The parliamentary
difference between a joint session and a joint meeting has evolved over
time. In recent years the distinctions have become clearer: a joint session
is more formal, and occurs upon the adoption of a concurrent resolution;
a joint meeting occurs when each body adopts a unanimous consent agreement
to recess to meet with the other legislative body.
The
Speaker of the House of Representatives usually presides over joint sessions
and joint meetings; however, the President of the Senate does preside
over counts of the electoral votes, as required by the Constitution.
In the
earliest years of the Republic, 1789 and 1790, when the national legislature
met in New York City, joint gatherings were held in the Senate Chamber
in Federal Hall. In Philadelphia, when the legislature met in Congress
Hall, such meetings were held in the Senate Chamber, 1790-1793, and in
the Hall of the House of Representatives, 1794-1799. Once the Congress
moved to the Capitol in Washington in 1800, the Senate Chamber again was
used for joint gatherings through 1805. Since 1809, with few exceptions,
joint sessions and joint meetings have occurred in the Hall of the House.
Presidential
messages on the state of the Union were once known as "Annual Messages,"
but since the 80th Congress have been called "State of the Union Addresses."
After President Adams' Annual Message on November 22, 1800, these addresses
were read by clerks to the individual bodies until President Wilson resumed
the practice of delivering them to joint sessions on December 2, 1913.
In some
instances more than one joint gathering has occurred on the same day.
For example, on January 6, 1941, Congress met in joint session to count
electoral votes for President and Vice President, and then met again in
joint session to receive President Roosevelt's Annual Message.
Congress
has hosted inaugurations since the first occasion in 1789. They always
have been formal joint gatherings, and sometimes they also were joint
sessions. Inaugurations were joint sessions when both houses of Congress
were in session, and they proceeded to the ceremony as part of the business
of the day. In many cases, however, one or both houses were not in session
or were in recess at the time of the ceremony.
Source:
Congressional Directory, 1999-2000. Joint Committee on Printing. U.S.
Congress. U.S. Goverment Printing Office. Washington. DC 1999 S. Pub.
106-21
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