User:Neutrality/House chamber

The United States House of Representatives chamber is the ordinary meeting place of the United States House of Representatives, the lower house of the United States Congress. It is a room on the south side of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.; the Senate meets on the northern side, separated from the House side by the Capitol rotunda, topped by the Capitol dome and the Statue of Freedom. It is the site where the House debates and casts votes.

History[edit]

The current House chamber has been used since its completion in 1857. The first House chamber (used since the Capitol was reconstructed in 1819, after the British burning of Washington during the War of 1812 destroyed the original Capitol) is now the site of National Statuary Hall, a semicircular, marble columned chamber that houses the National Statuary Hall Collection.

Seats and location[edit]

The chamber has 448 permanent seats, and can seat the 435 U.S. Representatives, five delegates, and the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico. The seats are separated by an aisle. Off the chamber are two cloakrooms, one for Democrats and the other for Republicans.

All seats in the House Chamber, 448, are tan leather-covered chairs over walnut frames. [1]

The carpet of the House chamber has been described as "peacock blue and gold." [2]

Because the House chamber is much larger than the Senate chamber, joint sessions of Congress (including sessions held to hear the President of the United States deliver the State of the Union address) are held in the House chamber. Unlike Senators, Representatives do not have assigned seats nor do they each member have a desk.

Rostrum[edit]

The rostrum of the House is located in the front of the Room. To the left and right facing the rostrum are two doors, leading to the Speaker's Lobby.

The rostrum has three tiers and is made of wood panels decorated with relief carvings of laurel wreathes; the current wood rostrum replaced a marble rostrum in the mid-20th century. Behind the Speaker's chair on the rostrum is a large American flag. During the early 20th century, this flag was provided by the Daughters of the American Revolution, but today it is furnished by the Clerk of the House. [3]

Above the rostrum, on both sides of the American flag, are two columns to the left and right of which are two bronze fasces. The fasces, an ancient Roman symbol of power and authority, consist of a bundle of rods bound together and carrying an axe, symbolizing strength through unity and evoking the Union of the many states into one nation in the federal government. To either side of the bronze fasces are two more columns.

On the rostrum's top tier is the chair of the Speaker of the House, who is the House's presiding officer. Since speakers in modern times rarely actually preside over the chamber, most often the person occupying this seat is not the Speaker but is instead the Speaker pro tempore, another Representative from the majority party to preside for the day. During State of the Union addresses, as the President delivers the address from the lectern on the tier below, the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate (the Vice President of the United States) occupy this tier. The two chairs on either side of the Speaker's chair are usually occupied by the House parliamentarian on the right and the Clerk to the Parliamentarian on the left. The Clerk to the Parliamentarian is responsible for keeping time of minutes yielded in debate and prompts the presiding officer with the states of members being recognized to speak so that the presiding officer can recognize the member by stating "The gentleman (or gentlelady) from Arizona is recognized."

In the middle tier sits employees of the Clerk of the House. On the far left sits the Journal Clerk, responsible for the keeping of the House Journal, the record of proceedings required by Article I, Section 5, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution, which requires that "Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings." In the seat next to the Journal Clerk sits the Tally Clerk, responsible for recording votes and quorum calls, receiving committee reports, and maintaining the daily House Calendar. Next the Tally Clerk's left is the Reading Clerk; there are two reading clerks, one appointed by each party, and the clerk on duty is responsible for reading aloud the text of bills, amendments, and messages from the Senate or the President. The central tier has has a lecture; this is used by the Clerk of the House during the ceremonies of the opening day of a new Congress, by the House Chaplain during daily prayers, by the Reading Clerk when reading legislative text, and by the President of the United States during the State of the Union address.

On the far left of the lowest tier sits the Bill Clerk, responsible for receiving and numbering bills and resolutions as they are introduced. In the center sits are the Clerks to the Official Reporters, the clerks most visible to members speaking from behind the well; the Clerks to the Official Reporters receive the texts of speeches delivered by members and assemble them with transcripts of debate and appended materials to insert in the Congressional Record. On the far right sits are the Official Reporters of Debate, who are stenographers. Their verbatim notes of the proceedings go into the Record. [4]

Portraits of Washington and Lafayette[edit]

Next to each door on either side of the Speaker's rostrum are two large portraits. On the left facing the rostrum is George Washington and on the right the Marquis de Lafayette.

" The full-length portrait of the Marquis de Lafayette, the first foreign dignitary to address a joint meeting of the Congress, was presented to the House by French artist Ary Sheffer in 1824. The portrait hangs to the left of the Speaker’s rostrum, as it has since the opening of the current House Chamber in 1858. Lafayette, a French aristocrat, made important contributions to American success in the Revolutionary War, particularly in his role as a strategist for the Yorktown campaign and his diplomatic work in securing French aid for the struggling American forces. The Sheffer portrait places him outdoors within a landscape, in informal contemporary clothing, emphasizing his qualities as a man of action rather than his wealth or power." [5]

"This portrait of George Washington hangs on the Speaker’s right-hand side in the House Chamber. It was commissioned in 1834 from John Vanderlyn, a leading American portrait artist in the first half of the 19th century, as a pendant to Ary Sheffer’s Marquis de Lafayette. As was common practice in 19th century portraiture, Vanderlyn modeled this painting after Gilbert Stuart’s authoritative life portrait of Washington called the Munro–Lenox portrait. The two surviving versions by Stuart are housed in the New York Public Library and in Rhode Island’s Capitol building. In addition to showing a reliable likeness of the first president, this composition shows Washington as a statesman, in an elegant, dramatic manner. Washington’s sword is sheathed at this side, indicating his retirement from military leadership, and the hope of peaceful times ahead for the nation. The legs of the table on which Washington’s hand rests are in the form of fasces, symbolizing authority and unity common throughout the Capitol."

Reliefs of the law-givers[edit]

The House chamber is adorned with relief portraits of famous lawgivers throughout history. These are, in order clockwise around the chamber:

There is also a quote etched in the marble of the chamber, as stated by venerable statesman Daniel Webster: "Let us develop the resources of our land, call forth its powers, build up its institutions, promote all its great interests, and see whether we also, in our day and generation, may not perform something worthy to be remembered."