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Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Order Code RS Updated October 25, 2004
Membership of the 108
th
Congress: A Profile
Mildred L. Amer
Specialist in American National Government
Government and Finance Division
Summary
This report presents a profile of the membership of the 108th^ Congress. Included is information on numbers of Members, party affiliation, average age and length of service, occupations, religious affiliation, military service, female and minority Members, and foreign-born Members.
Currently, in the House, there are 227 Republicans, 210 Democrats (including five Delegates), one Independent, who is aligned with the Democrats, and two vacancies. The Senate has 51 Republicans, 48 Democrats, and one Independent, who is aligned with the Democrats.
The average age of Representatives at the beginning of the 108 th^ Congress was 53. years; of Senators, 59.5 years; and of both houses, 54.9. An overwhelming majority of Members have a college education. The dominant profession of Members continues to be law, followed by business.
Protestants collectively constitute the majority religious affiliation of Members. Roman Catholics account for the largest single religious denomination, and numerous other affiliations are represented.
At the beginning of the 108 th^ Congress, the average length of service in the House was about 9 years (4.6 terms); in the Senate, 11.3 years or almost 2 terms.
A record number of 77 women serve in the 108 th^ Congress: 63 in the House, 14 in the Senate. Also a record 25 Hispanic Members, all in the House, including one Delegate. There are 39 black Members, all in the House, including two Delegates. Seven Members are Asian or Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander. There are three American Indians.
This report will be revised at the commencement of the 109th^ Congress unless significant changes occur in the 108th^ Congress.
(^1) For background information on earlier Congresses, please refer to CRS Report RS20013,
Membership of the 106 th^ Congress: A Profile , by Mildred Amer; CRS Report RS20760, Membership of the 107 th^ Congress: A Profile, by Mildred Amer; CRS Report RL30378, Black Members of the United States Congress: 1789-2001, by Mildred Amer; CRS Report RL30261, Women in the United States Congress: 1917-2003, by Mildred Amer; and CRS Report 97-398, Asian Pacific Americans in the United States Congress, by Lorraine Tong.
(^2) Note there are two vacancies in the House. Since 1789, 11,711 individuals (not including
Delegates and Resident Commissioners) have served in Congress: 9,836 only in the House, 1, only in the Senate, and 635 in both houses. (^3) Some of the information here, some of which is no longer available, was obtained from
oncongress.cq.com/pubviews/congresswatch108.jsp, the website of Congressional Quarterly, Inc.; and “Congress of Relative Newcomers Poses Challenge to Bush, Leadership,” CQ Weekly Report , vol. 59, Jan. 20, 200l, “Average Age,” CQ Weekly Report , vol. 57, Jan. 9, 1999, p. 61.
(^4) Ibid.
The 108
th Congress: A Profile
1
Congress is composed of 540 individuals from the 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa. This count assumes that no seat is temporarily vacant.^2 The following is a profile of the 108 th Congress.
Party Breakdown
In the 108 th^ Congress, the current party breakdown in the House is 227 Republicans, 210 Democrats (including five Delegates), and one Independent who is aligned with the Democrats. The Senate has 51 Republicans, 48 Democrats, and one Independent who is aligned with the Democrats.
Age
At the beginning of the 108 th^ Congress, the average age of Senators was 59.5 years, almost the same as in the107th^ Congress, which was older than at least the previous 17 Congresses.^3 The average age of Representatives was 53.9 years, about the same as in the previous Congress, but also older than the previous 17 congresses. 4 The average age of both houses was 54.9 years.
Representatives must be at least 25 years old when they take office. The youngest Representative, as well as youngest Member of Congress, is Adam Putnam (R-FL), 30. The oldest Representative is Ralph Hall (R-TX), 81.
Senators must be at least 30 years old when they take office. The youngest Senator is freshman Senator John Sununu (R-NH), who is 40 and a former Member of the House. The oldest Senator, as well as the oldest current Member of Congress, is Robert C. Byrd (D-WV), 86.
(^7) “Guide to the New Congress,” CQ Daily Monitor , vol. 38, no. 161, Nov. 7, 2002, pp. 21-45.
(^8) Six Reps., one Sen., and one Del. have an M.D. degree; three Reps. have a D.D.S. (doctor of
dental surgery) degree; two Sens. have a D.V.M. (doctor of veterinary medicine) degree; and one Rep. has an O.D. (doctor of optometry) degree.
(^9) Note that 49 Sens. in the 108 th (^) Congress have previously served in the House of Representatives.
(^10) Rep. Philip M. Crane (R-IL), who has served in the House for 34 years, is the Republican in
the 108 th^ Congress with the longest continuous House service.
! two auctioneers, two jewelry makers, a steelworker, a carpenter, an ironworker, a paper mill worker, a meat cutter, a river boat captain, a hotel bellhop, a taxicab driver, a race track blacksmith, and a “jackeroo” (cowboy) on a sheep-cattle ranch.
Education^7
As has been true in previous Congresses, the Members of the 108 th^ Congress are well educated. At least 399 Members of the House and 97 Senators hold bachelor’s degrees; 124 Members of the House and 19 Senators have master’s degrees; 175 Members of the House and 59 Senators hold law degrees; 18 Members of the House have doctoral degrees; and 11 Members of the House and three Senators hold medical degrees.^8
In addition, there are two graduates of the U. S. Military Academy, one in the House and one in the Senate; one Senator is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy; one Representative (a woman) is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy; five Representatives and three Senators were Rhodes Scholars; one Representative was a Fulbright Scholar, and one was a Marshall Scholar.
Congressional Service^9
At the beginning of the 108 th^ Congress, the average length of service of Members of the House was about 9 years or 4.6 terms, the highest it has been since the 102 nd^ Congress (1992-1993). Representatives are elected for 2-year terms. Representative John Dingell (D-MI) has the longest consecutive service of any Member of the 108 th^ Congress ( years). Currently the dean of the House, he began serving on December 13, 1955.^10
At the beginning of the 108 th^ Congress, the average length of service of Senators was nearly 11.3 years, the highest since the 103 rd^ Congress (1993-1995). Senators are elected for 6-year terms. Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) has served longer (45 years) than any other incumbent Member of the Senate. His service began on January 3, 1959. Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK), the Senate President pro tempore, is the current Republican Senator with the longest Senate service (35 years). He has served since December 24, 1968.
(^11) Congressional Quarterly, Inc., “Members’ Religious Affiliation,” Congressional Quarterly
Weekly Report, , vol. 61, no. 4, Jan. 25, 2003, p. 193. (^12) Note that brothers Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), and Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI) also serve in the
108 th^ Congress as well as Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and his son Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI). (^13) “Born Abroad,” CQ Daily Monitor , vol. 36, no. 135, Sept. 12, 2000, p.7, supplemented by
CRS.
Religion^11
Most Members of the 108 th^ Congress cite a specific religious affiliation. Protestants (Episcopalians, Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, and others) collectively constitute the majority religious affiliation of Members. However, Roman Catholics account for the largest single religious denomination. Other affiliations, such as Greek Orthodox, Jewish, Christian Scientist, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon), make up the balance.
Female and Minority Members
A record number of 77 women serve in the 108 th^ Congress: 63 in the House (one more than the record number of 62 in the107 th^ Congress), and 14 in the Senate. The 14 female Senators are a new record. Of the 63 women in the House, 42 are Democrats, including three Delegates, and 21 are Republicans. In the Senate, nine women are Democrats; five are Republicans.
A record 25 Hispanic Members are in the 108th^ Congress. All serve in the House, and one is a Delegate. Twenty are Democrats, seven are women. Two Hispanic Members are brothers, and two are sisters. Mario and Lincoln Diaz-Balart are Republicans from Florida. Linda and Loretta Sanchez are Democrats from California.^12
Currently, there are 39 black Members of the 108th^ Congress, two fewer than the record number of 41 in the 104 th^ Congress. All 39, including two Delegates, serve in the House and are Democrats. Thirteen black women serve in the House, including two Delegates.
Seven Members are of Asian or Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander heritage. Five serve in the House and two in the Senate. One is a Delegate, and one is an African American with Filipino heritage. All are Democrats.
There are three American Indian Members of the 108 th^ Congress. Two, one from each party, serve in the House. The third is a Republican Member of the Senate.
Foreign Born^13
Eight Members of the House were born outside the United States. Their places of birth include Cuba, Hungary, Taiwan, Japan, Mexico, Pakistan, and the Netherlands. No current Senators were born outside the United States, although a number of previous Senators were foreign born.
