Joint session of the United States Congress
This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2008) |
Typ | |
---|---|
Typ | |
Leadership | |
Speaker of the House of Representatives as leader of Joint Sessions | |
Vice President as leader for Electoral College vote counting | |
Structure | |
Seats | 535 |
Political groups | Republican Party (280 members) Democratic Party (244 members) Independent (2 seats) |
Meeting place | |
![]() | |
House chamber of the U.S. Capitol Washington, D.C. United States |
Joint sessions of the United States Congress are the gatherings together of both houses of the United States Congress (the House of Representatives and Senate). Joint sessions are held on special occasions such as the State of the Union Address and presidential inaugurations.
Meetings of Congress for presidential inaugurations are a special case called formal joint gatherings, but may also be joint sessions if both houses are in session at the time.
Joint sessions and meetings are traditionally presided over by the Speaker of the House and take place at the House chamber. However, the Constitution requires the Vice President (as President of the Senate) to preside over the counting of electoral votes.
State of the Union
At some time during the first two months of each session, the President customarily delivers the State of the Union Address, a speech in which an assessment is made of the state of the country, and the presidents' legislative agenda is outlined. The speech is modeled on the Speech from the Throne, given by the British monarch. There is a major difference, however. The President is the principal author of his State of the Union message, while the Speech from the Throne is customarily written by the Prime Minister.
The Constitution of the United States requires that the president "shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union," but does not specify whether the information should be given in a speech or a written report.
The first two presidents, George Washington and John Adams, delivered the speech in person before both houses of Congress, but that practice was discontinued under Thomas Jefferson, who deemed it too monarchical and sent written reports instead. Written reports were standard until 1913, when Woodrow Wilson reestablished the practice of personally attending to deliver the speech. Few Presidents have deviated from this custom since.[1]
Counting electoral votes
The Twelfth Amendment mandates that the Congress assemble in joint session to count the electoral votes and declare the winners of the election.[2] The session is ordinarily required to take place on January 6 in the calendar year immediately following the meetings of the presidential electors.[3] Since the Twentieth Amendment, the newly-elected House declares the winner of the election. In elections before 1936, the outgoing House counted the electoral votes.
The meeting is held at 1:00 p.m. in the Chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives.[3] The sitting Vice President is expected to preside, but in several cases the President pro tempore of the Senate has chaired the proceedings instead. The Vice President and the Speaker of the House sit at the podium, with the Vice President in the seat of the Speaker of the House. Senate pages bring in the two mahogany boxes containing each state's certified vote and place them on tables in front of the Senators and Representatives. Each house appoints two tellers to count the vote (normally one member of each political party). Relevant portions of the Certificate of Vote are read for each state, in alphabetical order. Members of Congress can object to any state's vote count, provided that the objection is supported by at least one member of each house of Congress. A successful objection will be followed by debate; however, objections to the electoral vote count are rarely raised, although it did occur during the vote count in 2001 after the close 2000 presidential election between Governor George W. Bush of Texas and the Vice President of the United States, Al Gore. Vice President Gore, who as Vice President was required to preside over his own Electoral College defeat (by five electoral votes), denied the objections, all of which were raised only by several House members and would have favored his candidacy, after no Senators would agree to jointly object. If there are no objections or all objections are overruled, the presiding officer declares the result of the vote and states who is elected President and Vice President. The Senators then depart from the House Chamber.
Subjects of joint sessions and meetings
In addition to State of the Union Addresses, inaugurals and counting of electoral votes, Joint Sessions usually fall into one of several topics.
Foreign dignitaries
Foreign heads of state and heads of government from 48 countries have addressed joint meetings of Congress more than a hundred times. France and the United Kingdom lead the list with eight joint meeting addresses by heads of state or dignitaries. Other countries leading the list are: Israel (7), Mexico (7), Italy (6), Ireland (6), South Korea (6), Germany, including West Germany and unified Germany (5), India (4), Canada (4), Australia (4), Argentina (3), and the Philippines (3). Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Winston Churchill made three joint addresses to Congress, more than any other foreign dignitary (1941, 1943, and 1952). Prime Minister of Israel Yitzak Rabin addressed joint meetings of Congress on two occasions (1976 and 1994) as did Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (1996 and 2011). Nelson Mandela of South Africa has also addressed Congress twice (1990 and 1994).[4]
The Marquis de Lafayette, the French general and Revolutionary War hero, was the first foreign dignitary to address the House of Representatives. Lafayette delivered a speech before a meeting in the House Chamber on 10 December 1824. The first non-head of government to address a joint meeting of Congress was Polish Solidarity leader Lech Wałęsa in 1989. Nelson Mandela, then Deputy President of the African National Congress addressed a joint session in 1990.[5]
Twice have joint meetings been attended by dignitaries from two countries: On September 18, 1978, when Congress was addressed by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and on July 26, 1994, when Congress was addressed by King Hussein of Jordan and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
Notably on September 11, 2001 John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia kept his appointment and attended a defiant joint session of Congress and was acknowledged with a standing ovation. John Howard describes this occasion as a "moving moment."[6]
The most recent address was given by South Korean President Park Geun-hye on May 8, 2013.
All foreign heads of state are presented officially to Congress in the same manner as the President during the State of the Union Address.
Presidential addresses
In addition to State of the Union Addresses, Presidents deliver addresses to Congress on specific subjects. The first such speech was delivered by John Adams on the subject of U.S. relations with France. The most popular subjects for such addresses are economic, military and foreign policy issues.
In addition to bringing back the tradition of delivering a State of Union Address, Woodrow Wilson was the first President since John Adams to address Congress on specific topics. He delivered more such speeches, 17, than any other President.
Military leaders
Joint meetings are sometimes called to hear addresses by generals, admirals, or other military leaders. Perhaps the most notable example is Douglas MacArthur's farewell address to Congress. In concluding the speech he recalled an old army song which contained the line "old soldiers never die; they just fade away." He then said, "And like the old soldier of that ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty. Good-bye."
Astronauts
Six times in the first years of the Space Age, Congress jointly met to be addressed by astronauts after their trips in space.
Memorials
Nine times, Congress has jointly met to hold a memorial service for a deceased President or former President. Congress has also met to memorialize Vice President James Sherman and the Marquis de Lafayette.
Anniversaries
Congress sometimes meets to mark the anniversary of a historical event or of a presidential birthday. The first such occasion was the centennial of George Washington's first inauguration in 1789. Congress has met to mark the centennial of the birth of each President since Franklin Delano Roosevelt, with the exception of Lyndon Johnson.
Historic joint sessions
- The first occurrence of a joint session was on April 6, 1789 at Federal Hall in New York City during the 1st Congress, for the counting of electoral votes.
- The first formally recorded joint meeting occurred on December 18, 1874 during the 43rd Congress in Washington, D.C., as a reception of Kalākaua of the Kingdom of Hawaii. Because of a severe cold and hoarseness, the King could not deliver his speech, which was read by former Representative Elisha Hunt Allen, then serving as Chancellor and Chief Justice of the Hawaiian Islands.
- On September 18, 1986, just 7 months after she was swept to power by a popular revolt (the People Power Revolution of 1986) against dictator Ferdinand Marcos, president Corazon C. Aquino of the Philippines addressed the joint session of Congress during her first visit since she came home to bury slain opposition leader and husband Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. in August 1983.[7]
- On December 8, 1941, the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered the "Infamy Speech" to a joint session of Congress. Less than an hour later, Congress issued a formal declaration of war against Japan and officially brought the U.S. into World War II. This address is regarded as one of the most famous American political speeches of the 20th century.[8]
- On September 20, 2001, president George W. Bush gave a speech before a joint session of Congress in response to the September 11 attacks.[9][10]
See also
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- List of joint sessions of the United States Congress
- Joint address (Canada) - Similar event held in the Parliament of Canada
References
- ^ "State of the Union Addresses of the Presidents of the United States". Presidency.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
- ^ "The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted." Constitution of the United States: Amendments 11-27, National Archives and Records Administration
- ^ a b 3 U.S.C. § 15, Counting electoral votes in Congress
- ^ "Office of the Clerk, US House of Representatives". Artandhistory.house.gov. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
- ^ "Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives Art & History - Foreign Leaders & Dignitaries". Artandhistory.house.gov. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
- ^ ABC Television (01 Dec 2010). "The Howard Years, Episode 3: Commander-in-Chief". Retrieved 24 Oct 2010.
{{cite web}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ NinoyAquinoTV. "President Cory Aquino's historic speech (1/3) before the U.S. Congress (9-18-1986)". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
- ^ "FDR's "Day of Infamy" Speech: Crafting a Call to Arms", Prologue magazine, US National Archives, Winter 2001, Vol. 33, No. 4.
- ^ "20 September 2001; Presidential address transcript". Presentialrhetoric.com. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
- ^ "20 September 2001; Presidential address video". C-spanvideo.org. Retrieved 2012-09-26.
- "Joint Meetings, Sessions, Inaugurations". Congressional History. Office of the Clerk, House of Representatives, US Capitol. Retrieved January 23, 2007.