What's In the House Chamber?

Blog Post

May 31, 2013

A Bevy of Ladies

Blog Post

Balloting for Speaker in the House of Representatives/tiles/non-collection/2/2003_033_006-1.xml Collection of the U.S. house of Representatives
About this object
The House Chamber opened in 1857, but is always changing. Just two years after it opened, the specially designed desks and chairs were removed, and Members experimented with bench seating.
Legislative activities in the House of Representatives begin and end in the House Chamber. Here, bills are introduced, debated, and voted on. Electoral votes are counted. The President’s State of the Union address and Joint Sessions and Joint Meeting of the House and Senate are held. The press and the public can witness the process from the galleries or watch the proceedings on television. The grand space in which all this work is carried out was designed in the 19th century—and redesigned over the years—with these needs in mind. Today, 446 seats on the floor accommodate the Members of the House during their daily work.