LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

This page was last updated July 31, 2001; it covers the 107th Congress (2001-2002).

As set forth in Article I of the U. S. Constitution, the Legislative Branch of the Federal government, also known as Congress, consists of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Capitol is home to both houses of Congress. The U.S. Capitol Switchboard, 1-202-224-3121, will connect you to any House or Senate office.  There is no official toll-free number.

For more complete information, the Congressional Directory is online, as are many other Congressional publications.  The Congressional Record, the official publication of speeches from the floor of both houses of Congress is available on the Internet, too, from either GPO Access or Thomas.
 

S E N A T E

United States Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510

Contacting the Senate is the Senate's own directory of the names, addresses, phone numbers, e-mail and WWW addresses of all Senators;
it will link automatically to the Senators' web pages or e-mail.

Click here for the websites of Senate committees.

Leadership of the Senate
This changed June 6, 2001, when due to the change in party membership of Senator Jim Jeffords of Vermont
(who left the Republican Party to become an independent) the Democrats became the majority party in the Senate.

President of the Senate (Vice President of the United States) -- Dick Cheney
(Among the V.P.'s other duties, he gets to break any tie votes in the Senate.)

• PRESIDENT PRO-TEMPORE of the Senate -- Robert C. Byrd (D-WV)
  (also see the ORDER of SUCCESSION on the Executive Department page). The President Pro-Tem is third in line to the Presidency, after the Vice-President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The office is traditionally held by the Senator of the majority party who has the most seniority in the Senate.
• MAJORITY LEADER -- Tom Dashle (D-SD)
• ASSISTANT MAJORITY LEADER (Majority Whip) -- Harry Reid (D-NV)
• MINORITY LEADER -- Trent Lott (R-MS)
• ASSISTANT MINORITY LEADER (Minority Whip) -- Don Nickles (R-OK)

There are 100 members of the United States Senate (each State has two Senators, and there are 50 states; and 2 times 50 = 100). Senators' terms of office are 6 years each, and are staggered so that one-third of the Senate is elected every two years.

The Senators from West Virginia, both Democrats, are:

• ROBERT C. BYRD, 311 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510-4801 1-202-224-6472 e-mail: senator_byrd@byrd.senate.gov
• Web page: www.senate.gov/~byrd Term expires January, 2007. In addition to being the President Pro-Tempore of the senate, Sen, Byrd is chairperson of  the Appropriations Committee, and is also on the Armed Services Committee, the Rules and Administration Committee, and the Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem. He has one Regional office, in Charleston (1-304-342-5855).
• JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, 531 Hart Senate Office Bldg., Washington D.C. 20510 1-202-224-6472 TDD 1-202-224-6719 fax 1-202-224-7665 e-mail: senator@rockefeller.senate.gov Web page: www.senate.gov/~rockefeller Term expires January, 2003. "Jay" is the ranking minority member of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and is also on the Finance Committee and the Commerce, Science and Technology Committee. He has three regional offices, in Fairmont (1-304-367-0122), Beckley (1-202-235-9704) and Charleston (1-304-347-5372).

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

U.S. House of Representatives, Washington DC 20515

Click here for the names, addresses, phone numbers, and (if they have them) e-mail and WWW addresses of all members of the House of Representatives, or to see a list of Representatives' web sites by state.

Click here for the websites of House committees.

Leadership of the House

• *SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE -- J. Dennis ("Denny") Hastert (R-IL) (see ORDER of SUCCESSION on the Executive Department page for more information)
• MAJORITY LEADER-- Richard ("Dick") Armey (R-TX)
• MAJORITY WHIP -- Tom DeLay (R-TX)
• Republican Congressional Committee Chairman -- J.C. Watts (R-OK)

• MINORITY LEADER -- Richard A. ("Dick") Gephardt (D-MO)
• MINORITY WHIP -- David Bonior (D-MI)
• Democratic Caucus Chairman -- Martin Frost (D-TX)
• Caucus vice-chairman -- Robert Menendez (D-NJ)

There are 435 members of the U. S. House of Representatives, apportioned according to the population as of the last Census. (During the 107th Congress, the House will be reapportioned according to the 2000 Census. West Virginia is not expected to either gain or lose seats this time, but district boundaries may be redrawn.)  In addition, the District of Columbia and the various territories have Delegates who are permitted to vote in some, but not all, of the House's proceedings. All House terms are for two years and expire January, 2003.

West Virginia has 3 Representatives, sometimes referred to as "Congressmen", although some of them are women. A map of the state's three districts is on Congresswoman Capito's web site at www.house.gov/capito/district.htm.

• Our Representative for the First Congressional District of West Virginia is ALAN B. MOLLOHAN, a Democrat. The First District includes the northern part of West Virginia: Hancock, Brooke, Ohio, Marshall, Wetzel, Tyler, Monongalia, Preston, Marion, Taylor, Pleasants, Wood, Ritchie, Doddridge, Harrison, Barbour, Tucker, Grant, and Mineral counties. (There is a map on Rep. Mollohan's web site.) His office address is 2346 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20215-4801, and his phone number is 1-202-225-4172. District offices are in Wheeling (Room 316 Federal Courthouse; 1-304-232-5390), Morgantown (1-304-292-3019), Clarksburg (1-304-623-4422) and Parkersburg (1-304-428-0493). His web page is at www.house.gov/mollohan. He does not have a public e-mail address, but you can leave messages to him, or for any other Representative, at Write Your Representative at www.house.gov/writerep/. Rep. Mollohan is a member of the Appropriations Committee.
  
  
• SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, a Republican, represents the Second District, which includes the central part of the state and most of the Eastern Panhandle. Her office address is 1431 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515  Phone: (202) 225-2711 Web Page: www.house.gov/capito. She also has district offices in Charleson and Martinsburg. Although she does not have a public email address, you can leave messages for her at Write Your Representative at www.house.gov/writerep/. Rep. Capito is a member of the Financial Services Committee, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and the Committee on Small Business. This is her first term in Congress. Bob Wise, who previously held this House seat, is now Governor of West Virginia..
  
  
• NICK J. RAHALL II (2307 Rayburn H.O.B.; 202-225-3452), a Democrat, represents the southernmost, Third District of W.Va. He has district offices in Beckley, Bluefield, Huntington, Lewisburg, and Logan. The ranking Democratic Member on the Committee on Resources, Rep. Rahall also serves on the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. His web page is at www.house.gov/rahall, and his e-mail address is nrahall@hr.house.gov

If you're not sure who your Representative is, you can look it up by your ZIP Code, or check the House of Representatives' directory by Representatives' names or by state. You can write to any member of the House at Write Your Representative at www.house.gov/writerep/.