Subjects – Committee on Rules
Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon of Illinois
May 07, 1836
Speaker Joseph Gurney Cannon of Illinois was born in Guilford, North Carolina. “Uncle Joe” Cannon’s career in Congress spanned almost five decades.
Representative Clyde Kelly of Pennsylvania, the “father of air mail”
August 04, 1883
On this date, Representative Clyde Kelly of Pennsylvania was born in Bloomfield, Ohio.
Speaker of the House Thomas Brackett Reed of Maine
September 04, 1899
After serving 11 terms in the House, Speaker Thomas Brackett Reed of Maine resigned on this date.
The House’s all night session to break Speaker Joe Cannon’s power
March 17, 1910
The House of Representatives “stayed up all night” during a marathon session lasting 29 hours, debating the power of the Committee on Rules.
Representative Oscar De Priest of Illinois and the Member’s Dining Room
January 23, 1934
On this date, Representative Oscar De Priest of Illinois introduced a resolution to end Jim Crow discrimination in the House Restaurant.
The repeal of the Twenty-One Day rule
January 03, 1951
On this date, at the opening of the 82nd Congress (1951–1953), the House repealed the “Twenty-One Day Rule” by a vote of 243 to 180.
The Southern Manifesto of 1956
March 12, 1956
On this date, Howard Smith of Virginia, chairman of the House Rules Committee, introduced the Southern Manifesto in a speech on the House Floor.
Texas Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn’s bold move to increase the size of the Committee on Rules
January 31, 1961
The House voted in favor of a resolution to increase the Committee on Rules’ membership from 12 to 15.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965
August 03, 1965
On this date, by a vote of 328 to 74, the House approved the Voting Rights Act (VRA)—a landmark in the long civil rights movement.