Select Congress: 78
| 79 | 80 | 81
| 82 | 83 | 84
| 85 | 86 | 87
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| 91 | 92 | 93
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|
| 78th
Congress 1944-1945
Unified Party
control, President Roosevelt (D) |
Statute |
Related Endeavor Summaries |
| •
1944 PL
78-225 Mustering-out Payment Act |
•
Support Veterans' Readjustment and Training |
| •
1944 PL
78-346 Servicemen’s Readjustment Act |
•
Support Veterans' Readjustment and Training
•
Increase Access to Post-Secondary Education |
| •
1944 PL
78-359 Veterans’ Preference Act |
•
Support Veterans' Readjustment and Training |
Related Images
•
Copy
of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, otherwise known
as the "GI Bill."
|
| 79th
Congress 1945-1946
Unified Party control, Presidents Roosevelt (D) and Truman (D) |
Statute |
Related Endeavor Summaries |
| •
1946 PL
79-396 National School Lunch Act |
•
Reduce Hunger and Improve Nutrition |
Related Images
•
Assistant
U.S. Treasury Secretary, Harry Dexter White (left), and honorary
advisor to the United Kingdom, John Maynard Keynes (right),
at the inaugural meeting of the International Monetary Fund's
(IMF) Board of Governors in Savannah, Georgia, on March 8, 1946.
The IMF was created as a result of the Bretton Woods Agreement
in 1945.
•
Stuttgart
before (1947) and after (1955) Marshall Plan funds, as well
as the monetary system created at Bretton Woods in 1945, helped
to rebuild European cities devastated by World War II.
|
|
80th
Congress 1947-1948
Divided party
control, President Truman (D) |
Statute |
Related Endeavor Summaries |
| •
1947 PL
80-75 Aid to Greece and Turkey |
•
Rebuild Europe After World War II
•
Contain Communism |
| •
1947 PL
80-104 Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act |
•
Ensure Safe Food and Drinking Water |
| •
1947 General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade signed |
•
Expand Foreign Markets for U.S. Goods |
| •
1948 PL
80-472 Foreign Assistance Act (Marshall Plan) |
•
Rebuild Europe After World War II |
| •
1948 PL
80-845 Water Pollution Control Act |
•
Improve Water Quality |
| •
1947 National
Security Act |
•
Strengthen the National Defense |
Related Images
•
President
Truman signs the Foreign Assistance Act (the Marshall Plan)
on April 3, 1948. President Truman is surrounded by members
of Congress and his cabinet.
•
Cartoon
depicting the Dutch view of the Marshall Plan from a booklet
printed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Netherlands,
November 1949.
•
President
Truman with top leaders of the Marshall Plan (left to right:
Secretary of State George C. Marshall, head of the Economic
Cooperation Administration Paul G. Hoffman, and the special
representative to the countries partcipating in the Marshall
Plan, Averell Harriman), November 29, 1948.
|
| 81st
Congress 1949-1950 Unified
Party control, President Truman (D) |
Statute |
Related Endeavor Summaries |
| •
1949 North
Atlantic Treaty Organization Treaty (NATO) ratified |
•
Rebuild Europe After World War II
•
Contain Communism |
| •
1950 Korean
War |
•
Contain Communism |
| •
1950 PL
81-507 National Science Foundation Act |
•
Promote Scientific and Technological Research |
| •
1950 PL
81-692 Public Health Services Act Amendments |
•
Reduce Disease |
| •
1950 PL
81-734 Social Security Amendments |
•
Promote Financial Security in Retirement |
| •
1950 PL
81-769 Federal Aid to Highway |
•
Strengthen the Nation's Highway System |
Related
Images
•
President
Elect Eisenhower leaving headquarters of the 5th Field Artillery
Group during his visit to the First Republic of Korea's Capitol
Division, December 4, 1952.
•
Minister
of Foreign Affairs, Dean Acheson, signs the NATO treaty on behalf
of the United States, April 4, 1949.
|
| 82nd
Congress 1951-1952
Unified Party control, President Truman (D)
|
Statute |
Related Endeavor Summaries |
| •
1951 PL
82-50 Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act |
•
Expand Foreign Markets for U.S. Goods |
| •
1951 PL
82-215 Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act Amendments |
•
Enhance Consumer Protection |
| •
1952 PL
82-550 Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act |
•
Support Veterans' Readjustment and Training
•
Increase Access to Post-Secondary Education |
| •
1952 PL
82-552 Mine Safety Act |
•
Enhance Workplace Safety |
| •
1952 PL
82-590 Social Security Amendments |
•
Promote Financial Security in Retirement |
Related
Images
•
These
veterans of the Korean War were members of the last class enrolled
under the GI Bill at a vocational technical school, 1965.
•
Despite
the passing of the Mine Safety Act in 1952, Congress had to
enact further legislation to increase mine safety, as evidenced
by this 1968 explosion at the Farmington mine in Farmington,
West Virginia.
|
| 83rdCongress
1953-1954
Unified Party control, President Eisenhower (R) |
Statute |
Related Endeavor Summaries |
| •
1953 PL
83-88 Flammable Fabrics Act |
•
Enhance Consumer Protection |
| •
1954 PL
83-761 Social Security Amendments |
•
Promote Financial Security in Retirement |
Related
Images
•
Cardpunch
operators, who would input Social Security data onto cards before
the advent of computers, were employed throughout the late 1930s
and into the 1950s to maintain Social Security records.
•
Public
information display used by the Social Security Administration
during the late 1940s and early 1950s to educate the public
on Social Security benefits.
|
| 84th
Congress 1955-1956 Divided
Party control, President Eisenhower (R) |
Statute |
Related Endeavor Summaries |
| •
1955 PL
84-86 Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act Extension |
•
Expand Foreign Markets for U.S. Goods |
| •
1955 PL
84-159 Air Pollution Control Act |
•
Improve Air Quality |
| •
1955 PL
84-377 Poliomyelitis Vaccination Assistance Act |
•
Reduce Disease |
| •
1956 PL
84-627 Federal Aid to Highway/Interstate Highway Act |
•
Strengthen the Nation's Highway System |
| •
1956 PL
84-835 Health Research Facilities Act |
•
Reduce Disease |
| •
1956 PL
84-880 Social Security Amendments |
•
Promote Financial Security in Retirement |
Related Images
•
The
first disability "freeze" application (the disability freeze
provisions ignore periods of disability when computing a retirement
or survivors benefit) taken in the Wheeling, West Virginia office
of the SSA on January 2, 1955. Congress enacted Social Security
Amendments in 1954 to protect a disabled worker's rights to
eventual retirement benefits by initiating a disability insurance
program.
•
Former
First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, inventor of the Polio vaccine,
Dr. Jonas Salk, and Dr. Basil O'Connor at the Infantile Paralysis
Hall of Fame in Warm Springs, Georgia, 1958.
|
| 85th
Congress 1957-1958
Divided Party control, President Eisenhower (R) |
Statute |
Related Endeavor Summaries |
| •
1957 PL
85-172 Poultry Products Inspection Act |
•
Ensure Safe Food and Drinking Water |
| •
1957 PL
85-177 International Atomic Energy Treaty |
•
Increase Arms Control and Disarmament |
| •
1957 PL
85-315 Civil Rights Act |
•
Expand the Right to Vote |
| •
1958 PL
85-568 National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
•
Promote Space Exploration |
| •
1958 PL
85-686 Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act Extension |
•
Expand Foreign Markets for U.S. Goods |
| •
1958 PL
85-836 Welfare Pensions Plans Disclosure Act |
•
Promote Financial Security in Retirement |
| •
1958 PL
85-840 Social Security Amendments |
•
Promote Financial Security in Retirement |
| •
1958 PL
85-852 Military Construction Appropriation Act (Advanced Research
Projects Agency) |
•
Promote Scientific and Technological Research |
| •
1958 PL
85-864 National Defense Education Act |
•
Increase Access to Post-Secondary Education |
| •
1958 PL
85-899 Department of Defense Reorganization Act |
•
Strengthen the National Defense |
| •
1958 PL
85-929 Food Additives Amendment |
•
Ensure Safe Food and Drinking Water |
Related Images
•
NASA's
seven original astronauts posing in front of a Convair F-106
(left to right): Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn,
Virgil Grissom, Walter Schirra, Alan Shepard, and Donald Slayton.
•
Nurse
Sutliff greets the former First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, at
the clinic of the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies on
February 18, 1955.
|
| 86th
Congress 1959-1960
Divided Party control, President Eisenhower (R)
|
Statute |
Related Endeavor Summaries |
| •
1960 PL
86-449 Civil Rights Act |
•
Expand the Right to Vote |
| •
1960 PL
86-613 Federal Hazardous Substances Labeling Act |
•
Enhance Consumer Protection |
| •
1960 PL
86-778 Social Security Amendments (Kerr-Mill aid) |
•
Increase Older American's Access to Health Care |
Related Images
•
Attorney
General Robert F. Kennedy speaks to a civil rights rally outside
the Justice Department, 1963.
|
| 87th
Congress 1961-1962
Unified Party control, President Kennedy (D) |
Statute |
Related Endeavor Summaries |
| •
1961 PL
87-64 Social Security Amendments |
•
Promote Financial Security in Retirement |
| •
1961 PL
87-98 Apollo mission funding |
•
Promote Space Exploration |
| •
1961 PL
87-297 Arms Control and Disarmament Agency |
•
Increase Arms Control and Disarmament |
| •
1961 Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development Treaty ratified |
•
Expand Foreign Markets for U.S. Goods |
| •
1962 PL
87-420 Welfare Pensions Plans Disclosure Act |
•
Promote Financial Security in Retirement |
| •
1962 PL
87-624 Communications Satellite Act |
•
Promote Scientific and Technological Research |
| •
1962 PL
87-781 Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act Amendments |
•
Enhance Consumer Protection |
| •
1962 PL
87-792 Self-Employed Individuals Tax Retirement Act |
•
Promote Financial Security in Retirement |
| •
1962 PL
87-794 Trade Expansion Act |
•
Expand Foreign Markets for U.S. Goods |
| •
1962 PL
87-838 Public Health Services Act |
•
Reduce Disease |
| •
1962 PL
87-868 Vaccination Assistance |
•
Reduce Disease |
Related Images
•
President
Kennedy signing the Social Security Amendments into law on June
30, 1961. Shown with the President are (left to right) Rep.
Carl Albert (D-OK); Rep. Wilbur Mills (D-AR); Sen. John J. Williams
(R-DE); Rep. Thomas J. O'Brien (D-IL); Vice President Lyndon
B. Johnson; Sen. Robert S. Kerr (D-OK); Rep. John W. Byrnes
(R-WS); Abraham Ribicoff, Secretary of Health, Education, and
Welfare; and Wilbur J. Cohen, Assistant Secretary of Health,
Education, and Welfare.
•
Apollo
Project Command Service Module.
|
|
88th
Congress 1963-1964
Unified Party control, Presidents Kennedy (D) and Johnson (D)
|
Statute |
Related Endeavor Summaries |
| •
1963 PL
88-38 Equal Pay Act |
•
Reduce Workplace Discrimination |
| •
1963 PL
88-129 Health Professions Education Assistance Act |
•
Increase Access to Post-Secondary Education |
| •
1963 PL
88-149 Department of Defense Appropriations Act |
•
Strengthen the National Defense |
| •
1963 PL
88-174 Military Construction Authorization Act |
•
Strengthen the National Defense |
| •
1963 PL
88-204 Higher Education Facilities Act |
•
Increase Access to Post-Secondary Education |
| •
1963 PL
88-206 Clean Air Act |
•
Improve Air Quality |
| •
1963 Nuclear
Test Ban Treaty ratified |
•
Increase Arms Control and Disarmament |
| •
1964 24th
Amendment Poll tax outlawed |
•
Expand the Right to Vote |
| •
1964 PL
88-305 Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Extension
|
•
Ensure Safe Food and Drinking Water |
| •
1964 PL
88-352 Civil Rights Act |
•
Reduce Workplace Discrimination
•
Expand the Right to Vote
•
Promote Equal Access to Public Accommodations |
| •
1964 PL
88-467 Securities Act Amendments |
•
Increase the Stability of Financial Institutions and Markets |
| •
1964 PL
88-525 Food Stamp Act |
•
Reduce Hunger and Improve Nutrition |
| •
1964 PL
88-577 Wilderness Act |
•
Protect the Wilderness |
| •
1964 PL
88-665 National Defense Education Act Amendments |
•
Increase Access to Post-Secondary Education |
| •
1964 Vietnam
War |
•
Contain Communism |
Related Images
•
President
Kennedy signs the 1963 Equal Pay Act into law as Business and
Professional Women/USA (BPW) president Dr. Minnie Miles (second
from right) and members of the BPW look on.
•
President
Kennedy meets with leaders of the March on Washington, August
28, 1963. The purpose of this March was to demand equality and
to urge Congress to pass pending civil rights legislation.
|
|
89th
Congress 1965-1966
Unified Party control, President Johnson (D) |
Statute |
Related Endeavor Summaries |
| •
1965 PL
89-92 Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act |
•
Enhance Consumer Protection |
| •
1965 PL
89-97 Medicare |
•
Increase Older American's Access to Health Care
|
| •
1965 PL
89-110 Voting Rights Act |
•
Expand the Right to Vote |
| •
1965 PL
89-234 Water Quality Act |
•
Improve Water Quality |
| •
1965 PL
89-239 Heart Disease, Cancer, and Stroke Amendments |
•
Reduce Disease |
| •
1965 PL
89-272 Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Control Act |
•
Improve Air Quality |
| •
1965 PL
89-285 Highway Beautification Act |
•
Strengthen the Nation's Highway System |
| •
1965 PL
89-290 Health Professions Education Assistance Act Extension
|
•
Increase Access to Post-Secondary Education |
| •
1965 PL
89-329 Higher Education Act |
•
Increase Access to Post-Secondary Education |
| •
1966 PL
89-642 Child Nutrition Act |
•
Reduce Hunger and Improve Nutrition |
| •
1966 PL
89-670 Department of Transportation established |
•
Strengthen the Nation's Highway System |
| •
1966 PL
89-675 Clean Air Act Amendments |
•
Improve Air Quality |
| •
1966 PL
89-753 Clean Waters Restoration Act |
•
Improve Water Quality |
| •
1966 PL
89-755 Fair Packaging and Labeling Act |
•
Enhance Consumer Protection |
| •
1966 PL
89-756 Child Protection Act |
•
Enhance Consumer Protection |
Related Images
•
President
Truman's application for the optional Part B Medical Care Coverage,
which President Johnson signed as a witness. President Truman
and the former First Lady Bess Truman were enrolled as the first
Medicare beneficiaries.
•
President
Johnson with Dr. Martin Luther King celebrating the signing
of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
|
| 90th
Congress 1967-1968
Unified Party control, President Johnson (D) |
Statute |
Related Endeavor Summaries |
| •
1967 PL
90-8 Supplemental Defense Appropriations Act |
•
Strengthen the National Defense |
| •
1967 PL
90-148 Air Quality Act |
•
Improve Air Quality |
| •
1967 PL
90-201 Wholesome Meat Act |
•
Ensure Safe Food and Drinking Water |
| •
1967 PL
90-202 Age Discrimination Act |
•
Reduce Workplace Discrimination |
| •
1967 PL
90-248 Social Security Act Amendments |
•
Promote Financial Security in Retirement |
| •
1967 Outer
Space Treaty ratified |
•
Increase Arms Control and Disarmament |
| •
1968 PL
90-284 Open Housing Act |
•
Promote Equal Access to Public Accommodations |
| •
1968 PL
90-439 Securities Disclosure Act |
•
Increase the Stability of Financial Institutions and Markets
|
| •
1968 PL
90-492 Wholesome Poultry Products Act |
•
Ensure Safe Food and Drinking Water |
| •
1968 PL
90-542 Scenic Rivers Preservation Act |
•
Protect the Wilderness |
Related Images
•
Even
with the passage of the 1967 Air Quality Act, massive smog episodes
like this one in New York City in 1973, showed that this act
was just one step in endeavoring to improve air quality.
•
United
States Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspection stamp.
|
| 91st
Congress 1969-1970
Divided Party control, President Nixon (R) |
Statute |
Related Endeavor Summaries |
| •
1970 PL
91-119 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Research
and Development |
•
Promote Space Exploration |
| •
1969 PL
91-172 Tax Reform Act |
•
Promote Financial Security in Retirement |
| •
1969 PL
91-173 Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act |
•
Enhance Workplace Safety |
| •
1969 PL
91-190 National Environmental Policy Act |
•
Protect the Wilderness
•
Improve Air Quality
•
Improve Water Quality |
| •
1969 Nuclear
Nonproliferation Treaty ratified |
•
Increase Arms Control and Disarmament |
| •
1970 PL
91-222 Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act Amendments
|
•
Enhance Consumer Protection |
| •
1970 PL
91-224 Water Quality Improvement Act |
•
Improve Water Quality |
| •
1970 PL
91-285 Voting Rights Act Extension |
•
Expand the Right to Vote |
| •
1970 PL
91-504 Wilderness Act |
•
Protect the Wilderness |
| •
1970 PL
91-596 Occupational Safety and Health Act |
•
Enhance Workplace Safety |
| •
1970 PL
91-604 Clean Air Act Extension |
•
Improve Air Quality |
| •
1970 PL
91-671 Food Stamp Act |
•
Reduce Hunger and Improve Nutrition |
| •
1970 PL
91-695 Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act |
•
Reduce Disease |
| •
1970 Environmental
Protection Agency established |
•
Protect the Wilderness
*
Improve Air Quality
*
Improve Water Quality |
| •
1970 National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration established |
•
Improve Water Quality |
Related Images
•
Damage
and destruction caused by hurricane Celia in Corpus Christi,
Texas in 1970. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
was created in 1970 to establish early detection and warning
systems for natural disasters.
|
| 92nd
Congress 1971-1972
Divided
Party control, President Nixon (R) |
Statute |
Related Endeavor Summaries |
| •
1971 26th
Amendment Voting age reduced to 18 for all elections |
•
Expand the Right to Vote |
| •
1971 PL
92-5 Social Security Amendments |
•
Promote Financial Security in Retirement |
| •
1971 PL
92-218 National Cancer Act |
•
Reduce Disease |
| •
1972 PL
92-261 Equal Employment Opportunity Act |
•
Reduce Workplace Discrimination |
| •
1972 PL
92-318 Higher Education Act Amendments |
•
Increase Access to Post-Secondary Education |
| •
1972 PL
92-336 Social Security Amendments |
•
Promote Financial Security in Retirement |
| •
1972 PL
92-433 National School Lunch Act Amendments (Special Supplemental
Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children) |
•
Reduce Hunger and Improve Nutrition |
| •
1972 PL
92-448 SALT/ABM Treaty |
•
Increase Arms Control and Disarmament |
| •
1972 PL
92-500 Water Pollution Control Act |
•
Improve Water Quality |
| •
1972 PL
92-516 Federal Environmental Pesticide Control Act |
•
Ensure Safe Food and Drinking Water |
| •
1972 PL
92-573 Consumer Products Safety Act |
•
Enhance Consumer Protection |
| •
1972 PL
92-603 Social Security Amendments (Supplemental Security Income)
|
•
Promote Financial Security in Retirement |
Related Images
•
City,
state and federal funds built a water pollution control plant
in Spring Creek, Queens, New York in 1973, as mandated by the
1972 Water Pollution Control Act.
•
In
President Nixon's 1971 State of the Union Speech, he addressed
government endeavors such as reducing disease and increasing
arms control and disarmament.
|
| 93rd
Congress 1973-1974
Divided Party control, Presidents Nixon (R) and Ford (R)
|
Statute |
Related Endeavor Summaries |
| •
1973 PL
93-87 Federal Aid Highway Act |
•
Strengthen the Nation's Highway System |
| •
1973 PL
93-112 Rehabilitation Act |
•
Reduce Workplace Discrimination |
| •
1973 PL
93-233 Social Security Benefits Increase |
•
Promote Financial Security in Retirement |
| •
1974 PL
93-296 Research on Aging Act |
•
Reduce Disease |
| •
1974 PL
93-406 Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) |
•
Promote Financial Security in Retirement |
| •
1974 PL
93-523 Safe Drinking Water Act |
•
Ensure Safe Food and Drinking Water |
| •
1974 PL
93-618 Trade Act |
•
Expand Foreign Markets for U.S. Goods |
Related Images
•
Hollywood,
CA, freeway traffic, May 1972. Such traffic congestion led to
the 1973 Federal Aid to Highway Act.
•
President
Ford signing the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)
on September 2, 1974.
|
| 94th
Congress 1975-1976
Divided Party control, President Ford (R) |
Statute |
Related Endeavor Summaries |
| •
1975 PL
94-29 Securities and Exchange Act |
•
Increase the Stability of Financial Institutions and Markets
|
| •
1975 PL
94-73 Voting Rights Act Extension |
•
Expand the Right to Vote |
| •
1976 PL
94-295 Medical Device Regulation Act |
•
Enhance Consumer Protection |
| •
1976 PL
94-455 Tax Reform Act |
•
Promote Financial Security in Retirement |
| •
1976 PL
94-469 Toxic Substances Control Act |
•
Improve Air Quality
*
Improve Water Quality |
Related Images
•
An
Environmental Protection Agency employee inspects pesticides
at a chemical company in Mississippi. The EPA regulated the
use of pesticides as mandated by Congress through the Toxic
Substances Control Act of 1976.
|
|
95th
Congress 1977-1978
Unified Party control, President Carter (D) |
Statute |
Related Endeavor Summaries |
| •
1977 PL
95-87 Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act |
•
Protect the Wilderness |
| •
1977 PL
95-95 Clean Air Act Amendments |
•
Improve Air Quality |
| •
1977 PL
95-216 Social Security Act Amendments |
•
Promote Financial Security in Retirement |
| •
1977 PL
95-217 Clean Water Act |
•
Improve Water Quality |
| •
1978 PL
95-495 Wilderness Act |
•
Protect the Wilderness |
| •
1978 PL
95-566 Middle Income Student Assistance Act |
•
Increase Access to Post-Secondary Education |
| •
1978 PL
95-600 Revenue Act |
•
Promote Financial Security in Retirement |
Related Images
•
President
Carter signs the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act
into law, 1977.
•
President
Carter signs the Wilderness Act of 1978.
|
|
96th
Congress 1979-1980
Unified Party control, President Carter (D) |
Statute |
Related Endeavor Summaries |
| |
