108th United States Congress

The 108th 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 from January 3, 2003, to January 3, 2005, during the third and fourth years of George W. Bush's presidency.

108th United States Congress
107th ←
→ 109th
United States Capitol (2004)
January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2005
Members100 senators
435 representatives
5 non-voting delegates
Senate majorityRepublican
Senate PresidentDick Cheney (R)
House majorityRepublican
House SpeakerDennis Hastert (R)
Sessions
1st: January 7, 2003 – December 8, 2003
2nd: January 20, 2004 – December 9, 2004

House members were elected in the 2002 general election on November 5, 2002. Senators were elected in three classes in the 1998 general election on November 3, 1998, 2000 general election on November 7, 2000, or 2002 general election on November 5, 2002. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 2000 United States census.

This is the most recent Congress to have a Democratic senator from South Carolina, Fritz Hollings, who retired at the end of the Congress.

Both chambers had a Republican majority, with the Republicans slightly increasing their edge in the House, and regaining control of the Senate, after party control had switched back and forth during the 107th Congress due to various factors. With President Bush, this gave the Republicans an overall federal government trifecta.

Major events
Main articles: 2003 in the United States, 2004 in the United States, and 2005 in the United States

Major legislation

Enacted
George W. Bush signing the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, surrounded by members of Congress
Main article: List of United States federal legislation
See also: List of acts of the 108th United States Congress

Proposed, but not enacted

Party summary

Senate
Party standings in the 108th Congress
  48 Democratic Senators
  1 Independent Senator, caucusing with Democrats
  51 Republican Senators
U.S. Senate in the Senate Chamber (2003)

The party summary for the Senate remained the same during the entire 108th Congress.

Party
(shading shows control)		 Total Vacant
Democratic
(D)		 Independent
(I)		Republican
(R)		Other
End of previous congress 48 1 50 1 100 0
Begin 48 1 51 0 100 0
End
Final voting share 48.0% 1.0% 51.0% 0.0%
Beginning of next congress 44 1 55 0 100 0

House of Representatives

Due to resignations and special elections, Republicans lost a net of two seats to the Democrats. All seats were filled though special elections. (See Changes in membership, below.)

Affiliation Party
(Shading indicates majority caucus)
 Total
Democratic
(D)		 Independent
(I)		 Republican
(R)		 Vacant
End of previous Congress 209 1 223 433 2
Begin 204 1 229 434 1
May 31, 2003 228 434 1
June 5, 2003 205 229 435 0
December 9, 2003 228 434 1
January 20, 2004 227 433 2
February 17, 2004 228 434 1
June 1, 2004 207 228 435 0
June 9, 2004 206 434 1
July 20, 2004 229 435 0
August 31, 2004 205 228 434 1
September 23, 2004 204 227 432 3
Final voting share 48.0% 52.0%
Non-voting members 4 0 1 5 0
Beginning of next Congress 201 1 232 434 1

Leadership

Senate
Senate President
Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney (R)
Senate President pro tempore
Ted Stevens
Ted Stevens (R)

Majority (Republican) leadership

Minority (Democratic) leadership

House of Representatives
Speaker of the House
Dennis Hastert
Dennis Hastert (R)

Majority (Republican) leadership

Minority (Democratic) leadership

Members

Senate

The Senators are preceded by the class, In this Congress, Class 3 meant their term ended with this Congress, requiring reelection in 2004; Class 1 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring reelection in 2006; and Class 2 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring reelection in 2008.

House of Representatives
See also: List of United States congressional districts

The Members of the House of Representatives are preceded by the district number.

Changes in membership

Members who came and left during this Congress.

Senate

There were no changes in Senate membership during this Congress.

House of Representatives
See also: List of special elections to the United States House of Representatives
House changes
District Vacated by Reason for change Successor Date of successor's
formal installation[lower-alpha 1]
Hawaii 2nd Ed Case (D) Member-elect Patsy Mink (D) died September 28, 2002, but was posthumously elected to the 108th Congress.
Ed Case had won a special election for the seat in the 107th Congress November 30, 2002, but not for the 108th Congress.
A special election was held January 4, 2003.		 Ed Case (D) January 4, 2003
Texas 19th Larry Combest (R) Resigned May 31, 2003, for personal reasons.
A special election was held June 3, 2003.		 Randy Neugebauer (R) June 5, 2003
Texas 4th Ralph Hall (D) Changed political parties, with no interruption in his service. Ralph Hall (R) January 5, 2004
Kentucky 6th Ernie Fletcher (R) Resigned December 9, 2003, to become Governor of Kentucky.
A special election was held February 17, 2004		 Ben Chandler (D) February 17, 2004
South Dakota at-large Bill Janklow (R) Resigned January 20, 2004, because of a December 2003 felony conviction in relation to a traffic accident.
A special election was held June 1, 2004.		 Stephanie Herseth (D) June 1, 2004
North Carolina 1st Frank Ballance (D) Resigned June 9, 2004, as a result of health problems.
A special election was held July 20, 2004		 G. K. Butterfield (D) July 20, 2004
Louisiana 5th Rodney Alexander (D) Switched parties August 9, 2004 Rodney Alexander (R) August 9, 2004
Nebraska 1st Doug Bereuter (R) Resigned August 31, 2004, to head the Asia Foundation. Remained vacant until the next Congress.
Florida 14th Porter Goss (R) Resigned September 23, 2004, to head the CIA. Remained vacant until the next Congress.
California 5th Bob Matsui (D) Died January 1, 2005 Remained vacant until the next Congress.

Committees

Lists of committees and their party leaders for members of the House and Senate committees can be found through the Official Congressional Directory at the bottom of this article. The directory after the pages of terms of service lists committees of the Senate, House (Standing with Subcommittees, Select and Special) and Joint and, after that, House/Senate committee assignments. 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.

Senate

House of Representatives

Joint committees

Caucuses
Main article: Caucuses of the United States Congress

Employees

Legislative branch agency directors

Senate

House of Representatives

Employees include:[lower-alpha 2]

See also

Elections

Membership lists

Notes
  1. When seated or oath administered, not necessarily when service began.
  2. See also: Rules of the House: "Other officers and officials"

References
  1. The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) is affiliated with the United States Democratic Party.
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