaker	William B. Bankhead (D), until Sept. 15, 1940 Sam Rayburn (D), from Sept. 16, 1940
Members	96 senators 435 representatives 5 non-voting delegates
Senate Majority	Democratic
House Majority	Democratic
Sessions
1st: January 3, 1939 – August 5, 1939 2nd: September 21, 1939 – November 3, 1939 3rd: January 3, 1940 – January 3, 1941

The Seventy-sixth 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, DC from January 3, 1939, to January 3, 1941, during the seventh and eighth years of Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the Fifteenth Census of the United States in 1930. Both chambers had a Democratic majority. It is the most recent Congress to have held a third session.

Chaplain of the United States Senate ZeBarney Thorne Phillips delivering prayer to open the session

Major events

President Roosevelt signing the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, September 16, 1940.

• April 9, 1939: African-American singer Marian Anderson performs before 75,000 people at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., after having been denied the use both of Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution, and of a public high school by the federally controlled District of Columbia.
• August 2, 1939: Albert Einstein wrote to President Franklin Roosevelt about developing the atomic bomb using uranium. This led to the creation of the Manhattan Project.
• September 5, 1939: World War II: The United States declares its neutrality in the war.
• November 4, 1939: World War II: President Roosevelt ordered the United States Customs Service to implement the Neutrality Act of 1939, allowing cash-and-carry purchases of weapons to non-belligerent nations.
• November 15, 1939: President Roosevelt laid the cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial.
• April 1, 1940: April Fools' Day was also the census date for the 16th U.S. Census.
• May 16, 1940: World War II: President Roosevelt, addressed a joint session of Congress, asking for an extraordinary credit of approximately $900 million to finance construction of at least 50,000 airplanes per year.
• June 10, 1940: World War II: President Roosevelt denounced Italy's actions with his "Stab in the Back" speech during the graduation ceremonies of the University of Virginia.
• August 4, 1940: World War II: Gen. John J. Pershing, in a nationwide radio broadcast, urges all-out aid to Britain in order to defend the Americas, while Charles Lindbergh speaks to an isolationist rally at Soldier Field in Chicago.
• September, 1940: The Army's 45th Infantry Division (previously a National Guard Division in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Oklahoma), was activated and ordered into federal service for 1 year, to engage in a training program in Ft. Sill and Louisiana, prior to serving in World War II.
• September 2, 1940: World War II: An agreement between America and Great Britain was announced to the effect that 50 U.S. destroyers needed for escort work would be transferred to Great Britain. In return, America gained 99-year leases on British bases in the North Atlantic, West Indies and Bermuda.
• September 26, 1940: World War II: The United States imposed a total embargo on all scrap metal shipments to Japan.
• October 16, 1940: The draft registration of approximately 16 million men began in the United States.
• October 29, 1940: The Selective Service System lottery was held in Washington, D.C..
• November 5, 1940: U.S. presidential election, 1940: Democrat incumbent Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated Republican challenger Wendell Willkie and became the United States's first and only third-term president.
• November 12, 1940: Case of Hansberry v. Lee, 311 U.S. 32 (1940), decided, allowing a racially restrictive covenant to be lifted.
• December 17, 1940: President Roosevelt, at his regular press conference, first outlined his plan to send aid to Great Britain that will become known as Lend-Lease.
• December 29, 1940: Franklin D. Roosevelt, in a fireside chat to the nation, declared that the United States must become "the great arsenal of democracy."
• January 13, 1941: All persons born in Puerto Rico after this day were declared U.S. citizens by birth, through federal law 8 U.S.C. § 1402.
• January 20, 1941: Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes swore in President Roosevelt for a third term.
• January 27, 1941: World War II: U.S. Ambassador to Japan Joseph C. Grew passed on to Washington a rumor overheard at a diplomatic reception about a planned surprise attack upon Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
• February 4, 1941: World War II: The United Service Organization (USO) was created to entertain American troops.

Hearings

• January 23, 1941: Aviator Charles Lindbergh testified before the Congress and recommends that the United States negotiate a neutrality pact with Adolf Hitler.

Major legislation

• April 3, 1939: Reorganization Act of 1939, Pub.L. 76–19, 53 Stat. 561
• August 2, 1939: Hatch Act of 1939 ("Hatch Political Activity Act", "An Act to Prevent Pernicious Political Activities"), ch. 410, 53 Stat. 1147
• November 4, 1939: Neutrality Act of 1939, ("Cash and Carry Act"), ch. 2, 54 Stat. 4
• June 29, 1940: Alien Registration Act (Smith Act), 3d sess. ch. 439, 54 Stat. 670
• August 22, 1940: Act of August 22, 1940, ch. 686, Pub.L. 76–768, 54 Stat. 789 (including Investment Company Act of 1940, Investment Advisers Act of 1940)
• September 16, 1940: Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, Pub.L. 76–783

Party summary

House of Representatives

House seats by party holding plurality in state
80+% to 100% Democratic	80+% to 100% Republican
60+% to 80% Democratic	60+% to 80% Republican
Up to 60% Democratic	Up to 60% Republican

	Party (shading shows control)					Total	Vacant
	Democratic (D)	Farmer-Labor (FL)	American Labor (AL)	Wisconsin Progressive (P)	Republican (R)
End of the previous congress	334	5	0	8	88	435	0
Begin	256	1	1	3	173	434	1
End	252				172	429	6
Final voting share	7001587000000000000♠58.7%	6999200000000000000♠0.2%	6999200000000000000♠0.2%	6999700000000000000♠0.7%	7001401000000000000♠40.1%
Beginning of the next congress	268	1	1	3	162	435	0

Leadership

Members

Changes in membership

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

Committees

Lists of committees and their party leaders, for members (House and Senate) of the committees and their assignments, go into the Official Congressional Directory at the bottom of the article and click on the link (4 links), in the directory after the pages of terms of service, you will see the committees of the Senate, House (Standing with Subcommittees, Select and Special) and Joint and after the committee pages, you will see the House/Senate committee assignments in the directory, 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.

Caucuses

• Democratic (House)
• Democratic (Senate)

Employees

• Architect of the Capitol: David Lynn
• Attending Physician of the United States Congress: George Calver
• Comptroller General of the United States:
  • vacant, until April 11, 1939
  • Fred H. Brown, April 11, 1939 - June 19, 1940
  • vacant, June 19, 1940 - November 1, 1940
  • Lindsay C. Warren, starting November 1, 1940
• Librarian of Congress: Herbert Putnam (until 1939), Archibald MacLeish (starting 1939)
• Public Printer of the United States: Augustus E. Giegengack

In popular culture

• It appears in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

See also

• United States elections, 1938 (elections leading to this Congress)
  • United States Senate elections, 1938
  • United States House of Representatives elections, 1938
• United States elections, 1940 (elections during this Congress, leading to the next Congress)
  • United States presidential election, 1940
  • United States Senate elections, 1940
  • United States House of Representatives elections, 1940

References

• House of Representatives Session Calendar for the 76th Congress (PDF).
• Official Congressional Directory for the 76th Congress, 1st Session.
• Official Congressional Directory for the 76th Congress, 1st Session (Revision).
• Official Congressional Directory for the 76th Congress, 3rd Session.
• Official Congressional Directory for the 76th Congress, 3rd Session (Revision).