LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
This page was last updated January 27, 2003; it covers
the 108th Congress (2003-2004).
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.
The Biographical
Directory of the United States Congress has brief biographical information
on anyone who has ever served in Congress, from 1774 (the First Continental
Congress) to the present day.
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
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.)
There are 100
members of the United States Senate; each
State has two Senators, and there are 50 states. Senators' terms of
office are 6 years each, and are staggered so that one-third of the Senate
is elected every two years. The current Senate membership consists of 51
Republicans, 48 Democrats, and one independent.
The Senators from West
Virginia, both Democrats, are:
-
ROBERT C. BYRD,
311 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510-4801 Telephone1-202-224-6472,
fax 304-343-7144; e-mail: senator_byrd@byrd.senate.gov
Web page: www.senate.gov/~byrd
Term expires January, 2007. Senator Byrd is the ranking Democratic
member of the Appropriations
Committee, and is also on the Armed
Services Committee, the Rules
and Administration Committee, and the Budget
Committee. His regional office is in Charleston (1-304-342-5855).
-
JOHN D.
ROCKEFELLER IV, 531 Hart Senate Office Bldg., Washington
D.C. 20510 Telephone 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, 2009. "Jay" is the ranking minority member of the
Committee
on Veterans' Affairs, Vice-Chairman of the Select
Committee on Intelligence, chairman of the Democratic Technology and
Communications Committee, a U.S. Trade Advisor, and co-chairman of the
Senate Steel Caucus. He is also on the Finance
Committee, the Commerce, Science
and Technology Committee, the Committee
on Foreign Relations, the Joint
Committee on Taxation, the Bipartisan
Commission on the Future of Medicare, the U.S.
Bipartisan Commission on Comprehensive Health Care. Senator Rockefeller
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
Members of the House are sometimes called "Congressman"
or "Congresswoman." Click here to
find who your Representative is, addresses
or other information on each Representative or here
to write to a Representative, whether or not he or she has an e-mail
address.
Click here for the websites
of House committees.
Leadership
of the House
There are 435 members
of the U. S. House of Representatives, apportioned according
to the population as of the last Census.
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, 2005.
Currently, there are 229 Republicans, 205 Democrats and one independent
in the House of Representatives.
West Virginia has 3 Representatives.
A
map of the state's three districts is at the West Virginia Secretary of
State's web site.
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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, Gilmer, Tucker, Grant, and Mineral counties. 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 <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: http://www.house.gov/capito.
She also has district
offices in Charleston and Martinsburg. Rep. Capito is a member
of the Financial Services
Committee, Transportation
and Infrastructure Committee, and the Committee
on Small Business. Congresswoman Capito does not have a public e-mail
address, but you write her at Write
Your Representative <www.house.gov/writerep/>.
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NICK
J. RAHALL II (2307 Rayburn H.O.B.; 202-225-3452),
a Democrat, represents the southernmost, Third
District of W.Va. His district
offices are 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 http://www.house.gov/rahall,
and his e-mail address is nrahall@hr.house.gov