From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Joint session of the United States Congress
Joint session of the United States Congress
under Thomas Jefferson, who deemed it too monarchical
and sent written reports instead. Written reports were
standard until 1913, when Woodrow Wilson reestab-
lished 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 as-
semble in joint session to count the electoral votes and
declare the winners of the election.[2] The session is or-
Congress in Joint Session, September 2009 dinarily required to take place on January 6 in the calen-
dar year immediately following the meetings of the pres-
Joint sessions of the United States Congress are the idential electors.[3] Since the Twentieth Amendment, the
gatherings together of both houses of the United States newly-elected House declares the winner of the election.
Congress (the House of Representatives and Senate). In elections before 1936, the outgoing House counted the
Joint sessions are held on special occasions such as the electoral votes.
State of the Union Address and presidential inaugura- The meeting is held at 1:00 p.m. in the Chamber of the
tions. U.S. House of Representatives.[3] The sitting Vice Presi-
Meetings of Congress for presidential inaugurations dent is expected to preside, but in several cases the Pres-
are a special case called formal joint gatherings but may al-
gatherings, ident pro tempore of the Senate has chaired the proceed-
so be joint sessions if both houses are in session at the ings instead. The Vice President and the Speaker of the
time. House sit at the podium, with the Vice President in the
Joint sessions and meetings are traditionally presided seat of the Speaker of the House. Senate pages bring in
over by the Speaker of the House and take place at the the two mahogany boxes containing each state’s certified
House chamber. However, the Constitution requires the vote and place them on tables in front of the Senators
Vice President (as President of the Senate) to preside and Representatives. Each house appoints two tellers to
over the counting of electoral votes. 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
State of the Union Congress can object to any state’s vote count, provided
At some time during the first two months of each session, that the objection is supported by at least one member
the President customarily delivers the State of the Union of each house of Congress. A successful objection will be
Address, a speech in which an assessment is made of followed by debate; however, objections to the electoral
the state of the country, and the presidents’ legislative vote count are rarely raised, although it did occur dur-
agenda is outlined. The speech is modeled on the Speech ing the vote count in 2001 after the close 2000 presiden-
from the Throne, given by the British monarch. There is tial election between Governor George W. Bush of Texas
a major difference, however. The President is the princi- and the Vice President of the United States, Al Gore. Vice
pal author of his State of the Union message, while the President Gore, who as Vice President was required to
Speech from the Throne is customarily written by the preside over his own Electoral College defeat (by five
Prime Minister. electoral votes), denied the objections, all of which were
The Constitution of the United States requires that raised only by several House members and would have
the president "shall from time to time give to the favored his candidacy, after no Senators would agree to
Congress Information of the State of the Union," but does jointly object. If there are no objections or all objections
not specify whether the information should be given in a are overruled, the presiding officer declares the result
speech or a written report. of the vote and states who is elected President and Vice
The first two presidents, George Washington and President. The Senators then depart from the House
John Adams, delivered the speech in person before both Chamber.
houses of Congress, but that practice was discontinued
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Joint session of the United States Congress
Subjects of joint sessions and heads of state or dignitaries. Other countries leading the
list are: Israel (7), Mexico (7), Italy (6), Ireland (6), Ger-
meetings many, including West Germany and unified Germany (5),
South Korea (4), India (4), Canada (3), Argentina (3), Aus-
In addition to State of the Union Addresses, inaugurals
tralia (3), and the Philippines (3). Prime Minister of the
and counting of electoral votes, Joint Sessions usually fall
United Kingdom Winston Churchill made three joint ad-
into one of several topics.
dresses to Congress, more than any other foreign dig-
nitary (1941, 1943, and 1952). Prime Minister of Israel
Foreign dignitaries Yitzak Rabin addressed joint meetings of Congress on
two occasions (1976 and 1994) as did Israeli Prime Min-
ister Benjamin Netanyahu (1996 and 2011). Nelson Man-
dela of South Africa has also addressed Congress twice
(1990 and 1994).[4]
Twice have joint meetings been attended by digni-
taries from two countries: On September 18, 1978, when
Congress was addressed by Egyptian President Anwar Sa-
dat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and on
July 26, 1994, when Congress was addressed by King Hus-
sein 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 oc-
casion as a "moving moment."[5]
Winston Churchill addresses Congress in 1943
The most recent address was given by Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on May 24, 2011.[6]
Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu addressing a joint meeting
of Congress, May 24, 2011
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
King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand addresses Congress in subjects for such addresses are economic, military and
1960
foreign policy issues.
In addition to bringing back the tradition of deliver-
Foreign heads of state and heads of government from
ing a State of Union Address, Woodrow Wilson was the
48 countries have addressed joint meetings of Congress
first President since John Adams to address Congress on
more than a hundred times. France and the United King-
specific topics. He delivered more such speeches, 17, than
dom lead the list with eight joint meeting addresses by
any other President.
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Joint session of the United States Congress
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.[1]
• On December 8, 1941, the day after the attack on
President Barack Obama addresses a joint session of Congress. Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt
delivered the "Infamy Speech" to a joint session of
Since 1981 some of these addresses, such as Bill Clin- Congress. Less than an hour later, Congress issued a
ton’s 1993 Economic Address, George W. Bush’s Budget formal declaration of war against Japan and officially
Message of 2001, and Barack Obama’s joint session speech brought the U.S. into World War II. This address is
of 2009 are sometimes inaccurately labeled as State of regarded as one of the most famous American
Union Addresses. political speeches of the 20th century.[7]
• On September 20, 2001, president George W. Bush
Military leaders gave a speech before a joint session of Congress in
Joint meetings are sometimes called to hear addresses by response to the September 11 attacks[8] · .[9]
generals, admirals, or other military leaders. Perhaps the
most notable example is Douglas MacArthur’s farewell See also
address to Congress.
• List of joint sessions of the United States Congress
Astronauts
Six times in the first years of the Space Age, Congress References
jointly met to be addressed by astronauts after their trips [1] http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/sou.php
in space. [2] "The President of the Senate shall, in the presence
of the Senate and House of Representatives, open
Memorials all the certificates and the votes shall then be
Nine times, Congress has jointly met to hold a memorial counted." Constitution of the United States:
service for a deceased President or former President. Amendments 11-27, National Archives and Records
Congress has also met to memorialize Vice President Administration
James Sherman and the Marquis de Lafayette. [3] ^ 3 U.S.C. § 15, Counting electoral votes in Congress
[4] Office of the Clerk, US House of Representatives,
Anniversaries http://artandhistory.house.gov/house_history/
Congress sometimes meets to mark the anniversary of a foreignleaders.aspx
historical event or of a presidential birthday. The first [5] ABC Television (01 Dec 2010). "The Howard Years,
such occasion was the centennial of George Washington’s Episode 3: Commander-in-Chief".
first inauguration in 1789. Congress has met to mark the http://www.abc.net.au/news/howardyears/.
centennial of the birth of each President since Franklin Retrieved 24 Oct 2010.
Delano Roosevelt, with the exception of Lyndon Johnson. [6] "CNN.com". CNN.
[7] "FDR’s "Day of Infamy" Speech: Crafting a Call to
Arms", Prologue magazine, US National Archives,
Historic joint sessions Winter 2001, Vol. 33, No. 4.
• The first occurrence of a joint session was on April 6, [8] 20 september 2001 Presidential address transcript
1789 at Federal Hall in New York City during the 1st [9] 20 september 2001 Presidential address video
Congress, for the counting of electoral votes. • "Joint Meetings, Sessions, Inaugurations".
• The first formally recorded joint meeting occurred on Congressional History. Office of the Clerk, House of
December 18, 1874 during the 43rd Congress in Representatives, US Capitol. http://clerk.house.gov/
Washington, D.C., as a reception of Kalākaua of the art_history/house_history/Joint_Meetings/
Kingdom of Hawaii. Because of a severe cold and index.html. Retrieved January 23, 2007.
hoarseness, the King could not deliver his speech,
which was read by former Representative Elisha
3
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Joint session of the United States Congress
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