76th United States Congress
75th ← → 77th
United States Capitol (1956)
January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1941
Members	96 senators 435 representatives 5 non-voting delegates
Senate majority	Democratic
Senate President	John N. Garner (D)
House majority	Democratic
House Speaker	William B. Bankhead (D) (until September 15, 1940) Sam Rayburn (D) (from September 16, 1940)
Sessions
1st: January 3, 1939 – August 5, 1939 2nd: September 21, 1939 – November 3, 1939 3rd: January 3, 1940 – January 3, 1941

The 76th 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.^[1][2] It met in Washington, D.C., from January 3, 1939, to January 3, 1941, during the seventh and eighth years of Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1930 United States census.

Both chambers had a Democratic majority - holding a supermajority in the Senate, but a greatly reduced majority in the House, thus losing the supermajority there. With President Roosevelt, the Democrats maintained an overall federal government trifecta.

The 76th is also the most recent Congress to have held a third session.

• April 9, 1939: African-American singer Marian Anderson performs before 75,000 people at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., after having been denied the use both of Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution, and of a public high school by the federally controlled District of Columbia.
• August 2, 1939: Leo Szilard wrote to President Franklin Roosevelt about developing the atomic bomb using uranium. This led to the creation of the Manhattan Project.
• September 5, 1939: World War II: The United States declares its neutrality in the war.
• November 4, 1939: World War II: President Roosevelt ordered the United States Customs Service to implement the Neutrality Act of 1939, allowing cash-and-carry purchases of weapons to non-belligerent nations.
• November 15, 1939: President Roosevelt laid the cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial.
• April 1, 1940: April Fools' Day was also the census date for the 16th U.S. Census.
• May 16, 1940: World War II: President Roosevelt, addressed a joint session of Congress, asking for an extraordinary credit of approximately $900 million to finance construction of at least 50,000 airplanes per year.
• June 5, 1940: World War II: The United States Senate passes bill S4025 which allows the Department of Defense to sell outdated equipment to belligerents in wartime. In practice this allows the Roosevelt administration to sell certain navy vessels to Great Britain. The vote is watched closely by both the United Kingdom and Nazi Germany. The Nazis hope that the bill does not pass, the British hope that it will. The bill passes 67-18 in the United States Senate.^[3]
• June 10, 1940: World War II: President Roosevelt denounced Italy's actions with his "Stab in the Back" speech during the graduation ceremonies of the University of Virginia.
• July 10, 1940: World War II: The United States Senate votes to confirm Frank Knox as Secretary of the Navy. The British hope he will be confirmed as he was openly sympathetic to them. Islationist Senators such as Burton K. Wheeler and Ellison D. Smith vote against the confirmation.^[4]
• August 4, 1940: World War II: Gen. John J. Pershing, in a nationwide radio broadcast, urges all-out aid to Britain in order to defend the Americas, while Charles Lindbergh speaks to an isolationist rally at Soldier Field in Chicago.
• September, 1940: The Army's 45th Infantry Division (previously a National Guard Division in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Oklahoma), was activated and ordered into federal service for 1 year, to engage in a training program in Ft. Sill and Louisiana, prior to serving in World War II.
• September 2, 1940: World War II: An agreement between America and Great Britain was announced to the effect that 50 U.S. destroyers needed for escort work would be transferred to Great Britain. In return, America gained 99-year leases on British bases in the North Atlantic, West Indies and Bermuda.
• September 26, 1940: World War II: The United States imposed a total embargo on all scrap metal shipments to Japan.
• October 16, 1940: The draft registration of approximately 16 million men began in the United States.
• October 29, 1940: The Selective Service System lottery was held in Washington, D.C.
• November 5, 1940: U.S. presidential election, 1940: Democratic incumbent Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated Republican challenger Wendell Willkie and became the United States's first and only third-term president.
• November 12, 1940: Case of Hansberry v. Lee, 311 U.S. 32 (1940), decided, allowing a racially restrictive covenant to be lifted.
• December 17, 1940: President Roosevelt, at his regular press conference, first outlined his plan to send aid to Great Britain that will become known as Lend-Lease.
• December 29, 1940: Franklin D. Roosevelt, in a fireside chat to the nation, declared that the United States must become "the great arsenal of democracy."
• January 13, 1941: All persons born in Puerto Rico after this day were declared U.S. citizens by birth, through federal law 8 U.S.C. § 1402.
• January 20, 1941: Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes swore in President Roosevelt for a third term.
• January 27, 1941: World War II: U.S. Ambassador to Japan Joseph C. Grew passed on to Washington a rumor overheard at a diplomatic reception about a planned surprise attack upon Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
• February 4, 1941: World War II: The United Service Organization (USO) was created to entertain American troops.

• January 23, 1941: Aviator Charles Lindbergh testified before the Congress and recommends that the United States negotiate a neutrality pact with Adolf Hitler.

• April 3, 1939: Reorganization Act of 1939, Pub. L. 76–19, 53 Stat. 561
• August 2, 1939: Hatch Act of 1939 ("Hatch Political Activity Act", "An Act to Prevent Pernicious Political Activities"), ch. 410, 53 Stat. 1147
• November 4, 1939: Neutrality Act of 1939, ("Cash and Carry Act"), ch. 2, 54 Stat. 4
• June 29, 1940: Alien Registration Act (Smith Act), 3d sess. ch. 439, 54 Stat. 670
• August 22, 1940: Act of August 22, 1940, ch. 686, Pub. L. 76–768, 54 Stat. 789 (including Investment Company Act of 1940, Investment Advisers Act of 1940)
• September 16, 1940: Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, Pub. L. 76–783

	Party (shading shows control)					Total	Vacant
	Democratic (D)	Farmer– Labor (FL)	Wisconsin Progressive (P)	Republican (R)	Independent (I)
End of previous congress	74	2	1	18	1	96	0
Begin	69	2	1	23	1	96	0
End	68	1		25
Final voting share	70.8%	1.0%	1.0%	26.0%	1.0%
Beginning of next congress	66	0	1	27	1	95	1

	Party (shading shows control)						Total	Vacant
	Democratic (D)	Farmer– Labor (FL)	American Labor (AL)	Wisconsin Progressive (WP)	Republican (R)	Other (O)
End of previous congress	324	5	0	7	89	1[a]	426	9
Begin	260	1	1	2	169	1	434	1
End	256				167		428	7
Final voting share	59.8%	0.2%	0.2%	0.5%	39.0%	0.2%
Beginning of next congress	268	1	1	3	162	0	435	0

• President: John N. Garner (D)
• President pro tempore: Key Pittman (D), until November 10, 1940 (died)
  • William H. King (D), from November 19, 1940

• Majority Leader: Alben W. Barkley
• Majority Whip: Sherman Minton
• Democratic Caucus Secretary: Joshua B. Lee

• Minority Leader: Charles McNary
• Republican Conference Secretary: Frederick Hale
• National Senatorial Committee Chair: John G. Townsend Jr.

• Speaker: William B. Bankhead (D), until September 15, 1940 (died)
  • Sam Rayburn (D), from September 16, 1940

• Majority Leader: Sam Rayburn, until September 16, 1940
  • John W. McCormack, from September 16, 1940
• Democratic Whip: Patrick J. Boland
• Democratic Caucus Chairman: John W. McCormack, until September 16, 1940
• Democratic Campaign Committee Chairman: Patrick H. Drewry

• Minority Leader: Joseph William Martin Jr.
• Republican Whip: Harry Lane Englebright
• Republican Conference Chairman: Roy O. Woodruff
• Republican Campaign Committee Chairman: J. William Ditter

Senators were popularly elected statewide every two years, with one-third beginning new six-year terms with each Congress. Preceding the names in the list below are Senate class numbers, which indicate the cycle of their election, In this Congress, Class 1 meant their term ended with this Congress, requiring reelection in 1940; Class 2 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring reelection in 1942; and Class 3 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring reelection in 1944.

The names of members are preceded by their district numbers.

The count below reflects changes from the beginning of this Congress.

Senate changes

State (class)	Vacated by	Reason for change	Successor	Date of successor's formal installation[b]
Illinois (2)	J. Hamilton Lewis (D)	Died April 9, 1939. Successor appointed April 14, 1939, to continue the term.	James M. Slattery (D)	April 14, 1939
Kentucky (2)	M. M. Logan (D)	Died October 3, 1939. Successor appointed October 10, 1939, to continue the term. Successor elected November 5, 1940, to finish the term.	Happy Chandler (D)	October 10, 1939
Idaho (2)	William E. Borah (R)	Died January 19, 1940. Successor appointed January 27, 1940, to continue the term. Successor elected November 5, 1940, to finish the term.	John Thomas (R)	January 27, 1940
Vermont (3)	Ernest W. Gibson (R)	Died June 20, 1940. Successor appointed June 24, 1940, to continue the term.	Ernest W. Gibson Jr. (R)	June 24, 1940
Minnesota (2)	Ernest Lundeen (FL)	Died August 31, 1940. Successor appointed October 14, 1940, to continue the term. Successor lost election to finish the term.	Joseph H. Ball (R)	October 14, 1940
Nevada (1)	Key Pittman (D)	Died November 10, 1940. Successor appointed November 27, 1940, to continue finish the term, also appointed to serve in the next term.	Berkeley L. Bunker (D)	November 27, 1940
Illinois (2)	James M. Slattery (D)	Interim appointee lost election November 21, 1940, to finish the term.	Charles W. Brooks (R)	November 22, 1940
Washington (1)	Lewis B. Schwellenbach (D)	Resigned December 16, 1940, to become judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. Successor appointed December 19, 1940, to finish the term.	Monrad Wallgren (D)	December 19, 1940

House changes

District	Vacated by	Reason for change	Successor	Date of successor's formal installation[b]
Maryland 5th	Vacant	Rep. Stephen W. Gambrill died in previous Congress	Lansdale Sasscer (D)	February 3, 1939
Arkansas 4th	William B. Cravens (D)	Died January 13, 1939	William F. Cravens (D)	September 12, 1939
Pennsylvania 4th	J. Burrwood Daly (D)	Died March 12, 1939	John E. Sheridan (D)	November 7, 1939
Tennessee 6th	Clarence W. Turner (D)	Died March 23, 1939	W. Wirt Courtney (D)	May 11, 1939
Maryland 1st	Thomas A. Goldsborough (D)	Resigned April 5, 1939, after being appointed associate justice of the District Court of the United States for the District of Columbia	David J. Ward (D)	June 8, 1939
New York 34th	Bert Lord (R)	Died May 24, 1939	Edwin A. Hall (R)	November 7, 1939
Georgia 4th	Emmett M. Owen (D)	Died June 21, 1939	A. Sidney Camp (D)	August 1, 1939
Wisconsin 3rd	Harry W. Griswold (R)	Died July 4, 1939	Vacant until the next Congress
Tennessee 3rd	Sam D. McReynolds (D)	Died July 11, 1939	Estes Kefauver (D)	September 13, 1939
California 18th	Thomas M. Eaton (R)	Died September 16, 1939	Vacant until the next Congress
South Carolina 1st	Thomas S. McMillan (D)	Died September 29, 1939	Clara G. McMillan (D)	November 7, 1939
Ohio 22nd	Chester C. Bolton (R)	Died October 29, 1939	Frances P. Bolton (R)	February 27, 1940
Tennessee 2nd	J. Will Taylor (R)	Died November 14, 1939	John Jennings Jr. (R)	December 30, 1939
Puerto Rico at-large	Santiago Iglesias (Coalitionist)	Died December 5, 1939	Bolívar Pagán (Socialist)	December 26, 1939
Colorado 3rd	John A. Martin (D)	Died December 23, 1939	William E. Burney (D)	November 5, 1940
Michigan 5th	Carl E. Mapes (R)	Died December 12, 1939	Bartel J. Jonkman (R)	February 19, 1940
New York 14th	William I. Sirovich (D)	Died December 17, 1939	Morris M. Edelstein (D)	February 6, 1940
Ohio 17th	William A. Ashbrook (D)	Died January 1, 1940	J. Harry McGregor (R)	February 27, 1940
Nebraska 1st	George H. Heinke (R)	Died January 2, 1940	John H. Sweet (R)	April 19, 1940
Tennessee 9th	Clift Chandler (D)	Resigned January 2, 1940, after being elected Mayor of Memphis	Clifford Davis (D)	February 15, 1940
New York 31st	Wallace E. Pierce (R)	Died January 3, 1940	Clarence E. Kilburn (R)	February 13, 1940
New York 22nd	Edward W. Curley (D)	Died January 6, 1940	Walter A. Lynch (D)	February 20, 1940
Iowa 6th	Cassius C. Dowell (R)	Died February 4, 1940	Robert K. Goodwin (R)	March 5, 1940
Maine 2nd	Clyde Smith (R)	Died April 8, 1940	Margaret Chase Smith (R)	June 3, 1940
Georgia 8th	W. Benjamin Gibbs (D)	Died August 7, 1940	Florence Reville Gibbs (D)	October 1, 1940
New Jersey 8th	George N. Seger (R)	Died August 26, 1940	Vacant until the next Congress
Alabama 7th	William B. Bankhead (D)	Died September 15, 1940	Zadoc L. Weatherford (D)	November 5, 1940
North Carolina 1st	Lindsay C. Warren (D)	Resigned October 31, 1940, after being appointed Comptroller General of the United States	Herbert C. Bonner (D)	November 5, 1940
Texas 18th	John Marvin Jones (D)	Resigned November 20, 1940, to become judge of the United States Court of Claims	Vacant until the next Congress
Louisiana 2nd	Paul H. Maloney (D)	Resigned December 15, 1940, to become Collector of Internal Revenue for New Orleans District	Vacant until the next Congress
Washington 2nd	Monrad Wallgren (D)	Resigned December 19, 1940, after being appointed to the US Senate having already been elected.	Vacant until the next Congress
Missouri 11th	Thomas C. Hennings Jr. (D)	Resigned December 31, 1940, to become candidate for Circuit attorney of St. Louis	Vacant until the next Congress

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.

• Conditions of Indian Tribes (Special)
• Disposition of (Useless) Executive Papers
• Eradication of the Mediterranean Fruit Fly
• Forestry
• The Library (Chairman: Sen. Alben W. Barkley)
• To Investigate Phosphate Resource of the United States (Chairman: N/A; Vice Chairman: Rep. J. Hardin Peterson)
• Printing (Chairman: N/A; Vice Chairman: Sen. Carl Hayden)
• Taxation (Chairman: Rep. Robert L. Doughton; Vice Chairman: Sen. Pat Harrison)
• Tennessee Valley Authority (Chairman: Sen. A. Victor Donahey; Vice Chairman: N/A)

• Democratic (House)
• Democratic (Senate)

• Architect of the Capitol: David Lynn
• Attending Physician of the United States Congress: George Calver
• Comptroller General of the United States: vacant, until April 11, 1939
  • Fred H. Brown, April 11, 1939 - June 19, 1940
  • vacant, June 19, 1940 - November 1, 1940
  • Lindsay C. Warren, from November 1, 1940
• Librarian of Congress: Herbert Putnam, until 1939
  • Archibald MacLeish, from 1939
• Public Printer of the United States: Augustus E. Giegengack

• Chaplain: ZeBarney Thorne Phillips (Episcopal)
• Parliamentarian: Charles Watkins
• Secretary for the Majority: Leslie Biffle
• Secretary for the Minority: Carl A. Loeffler
• Secretary: Edwin A. Halsey
• Librarian: Ruskin McArdle
• Sergeant at Arms: Chesley W. Jurney

• Chaplain: James Shera Montgomery (Methodist)
• Clerk: South Trimble
• Parliamentarian: Lewis Deschler
• Postmaster: Finis E. Scott
• Doorkeeper: Joseph J. Sinnott
• Reading Clerks: Roger M. Calloway (D) and Alney E. Chaffee (R)
• Sergeant at Arms: Kenneth Romney

• It appears in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

• 1938 United States elections (elections leading to this Congress)
  • 1938 United States Senate elections
  • 1938 United States House of Representatives elections
• 1940 United States elections (elections during this Congress, leading to the next Congress)
  • 1940 United States presidential election
  • 1940 United States Senate elections
  • 1940 United States House of Representatives elections

• House of Representatives Session Calendar for the 76th Congress (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 20, 2018. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
• Official Congressional Directory for the 76th Congress, 1st Session.
• Official Congressional Directory for the 76th Congress, 1st Session (Revision).
• Official Congressional Directory for the 76th Congress, 3rd Session.
• Official Congressional Directory for the 76th Congress, 3rd Session (Revision).