128-606: The United States House of Representatives Select Committee on Assassinations ( HSCA ) was established on September 15, 1976 by U.S. House Resolution 1540 to investigate the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963 and 1968, respectively. The select committee was first formed by the 94th United States Congress , and expired at the end of the 95th Congress . The HSCA completed its investigation in 1978 and issued its final report in 1979, which concluded that Kennedy “was probably assassinated as
256-704: A 1984 case, Davis v. Bandemer , the Supreme Court held that gerrymandered districts could be struck down based on the Equal Protection Clause , but the Court did not articulate a standard for when districts are impermissibly gerrymandered. However, the Court overruled Davis in 2004 in Vieth v. Jubelirer , and Court precedent holds gerrymandering to be a political question . According to calculations made by Burt Neuborne using criteria set forth by
384-488: A 70% higher pension than other federal employees based on the first 20 years of service. They become eligible to receive benefits after five years of service (two and one-half terms in the House). The FERS is composed of three elements: Members of Congress may retire with full benefits at age 62 after five years of service, at age 50 after 20 years of service, and at any age after 25 years of service. With an average age of 58,
512-574: A FEHBP plan upon retirement. The ACA and the final rule do not affect members' or staffers' eligibility for Medicare benefits. The ACA and the final rule also do not affect members' and staffers' eligibility for other health benefits related to federal employment, so members and staff are eligible to participate in FSAFEDS (which has three options within the program), the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program, and
640-551: A candidate. Therefore, Article I, Section 5, which permits each House to be the judge of the qualifications of its own members does not permit either House to establish additional qualifications. Likewise a State could not establish additional qualifications. William C. C. Claiborne served in the House below the minimum age of 25. Disqualification: under the Fourteenth Amendment , a federal or state officer who takes
768-529: A different path in its investigation. The Agency unilaterally deprived the commission of a chance to obtain the full truth, which will now never be known. Significantly, the Warren Commission's conclusion that the agencies of the government co-operated with it is, in retrospect, not the truth. We also now know that the Agency set up a process that could only have been designed to frustrate the ability of
896-520: A federal statutory requirement since 1967 pursuant to the act titled An Act For the relief of Doctor Ricardo Vallejo Samala and to provide for congressional redistricting . Before that law, general ticket representation was used by some states. States typically redraw district boundaries after each census, though they may do so at other times, such as the 2003 Texas redistricting . Each state determines its own district boundaries, either through legislation or through non-partisan panels. Malapportionment
1024-532: A four-year term, the resident commissioner's role is identical to the delegates from the other territories. The five delegates and resident commissioner may participate in debates; before 2011, they were also allowed to vote in committees and the Committee of the Whole when their votes would not be decisive. States entitled to more than one representative are divided into single-member districts . This has been
1152-651: A further executive order. Further, President Jimmy Carter issued Executive Order 12036 , which in some ways expanded Executive Order 11905. In 1977, the reporter Carl Bernstein wrote an article in the Rolling Stone magazine, stating that the relationship between the CIA and the media was far more extensive than what the Church Committee revealed. Bernstein said that the committee had covered it up, because it would have shown "embarrassing relationships in
1280-448: A lengthy article by Seymour Hersh detailing operations engaged in by the CIA over the years that had been dubbed the " family jewels ". Covert action programs involving assassination attempts on foreign leaders and covert attempts to subvert foreign governments were reported for the first time. In addition, the article discussed efforts by intelligence agencies to collect information on
1408-592: A member requires only a simple majority, and does not remove that member from office. As a check on the regional, popular, and rapidly changing politics of the House, the Senate has several distinct powers. For example, the " advice and consent " powers (such as the power to approve treaties and confirm members of the Cabinet ) are a sole Senate privilege. The House, however, has the exclusive power to initiate bills for raising revenue, to impeach officials, and to choose
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#17327760895881536-556: A more deliberative upper house, elected by the lower house, that would represent the individual states, and would be less susceptible to variations of mass sentiment. The House is commonly referred to as the lower house and the Senate the upper house , although the United States Constitution does not use that terminology. Both houses' approval is necessary for the passage of legislation . The Virginia Plan drew
1664-613: A perfectly legitimate activity of CIA has raised a question whether secret intelligence operations can be conducted by the United States." On August 17, 1975 Senator Frank Church appeared on NBC's Meet the Press , and discussed the NSA, without mentioning it by name: In the need to develop a capacity to know what potential enemies are doing, the United States government has perfected a technological capability that enables us to monitor
1792-578: A recommendation that Colby be authorized to brief only rather than testify, and that he would be told to discuss only the general subject, with details of specific covert actions to be avoided except for realistic hypotheticals. But the Church Committee had full authority to call a hearing and require Colby's testimony. Ford and his top advisers met with Colby to prepare him for the hearing. Colby testified, "These last two months have placed American intelligence in danger. The almost hysterical excitement surrounding any news story mentioning CIA or referring even to
1920-527: A result of a conspiracy .” In addition to acoustic analysis of a police channel dictabelt recording , the HSCA also commissioned numerous other scientific studies of assassination-related evidence that corroborate the Warren Commission 's findings. However, the HSCA challenged the Warren Commission's conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald was the only shooter, while stating that it was “unable to identify
2048-624: A result of the political pressure created by the revelations of the Church Committee and the Pike Committee investigations, President Gerald Ford issued Executive Order 11905 . This executive order banned political assassinations: "No employee of the United States Government shall engage in, or conspire to engage in, political assassination." Senator Church criticized this move on the ground that any future president could easily set aside or change this executive order by
2176-543: A result, the process to gain ballot access varies greatly from state to state, and in the case of a third party in the United States may be affected by results of previous years' elections. In 1967, Congress passed the Uniform Congressional District Act , which requires all representatives to be elected from single-member-districts. Following the Wesberry v. Sanders decision, Congress
2304-438: A single MRA that can fund any expense—even though each component is calculated individually, the franking allowance can be used to pay for personnel expenses if the member so chooses. In 2011 this allowance averaged $ 1.4 million per member, and ranged from $ 1.35 to $ 1.67 million. The Personnel allowance was $ 944,671 per member in 2010. Each member may employ no more than 18 permanent employees. Members' employees' salary
2432-468: A two-year term, with no term limit. In most states, major party candidates for each district are nominated in partisan primary elections , typically held in spring to late summer. In some states, the Republican and Democratic parties choose their candidates for each district in their political conventions in spring or early summer, which often use unanimous voice votes to reflect either confidence in
2560-400: A tyranny, if a dictator ever took charge in this country, the technological capacity that the intelligence community has given the government could enable it to impose total tyranny, and there would be no way to fight back because the most careful effort to combine together in resistance to the government, no matter how privately it was done, is within the reach of the government to know. Such is
2688-741: A voice in committees, and can introduce bills on the floor, but cannot vote on the ultimate passage of bills. Presently, the District of Columbia and the five inhabited U.S. territories each elect a delegate. A seventh delegate, representing the Cherokee Nation , has been formally proposed but has not yet been seated. An eighth delegate, representing the Choctaw Nation is guaranteed by treaty but has not yet been proposed. Additionally, some territories may choose to also elect shadow representatives , though these are not official members of
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#17327760895882816-440: Is calculated based on three components: one for personnel, one for official office expenses and one for official or franked mail. The personnel allowance is the same for all members; the office and mail allowances vary based on the members' district's distance from Washington, D.C., the cost of office space in the member's district, and the number of non-business addresses in their district. These three components are used to calculate
2944-582: Is capped at $ 168,411 as of 2009. Church Commission The Church Committee (formally the United States Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities ) was a US Senate select committee in 1975 that investigated abuses by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), National Security Agency (NSA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and
3072-688: Is no charge for outpatient care if it is provided in the National Capital Region , but members are billed at full reimbursement rates (set by the Department of Defense) for inpatient care. (Outside the National Capital Region, charges are at full reimbursement rates for both inpatient and outpatient care). House members are eligible for a Member's Representational Allowance (MRA) to support them in their official and representational duties to their district. The MRA
3200-468: Is no legislation at the federal level mandating one particular system for elections to the House, systems are set at the state level. As of 2022, first-past-the-post or plurality voting is used in 46 states, electing 412 representatives, ranked-choice or instant-runoff voting in two states (Alaska and Maine), electing 3 representatives, and two-round system in two states (Georgia and Louisiana), electing 20 representatives. Elected representatives serve
3328-543: Is occasionally abbreviated as either "MOC" or "MC" (similar to MP ). However, the abbreviation "Rep." for Representative is more common, as it avoids confusion as to whether they are a member of the House or the Senate . All members of Congress are automatically enrolled in the Federal Employees Retirement System , a pension system also used for federal civil servants , except the formula for calculating Congress members' pension results in
3456-545: Is referred to as the "upper" house, and the House of Representatives as the "lower" house. Since December 2014, the annual salary of each representative is $ 174,000, the same as it is for each member of the Senate . The speaker of the House and the majority and minority leaders earn more: $ 223,500 for the speaker and $ 193,400 for their party leaders (the same as Senate leaders). A cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) increase takes effect annually unless Congress votes not to accept it. Congress sets members' salaries; however,
3584-610: Is the lower chamber of the United States Congress , with the Senate being the upper chamber . Together, they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States . The House is charged with the passage of federal legislation , known as bills ; those that are also passed by the Senate are sent to the president for signature or veto . The House's exclusive powers include initiating all revenue bills, impeaching federal officers, and electing
3712-504: Is to have one party govern and the other party watch." The leadership structure of the House also developed during approximately the same period, with the positions of majority leader and minority leader being created in 1899. While the minority leader was the head of the minority party, the majority leader remained subordinate to the speaker. The speakership reached its zenith during the term of Republican Joseph Gurney Cannon , from 1903 to 1911. The speaker's powers included chairmanship of
3840-579: Is unconstitutional and districts must be approximately equal in population (see Wesberry v. Sanders ). Additionally, Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibits redistricting plans that are intended to, or have the effect of, discriminating against racial or language minority voters. Aside from malapportionment and discrimination against racial or language minorities, federal courts have allowed state legislatures to engage in gerrymandering to benefit political parties or incumbents. In
3968-414: Is unique in that it holds an all-party primary election on the general Election Day with a subsequent runoff election between the top two finishers (regardless of party) if no candidate received a majority in the primary. The states of Washington and California use a similar (though not identical) system to that used by Louisiana. Seats vacated during a term are filled through special elections , unless
United States House Select Committee on Assassinations - Misplaced Pages Continue
4096-565: The American Political Science Association , only about 40 seats, less than 10% of the House membership, are chosen through a genuinely contested electoral process, given partisan gerrymandering. Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution sets three qualifications for representatives. Each representative must: (1) be at least twenty-five (25) years old; (2) have been a citizen of the United States for
4224-822: The District of Columbia and the U.S. territories of Guam , the U.S. Virgin Islands , the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , and American Samoa . A non-voting Resident Commissioner, serving a four-year term, represents the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico . As of the 2020 census , the largest delegation was California , with 52 representatives. Six states have only one representative apiece : Alaska , Delaware , North Dakota , South Dakota , Vermont , and Wyoming . The House meets in
4352-528: The Dominican Republic , Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam , Gen. René Schneider of Chile and Fidel Castro of Cuba . President Gerald Ford urged the Senate to withhold the report from the public, but failed, and under recommendations and pressure by the committee, Ford issued Executive Order 11905 (ultimately replaced in 1981 by President Reagan 's Executive Order 12333 ) to ban US sanctioned assassinations of foreign leaders. In addition,
4480-742: The Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), an employer-sponsored health insurance program, and were eligible to participate in other programs, such as the Federal Flexible Spending Account Program (FSAFEDS). However, Section 1312(d)(3)(D) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) provided that the only health plans that the federal government can make available to members of Congress and certain congressional staff are those created under
4608-538: The Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Chaired by Idaho Senator Frank Church ( D - ID ), the committee was part of a series of investigations into intelligence abuses in 1975, dubbed the "Year of Intelligence", including its House counterpart, the Pike Committee , and the presidential Rockefeller Commission . The committee's efforts led to the establishment of the permanent US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence . The most shocking revelations of
4736-696: The Secret Service was deemed deficient in their protection of the President. The HSCA made several accusations of deficiency against the FBI and CIA as the Church Committee in 1976. The accusations encompassed organizational failures, miscommunication, and a desire to keep certain parts of their operations secret. Furthermore, the Warren Commission expected these agencies to be forthcoming with any information that would aid their investigation. But
4864-650: The Twenty-seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits a change in salary (but not COLA ) from taking effect until after the next election of the whole House. Representatives are eligible for retirement benefits after serving for five years. Outside pay is limited to 15% of congressional pay, and certain types of income involving a fiduciary responsibility or personal endorsement are prohibited. Salaries are not for life, only during active term. Representatives use
4992-450: The Uniform Congressional District Act , sit in single member congressional districts allocated to each state on the basis of population as measured by the United States census , with each district having at least a single representative, provided that that state is entitled to them. Since its inception in 1789, all representatives have been directly elected. Although suffrage was initially limited, it gradually widened, particularly after
5120-695: The United States House of Representatives voted 280–65 to establish the Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) in order to investigate the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. . The committee was both controversial and divided among itself. The first chairman, Thomas N. Downing of Virginia retired in January 1977 and was replaced by Henry B. Gonzalez on February 2, 1977. Gonzalez and Chief Counsel Richard A. Sprague had irreconcilable disagreements over control of
5248-566: The United States Postal Service from learning that government agents were opening mail. CIA agents moved mail to a private room to open the mail or in some cases opened envelopes at night after stuffing them in briefcases or in coat pockets to deceive postal officials. On May 9, 1975, the Church Committee decided to call acting CIA director William Colby . That same day Ford's top advisers ( Henry Kissinger , Donald Rumsfeld , Philip W. Buchen , and John Marsh ) drafted
United States House Select Committee on Assassinations - Misplaced Pages Continue
5376-617: The assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, concluding that the federal agencies the FBI and the CIA had failed in their duties and responsibilities and that the investigation into the assassination had been deficient. There was also significant public interest after a video segment of the Zapruder film was first shown on TV on March 6, 1975, during the ABC late-night television show Good Night America , after being stored by Life magazine out of view for almost twelve years. The footage showed
5504-694: The president if a presidential candidate fails to get a majority of the Electoral College votes. Both House and Senate confirmation is now required to fill a vacancy if the vice presidency is vacant, according to the provisions of the Twenty-fifth Amendment . The Senate and House are further differentiated by term lengths and the number of districts represented: the Senate has longer terms of six years, fewer members (currently one hundred, two for each state), and (in all but seven delegations) larger constituencies per member. The Senate
5632-556: The size of the House states: "The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative." Congress regularly increased the size of the House to account for population growth until it fixed the number of voting House members at 435 in 1911. In 1959, upon the admission of Alaska and Hawaii , the number was temporarily increased to 437 (seating one representative from each of those states without changing existing apportionment), and returned to 435 four years later, after
5760-470: The 1950s and 1960s with some of the most powerful organizations and individuals in American journalism." R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. , editor of the conservative magazine The American Spectator , wrote that the committee "betrayed CIA agents and operations." The committee had not received names, so had none to release, as confirmed by later CIA director George H. W. Bush . However, Senator Jim McClure used
5888-594: The ACA or offered through a health care exchange . The Office of Personnel Management promulgated a final rule to comply with Section 1312(d)(3)(D). Under the rule, effective January 1, 2014, members and designated staff are no longer able to purchase FEHBP plans as active employees. However, if members enroll in a health plan offered through a Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) exchange, they remain eligible for an employer contribution toward coverage, and members and designated staff eligible for retirement may enroll in
6016-477: The Book Depository). Their conclusion that the President was struck by a bullet that entered in the right rear of the head near the cowlick area and exited from the right front side of the head differed from a diagram in the Warren Commission's report showing this entrance wound low in the back of the head. The authenticity of several fingerprints and a palm print found on assassination-related materials
6144-841: The Bush administration's use of 9/11 to make "monarchist claims" that are "unprecedented on this side of the North Atlantic". In September 2006, the University of Kentucky hosted a forum called "Who's Watching the Spies? Intelligence Activities and the Rights of Americans", bringing together two Democratic committee members, former Vice President of the United States Walter Mondale and former US Senator Walter "Dee" Huddleston of Kentucky, and Schwarz to discuss
6272-453: The CIA had cultivated relationships with private institutions, including the press. Without identifying individuals by name, the Church Committee stated that it found fifty journalists who had official, but secret, relationships with the CIA. It also unearthed Project SHAMROCK , a program in which the major telecommunications companies shared their traffic with the NSA , and officially confirmed
6400-515: The CIA was being cooperative and forthcoming with the investigation when he learned that the CIA's special liaison to the committee researchers, George Joannides , was actually involved with some of the organizations that Lee Harvey Oswald was allegedly involved with in the months leading up to the assassination. Among these organizations was an anti-Castro group, the Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantil , which
6528-613: The Church Committee's reports have been said to constitute the most extensive review of intelligence activities ever made available to the public. Much of the contents were classified, but over 50,000 pages were declassified under the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 . The commission also carried out an investigation into the November 22, 1963, assassination of John F. Kennedy, questioning 50 witnesses and accessing 3,000 documents. It focused on
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#17327760895886656-568: The Commission and the different agencies and departments examining Kennedy's assassination performed in good faith and were thorough in their investigation of Oswald, they performed with "varying degrees of competency" and the search for possible conspiracy was inadequate. The HSCA determined, based on available evidence, that the probable conspiracy did not involve the governments of Cuba or the Soviet Union . The committee also stated that
6784-564: The Confederation Congress's sanction to "amend the Articles of Confederation". All states except Rhode Island agreed to send delegates. Congress's structure was a contentious issue among the founders during the convention. Edmund Randolph 's Virginia Plan called for a bicameral Congress: the lower house would be "of the people", elected directly by the people of the United States and representing public opinion , and
6912-608: The Contract did not pass Congress, were vetoed by President Bill Clinton , or were substantially altered in negotiations with Clinton. However, after Republicans held control in the 1996 election , Clinton and the Gingrich-led House agreed on the first balanced federal budget in decades, along with a substantial tax cut. The Republicans held on to the House until 2006 , when the Democrats won control and Nancy Pelosi
7040-492: The Dallas Police Department's original motorcycle deployment plan prevented the use of maximum safety precautions." Although the HSCA had prepared a draft report confirming the Warren Commission 's single shooter theory and finding no evidence of conspiracy, at the eleventh hour, the committee was swayed by a since-disputed acoustic analysis of a dictabelt police channel recording. This acoustic analysis of
7168-454: The FBI and CIA only saw it as their duty to respond to specific requests for information from the commission. However, the HSCA found the FBI and CIA were deficient in performing even that limited role. Although the HSCA publicly released its findings in 12 volumes and a single-volume summary report, the majority of primary documents were sealed for 50 years under congressional rules. In 1992, Congress passed legislation to collect and open up all
7296-700: The Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program. The Office of the Attending Physician at the U.S. Capitol provides members with health care for an annual fee. The attending physician provides routine exams, consultations, and certain diagnostics, and may write prescriptions (although the office does not dispense them). The office does not provide vision or dental care. Members (but not their dependents, and not former members) may also receive medical and emergency dental care at military treatment facilities. There
7424-400: The HSCA report did not reflect their investigative work, and that information that did not conform with the committee leadership's preconceived conclusions was ignored or left out of the report and supporting volumes." In 1992, author Bonar Menninger dismissed the committee report as Blakey's $ 5 Million Folly . Robert Blakey, the chief counsel of the committee, later changed his views that
7552-438: The HSCA's acoustic analysis is widely considered to be discredited. Unlike the Warren Commission and the FBI who had concluded that there was a minor interest in their investigation of this aspect of the life of the former marine without digging further on the grounds that their investigation had not revealed the presence of Lee Harvey Oswald . at 544 Camp Street17, the HSCA revealed on the contrary several witnesses who confirmed
7680-681: The HSCA, the Justice Department reviewed those findings through the FBI's Technical Services Division and by contracting the National Academy of Sciences , which specially appointed the Committee on Ballistic Acoustics (CBA). Both the FBI and CBA analyzed the acoustic data and BBN's scientific methodology and concluded that their findings were mistaken. Although there has been some recent back-and-forth between different researchers,
7808-406: The House and are separate individuals from their official delegates. Representatives and delegates serve for two-year terms, while a resident commissioner (a kind of delegate) serves for four years. A term starts on January 3 following the election in November. The U.S. Constitution requires that vacancies in the House be filled with a special election. The term of the replacement member expires on
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#17327760895887936-409: The House would have women-only spaces following the election of Sarah McBride . Under Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution , seats in the House of Representatives are apportioned among the states by population, as determined by the census conducted every ten years. Each state is entitled to at least one representative, however small its population. The only constitutional rule relating to
8064-553: The King assassination, the committee concluded in its report that while King was killed by one rifle shot from James Earl Ray , "there is a likelihood" that it was the result of a conspiracy, and that no U.S. government agency was part of this conspiracy; on the contrary, it was more likely to be between Ray and his brothers. On the Kennedy assassination, the HSCA concluded in its 1979 report that: The committee further concluded that it
8192-653: The Senate did not hold the balance of power between North and South during the war. The years of Reconstruction that followed witnessed large majorities for the Republican Party , which many Americans associated with the Union's victory in the Civil War and the ending of slavery. The Reconstruction period ended in about 1877; the ensuing era, known as the Gilded Age , was marked by sharp political divisions in
8320-434: The Subcommittee on the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., 95th Congress Members of the Subcommittee on the Assassination of John F. Kennedy, 95th Congress The HSCA commissioned a number of expert scientific studies to re-investigate the physical evidence of the JFK assassination. In comparison to witness testimony and government documents, the committee felt that such investigations would particularly benefit from
8448-414: The US House of Representatives is older than comparable chambers in Russia and the other G7 nations. Members of Congress are permitted to deduct up to $ 3,000 of living expenses per year incurred while living away from their district or home state. Before 2014, members of Congress and their staff had access to essentially the same health benefits as federal civil servants; they could voluntarily enroll in
8576-407: The Warren Commission. According to a once-secret report written in 2013 by the CIA's top in-house historian, David Robarge, the CIA admits McCone and other senior CIA officials withheld 'incendiary' information from the Warren Commission. United States House of Representatives Minority (213) Vacant (2) [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The United States House of Representatives
8704-542: The ability of a small number of senior members to obstruct legislation they did not favor. There was also a shift from the 1990s to greater control of the legislative program by the majority party; the power of party leaders (especially the speaker) grew considerably. According to historian Julian E. Zelizer , the majority Democrats minimized the number of staff positions available to the minority Republicans, kept them out of decision-making, and gerrymandered their home districts. Republican Newt Gingrich argued American democracy
8832-454: The actions of the FBI and CIA, and their support for the Warren Commission . The Church commission raised the question of the possible connection between the plans to assassinate political leaders abroad, particularly in Cuba, and that of the 35th President of the United States. The Church Commission questioned the processes for obtaining information, blaming federal agencies for failing in their duties and responsibilities and concluding that
8960-409: The allegation in the 1980 election, when Church was defeated. The Committee's work has more recently been criticized after the September 11 attacks , for leading to legislation reducing the ability of the CIA to gather human intelligence . In response to such criticism, the chief counsel of the committee, Frederick A. O. Schwarz Jr. , retorted with a book co-authored by Aziz Z. Huq , denouncing
9088-486: The benefit of authenticated photographs, x-rays and notes from the Kennedy autopsy , a nine-doctor panel of expert pathologists reviewed and corroborated the Warren Commission's medical findings. Although the HSCA medical panel was critical of the thoroughness and methodology of the original autopsy, they concurred, although Cyril Wecht dissented, with the Warren Commission's conclusion that two, and only two bullet wounds entered from above and behind (the direction of Oswald in
9216-458: The capability of this technology. (...) I don't want to see this country ever go across the bridge. I know the capacity that is there to make tyranny total in America, and we must see to it that this agency and all agencies that possess this technology operate within the law and under proper supervision so that we never cross over that abyss. That is the abyss from which there is no return. As
9344-502: The civil air patrol. The HSCA did not interview the personal physician of John F Kennedy, the doctor Georges Burkley who was never interviewed by the Warren Commission. In particular, the various investigations performed by the U.S. government were faulted for insufficient consideration of the possibility of a conspiracy in each case. The committee in its report also made recommendations for legislative and administrative improvements, including making some assassinations Federal crimes. On
9472-399: The committee in 1976–79 to obtain any information that might adversely affect the Agency. Many have told me that the culture of the Agency is one of prevarication and dissimulation and that you cannot trust it or its people. Period. End of story. I am now in that camp. According to a 2015 Politico report, newly declassified documents show that CIA director John A. McCone hid evidence from
9600-595: The committee include Operation MKULTRA , which involved the drugging and torture of unwitting US citizens as part of human experimentation on mind control; COINTELPRO , which involved the surveillance and infiltration of American political and civil-rights organizations; Family Jewels , a CIA program to covertly assassinate foreign leaders; and Operation Mockingbird as a systematic propaganda campaign with domestic and foreign journalists operating as CIA assets and dozens of US news organizations providing cover for CIA activity, confirming earlier stories that charged that
9728-856: The committee produced seven case studies on covert operations, but only the one on Chile was released, titled "Covert Action in Chile: 1963–1973". The rest were kept secret at CIA's request. According to a declassified National Security Agency history, the Church Committee also helped to uncover the NSA's Watch List. The information for the list was compiled into the so-called "Rhyming Dictionary" of biographical information, which at its peak held millions of names—thousands of which were US citizens. Some prominent members of this list were Joanne Woodward , Thomas Watson , Walter Mondale , Art Buchwald , Arthur F. Burns , Gregory Peck , Otis G. Pike , Tom Wicker , Whitney Young , Howard Baker , Frank Church , David Dellinger , Ralph Abernathy , and others. But among
9856-463: The committee, budget and investigative techniques, ending with Gonzalez's resignation. Sprague also resigned, in part to increase the chances of Congress voting to reconstitute the HSCA for the new two-year congressional term. Sprague's like-minded deputy Robert K. Tanenbaum also resigned shortly thereafter. Louis Stokes replaced Gonzalez as chairman and G. Robert Blakey was appointed as Chief Counsel and Staff Director to replace Sprague. Members of
9984-453: The conspiracy did not involve any organized crime group, anti- Castro group, nor the FBI , CIA , or Secret Service . The committee found that it could not exclude the possibility that individual members of the national syndicate of organized crime or anti-Castro Cubans were involved in a probable conspiracy to assassinate President Kennedy. However, some members of the committee would later state their personal belief that one of those groups
10112-524: The date that the original member's would have expired. The Constitution permits the House to expel a member with a two-thirds vote. In the history of the United States, only six members have been expelled from the House; in 1861, three were removed for supporting the Confederate states' secession: Democrats John Bullock Clark of Missouri, John William Reid of Missouri, and Henry Cornelius Burnett of Kentucky. Democrat Michael Myers of Pennsylvania
10240-417: The dictabelt recording by the firm Bolt, Beranek and Newman Inc. concluded that four shots were fired at the president, thus causing the HSCA to reverse its earlier position and report "that Kennedy was probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy." In terms of scientific evidence, the HSCA acknowledged that the existence of a second shooter was only supported by this acoustic analysis. As recommended by
10368-432: The electorate. The Democratic Party and Republican Party each held majorities in the House at various times. The late 19th and early 20th centuries also saw a dramatic increase in the power of the speaker of the House . The rise of the speaker's influence began in the 1890s, during the tenure of Republican Thomas Brackett Reed . "Czar Reed", as he was nicknamed, attempted to put into effect his view that "The best system
10496-478: The envelope and order form used to purchase the rifle, the application forms to rent the PO Box that the rifle was delivered to, and the notated backyard photo depicting Oswald holding the rifle. The Department of Justice, the F.B.I , the C.I.A. and the Warren Commission were all criticized for the quality of the investigations carried out and for the way they informed the Warren Commission. The Secret Services
10624-511: The evidence relating to Kennedy's death, and created the Assassination Records Review Board to further that goal. No materials have been uncovered which significantly change the conclusions or opinion of the HSCA. The ARRB reported: "Because the HSCA investigation was marked by internal squabbling and disillusioned staffers, the committee's records were the subject of ongoing controversy. Some ex-staffers claimed
10752-552: The existence of this signals intelligence agency to the public for the first time. By the early years of the 1970s, a series of troubling revelations had appeared in the press concerning intelligence activities. First came the revelations by Army intelligence officer Christopher Pyle in January 1970 of the US Army 's spying on the civilian population and Senator Sam Ervin 's Senate investigations produced more revelations. Then on December 22, 1974, The New York Times published
10880-484: The first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Pursuant to the Uniform Congressional District Act , representatives must be elected from single-member districts . After a census is taken (in a year ending in 0), the year ending in 2 is the first year in which elections for U.S. House districts are based on that census (with the Congress based on those districts starting its term on the following January 3). As there
11008-539: The incumbent or the result of bargaining in earlier private discussions. Exceptions can result in so-called floor fights—convention votes by delegates, with outcomes that can be hard to predict. Especially if a convention is closely divided, a losing candidate may contend further by meeting the conditions for a primary election. The courts generally do not consider ballot access rules for independent and third party candidates to be additional qualifications for holding office and no federal statutes regulate ballot access. As
11136-439: The influential Rules Committee and the ability to appoint members of other House committees. However, these powers were curtailed in the "Revolution of 1910" because of the efforts of Democrats and dissatisfied Republicans who opposed Cannon's heavy-handed tactics. The Democratic Party dominated the House of Representatives during the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–1945), often winning over two-thirds of
11264-537: The investigation into the assassination had been deficient. It participated in the creation of the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA), the second major investigation of the JFK assassination, from 1976 to 1979. The Church Committee learned that, beginning in the 1950s, the CIA and Federal Bureau of Investigation had intercepted, opened and photographed more than 215,000 pieces of mail by
11392-573: The land gained during the Mexican–American War . Conflict over slavery and other issues persisted until the Civil War (1861–1865), which began soon after several southern states attempted to secede from the Union. The war culminated in the South's defeat and in the abolition of slavery. All southern senators except Andrew Johnson resigned their seats at the beginning of the war, and therefore
11520-470: The messages that go through the air. (...) Now, that is necessary and important to the United States as we look abroad at enemies or potential enemies. We must know, at the same time, that capability at any time could be turned around on the American people, and no American would have any privacy left: such is the capability to monitor everything—telephone conversations, telegrams, it doesn't matter. There would be no place to hide. If this government ever became
11648-504: The most shocking revelations of the committee was the discovery of Operation SHAMROCK , in which the major telecommunications companies shared their traffic with the NSA from 1945 to the early 1970s. The information gathered in this operation fed directly into the Watch List. In 1975, the committee decided to unilaterally declassify the particulars of this operation, against the objections of President Ford's administration. Together,
11776-678: The most voting members. Under the Articles of Confederation , the Congress of the Confederation was a unicameral body with equal representation for each state, any of which could veto most actions. After eight years of a more limited confederal government under the Articles, numerous political leaders such as James Madison and Alexander Hamilton initiated the Constitutional Convention in 1787, which received
11904-418: The mostly-intact stretcher bullet, bullet fragments from the presidential limo and the three cartridge casings from the sniper's nest were all fired from Oswald's rifle to the exclusion of all others. A technique using neutron activation analysis (NAA), a form of what has become known as comparative bullet-lead analysis (CBLA), was used to analyse the bullet lead from the JFK assassination. It revealed that it
12032-525: The other (the Senate) would provide equal representation amongst the states. The Constitution was ratified by the requisite number of states (nine out of the 13) in 1788, but its implementation was set for March 4, 1789. The House began work on April 1, 1789, when it achieved a quorum for the first time. During the first half of the 19th century, the House was frequently in conflict with the Senate over regionally divisive issues, including slavery . The North
12160-472: The other gunman or the extent of the conspiracy.” The HSCA likewise concluded, based on circumstantial evidence, that there was a "likelihood” King was also assassinated “as a result of a conspiracy ." The two-year inquiry cost $ 5.8 million. In December 1978, the HSCA recommended that the Department of Justice review its findings to decide if further investigation was merited. The HSCA found that although
12288-427: The past seven years; and (3) be (at the time of the election) an inhabitant of the state they represent. Members are not required to live in the districts they represent, but they traditionally do. The age and citizenship qualifications for representatives are less than those for senators . The constitutional requirements of Article I, Section 2 for election to Congress are the maximum requirements that can be imposed on
12416-421: The photographic evidence of the case. Forensic anthropologists as well as photographic and radiographic experts, based on unique anatomical details, verified that JFK's autopsy photos and x-rays were only of the late president. Forensic anthropologists were also used to verify that all relevant photographs of Lee Harvey Oswald were of only one person. They verified that the backyard photos (showing Oswald holding
12544-646: The political activities of US citizens. The creation of the Church Committee was approved on January 27, 1975, by a vote of 82 to 4 in the Senate. The Church Committee's final report was published in April 1976 in six books. Also published were seven volumes of Church Committee hearings in the Senate. Before the release of the final report, the committee also published an interim report titled "Alleged Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders", which investigated alleged attempts to assassinate foreign leaders, including Patrice Lumumba of Zaire , Rafael Trujillo of
12672-629: The prefix " The Honorable " before their names. A member of the House is referred to as a representative , congressman , or congresswoman . Representatives are usually identified in the media and other sources by party and state, and sometimes by congressional district, or a major city or community within their district. For example, Democratic representative Nancy Pelosi , who represents California's 11th congressional district within San Francisco , may be identified as "D–California", "D–California–11" or "D–San Francisco". "Member of congress"
12800-532: The presence of Lee Harvey Oswald within the illegal branch of the CIA, including the brothers Allen and Daniel Campbell, former marines recruited by Guy Banister , his secretary Delphine Roberts or his own brother again. In the address book of Lee Harvey Oswald was also found the coordinates of several notorious anti-Castroists. The committee also found a connection between Lee Harvey Oswald and David Ferrie . The committee indicated that Lee Harvey Oswald and David Ferrie knew each other since 1955 and their actions in
12928-502: The president if no candidate receives a majority of votes in the Electoral College . Members of the House serve a fixed term of two years, with each seat up for election before the start of the next Congress. Special elections also occur when a seat is vacated early enough. The House's composition was established by Article One of the United States Constitution . The House is composed of representatives who, pursuant to
13056-417: The president's head recoiling violently backwards inside the presidential limousine during the fatal shooting as Lee Harvey Oswald was more than 80 yards behind. The public, having more and more difficulty accepting the conclusions of the Warren Commission report, led members of Congress to ask for new investigations into the assassination, within the framework of a new Commission of Inquiry. In September 1976,
13184-591: The ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment and the civil rights movement . Since 1913, the number of voting representatives has been at 435 pursuant to the Apportionment Act of 1911 . The Reapportionment Act of 1929 capped the size of the House at 435. However, the number was temporarily increased from 1959 until 1963 to 437 following the admissions of Alaska and Hawaii to the Union. In addition, five non-voting delegates represent
13312-510: The reapportionment consequent to the 1960 census . The Constitution does not provide for the representation of the District of Columbia or of territories . The District of Columbia and the territories of Puerto Rico , American Samoa , Guam , the Northern Mariana Islands , and the U.S. Virgin Islands are each represented by one non-voting delegate . Puerto Rico elects a resident commissioner , but other than having
13440-532: The requisite oath to support the Constitution, but later engages in rebellion or aids the enemies of the United States, is disqualified from becoming a representative. This post–Civil War provision was intended to prevent those who sided with the Confederacy from serving. However, disqualified individuals may serve if they gain the consent of two-thirds of both houses of Congress. Elections for representatives are held in every even-numbered year, on Election Day
13568-559: The rifle used to kill the president) depicted the same rifle found in the Texas school book depository building after the crime. The panel of photographic experts were also used to verify the authenticity of the assassination-related photos and to analyze for any tampering or fakery; none was detected. The HSCA's Forensic Pathology Panel included Michael Baden , John I. Coe, Joseph H. Davis, George S. Loquvam, Charles S. Petty, Earl Rose , Werner Spitz , Cyril Wecht , and James T. Weston. With
13696-457: The same 2003 interview, Blakey issued a statement on the Central Intelligence Agency : ...I no longer believe that we were able to conduct an appropriate investigation of the [Central Intelligence] Agency and its relationship to Oswald.... We now know that the Agency withheld from the Warren Commission the CIA–Mafia plots to kill Castro. Had the commission known of the plots, it would have followed
13824-429: The scientific advances of the fifteen years since the Warren Commission . Several lines of inquiry were followed to both reaffirm the single shooter/ single-bullet theory as well as to disprove specific conspiracy theory allegations. The HSCA concluded that these scientific studies of assassination-related evidence do "not preclude the possibility of two gunmen firing at the President." Forensic analysis confirmed that
13952-431: The seats. Both Democrats and Republicans were in power at various times during the next decade. The Democratic Party maintained control of the House from 1955 until 1995. In the mid-1970s, members passed major reforms that strengthened the power of sub-committees at the expense of committee chairs and allowed party leaders to nominate committee chairs. These actions were taken to undermine the seniority system , and to reduce
14080-664: The south wing of the United States Capitol . The rules of the House generally address a two-party system, with a majority party in government, and a minority party in opposition. The presiding officer is the Speaker of the House , who is elected by the members thereof. Other floor leaders are chosen by the Democratic Caucus or the Republican Conference , depending on whichever party has
14208-721: The support of delegates from large states such as Virginia , Massachusetts , and Pennsylvania , as it called for representation based on population. The smaller states, however, favored the New Jersey Plan , which called for a unicameral Congress with equal representation for the states. Eventually, the Convention reached the Connecticut Compromise or Great Compromise, under which one house of Congress (the House of Representatives) would provide representation proportional to each state's population, whereas
14336-634: The system was, in Gingrich's words, "morally, intellectually and spiritually corrupt". Gingrich followed Wright's successor, Democrat Tom Foley , as speaker after the Republican Revolution of 1994 gave his party control of the House. Gingrich attempted to pass a major legislative program, the Contract with America and made major reforms of the House, notably reducing the tenure of committee chairs to three two-year terms. Many elements of
14464-574: The theory of a conspiracy in either the assassination of President Kennedy or the assassination of Dr. King." Several forces contributed to the formation of the HSCA. With the rapidly growing body of assassination conspiracy material, public trust in the findings of the Warren Commission report was declining. The Hart- Schweiker and Church Committee hearings had recently revealed CIA ties to other assassinations and assassination attempts and illegal actions from federal administration (FBI and IRS). The Church Commission also conducted an investigation into
14592-417: The time the program (called " HTLINGUAL ") was shut down in 1973. This program was all done under the " mail covers " program (a mail cover is a process by which the government records—without any requirement for a warrant or for notification—all information on the outside of an envelope or package, including the name of the sender and the recipient). The Church report found that the CIA was careful about keeping
14720-410: The vacancy occurs closer to the next general election date than a pre-established deadline. The term of a member chosen in a special election usually begins the next day, or as soon as the results are certified. Historically, many territories have sent non-voting delegates to the House. While their role has fluctuated over the years, today they have many of the same privileges as voting members, have
14848-496: The wounds and the car has been the subject of controversy. (See single bullet theory ) Additionally, the location of the shooter (at the 6th floor Texas School Book Depository window) was determined using trajectory analysis. The origin of the rifle bullets was calculated using the location of the presidential limousine and its occupants combined with the bullet wounds found on the president and governor. A team of photographic experts were used to answer several questions related to
14976-470: Was being ruined by the Democrats' tactics and that the GOP had to destroy the system before it could be saved. Cooperation in governance, says Zelizer, would have to be put aside until they deposed Speaker Wright and regained power. Gingrich brought an ethics complaint which led to Wright's resignation in 1989. Gingrich gained support from the media and good government forces in his crusade to persuade Americans that
15104-577: Was criticized for the weak protection of the president, which was weakened between the parade in Houston on November 21 and Dallas on November 22, 1963. During the parade in Houston, the HSCA noted that 33 motorcyclists – including 6 on the flanks of the same presidential limousine- were deployed throughout the journey, which was not the case in Dallas 24 hours later. The HSCA reported that in its own report that : "(104) The Secret Service's alteration's of
15232-435: Was expelled after his criminal conviction for accepting bribes in 1980, Democrat James Traficant of Ohio was expelled in 2002 following his conviction for corruption, and Republican George Santos was expelled in 2023 after he was implicated in fraud by both a federal indictment and a House Ethics Committee investigation. The House also has the power to formally censure or reprimand its members; censure or reprimand of
15360-432: Was highly likely that only two lead bullets were the source of all the following pieces of evidence: the mostly-intact stretcher bullet, fragments found in the presidential limousine 's front seat and rug, fragments recovered from JFK's brain autopsy and fragments recovered from Governor Connally 's wrist. Whether CBLA data can be used to actually exclude the possibility that there were fragments from more than two bullets in
15488-481: Was involved in the assassination, with Representative Floyd Fithian believing that the Kennedy assassination was orchestrated by members of organized crime. In a memorandum written to the House Judiciary Committee in 1988 by Criminal Division Assistant Attorney General William F. Weld , the recommendations of the HSCA report were formally reviewed and a conclusion of active investigations
15616-467: Was linked to the CIA (Joannides was in fact working for the CIA in 1963). Chief Counsel Blakey later stated that Joannides should have in fact been interviewed by the HCSA, rather than serving as a gatekeeper to the CIA's evidence and files regarding the assassination. He further disregarded and suspected all the CIA's statements and representations to the committee, accusing it of obstruction of justice . In
15744-479: Was motivated by fears that courts would impose at-large plurality districts on states that did not redistrict to comply with the new mandates for districts roughly equal in population, and Congress also sought to prevent attempts by southern states to use such voting systems to dilute the vote of racial minorities. Several states have used multi-member districts in the past, although only two states (Hawaii and New Mexico) used multi-member districts in 1967. Louisiana
15872-580: Was much more populous than the South , and therefore dominated the House of Representatives. However, the North held no such advantage in the Senate, where the equal representation of states prevailed. Regional conflict was most pronounced over the issue of slavery. One example of a provision repeatedly supported by the House but blocked by the Senate was the Wilmot Proviso , which sought to ban slavery in
16000-403: Was probable that: The HSCA agreed with the single bullet theory , but concluded that it occurred at a time point during the assassination that differed from any of the several time points the Warren Commission theorized it occurred. The Department of Justice , FBI, CIA, and the Warren Commission were all criticized for not revealing to the Warren Commission information available in 1964, and
16128-636: Was reaffirmed by a fingerprint expert. Lee Harvey Oswald's prints were found on the trigger guard and underside of the Mannlicher–Carcano rifle used to shoot the president, the brown paper container used to transport the rifle, several cardboard boxes in the sniper's nest and on the magazine order form to purchase the rifle. In addition, dozens of documents were analyzed by a panel of three handwriting experts who verified that "the signatures and handwriting purported to be by Oswald are consistently that of one person." These include such incriminating items as
16256-475: Was reported. In light of investigative reports from the FBI's Technical Services Division and the National Academy of Sciences Committee determining that "reliable acoustic data do not support a conclusion that there was a second gunman" in the Kennedy assassination, and that all investigative leads known to the Justice Department for both assassinations had been "exhaustively pursued", the Department concluded "that no persuasive evidence can be identified to support
16384-443: Was subsequently elected by the House as the first female speaker. The Republicans retook the House in 2011 , with the largest shift of power since the 1930s. However, the Democrats retook the house in 2019 , which became the largest shift of power to the Democrats since the 1970s. In the 2022 elections, Republicans took back control of the House, winning a slim majority. In November 2024, House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that
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