Why is the current us congress called the 113th congress?

Answer 1

U.S. Congresses are numbered based on the terms of the members of the U.S. House of Representatives, all of whom are elected every two years to two-year terms. Representatives and Senators who served from 4 March 1789 until 3 March 1791 were members of the 1st Congress, those who served from 4 March 1791 until 3 March 1793 made up the 2nd Congress, and so on.

Note that since Senators are elected to six-year terms, that means that each Senator is elected to serve in three Congresses. For example, Class 1 Senators who were elected in 2012 were elected to serve in the 113th, 114th and 115th Congresses.

The 1st through 72nd Congresses began on 4 March of the odd-numbered years from 1789 to 1931 and ended on 3 March two years later. The 73rd Congress began on 4 March 1933 and ended on 3 January 1935. The 74th through 112th Congresses began on 3 January of the odd-numbered years from 1935 to 2011 and ended on 3 January two years later. The 113th Congress began on 3 January 2013 and will end on 3 January 2015.