	Background and Context

Since 1973, 84 Members of Congress—69 Representatives and 15 Senators—have died in office. When a sitting Member dies, the House and Senate carry out a number of actions based on chamber rules, statutes, and long-standing practices. Some congressional practices related to the death of a sitting Member predate the national legislature established by the Constitution. Evidence from the Senate Journal , House precedents, and other historical documents shows that some long-standing observances, such as adjourning briefly as a mark of respect to the deceased, appointing Member delegations to attend funerals of deceased colleagues, or paying the costs of a funeral from public funds, may be employed. In addition to some evolutionary changes in institutional patterns, it appears that contemporary congressional response is affected by a number of external factors including the following:
circumstances of the Member's death; preferences of the deceased Member, or the Member's family, regarding funeral services; whether Congress is in session when the Member dies; pending congressional business at the time of the Member's death; and events external to Congress. Consequently, it appears that congressional response to the death of a sitting Member could be characterized as a set of actions that are determined in detail at or around the time of the death, in response to an array of factors. Generally, these actions fall into five categories:
Floor Announcement or Acknowledgment; Resolution of Condolence; Funeral; Deceased Member's Office, Staff, and Survivor Benefits; and Publication of Memorials. Since 1953, Congress has typically adopted a concurrent resolution authorizing the use of the Capitol Rotunda for services or for the remains of a government official or prominent citizen to lie in the Capitol.
Since 1973, 84 Members of Congress—69 Representatives and 15 Senators—have died in office. When a sitting Member dies, the House and Senate carry out a number of actions based on chamber rules, statutes, and long-standing practices. Some observances, such as adjourning briefly as a mark of respect to the deceased, appointing Member delegations to attend funerals of deceased colleagues, or paying the costs of a funeral from public funds, were initially observed in the earliest Congresses, or predate the national legislature established under the Constitution. It appears that contemporary congressional response to the death of a sitting Member is affected by a number of external factors including the following: circumstances of the Member's death, preferences of the deceased Member or the Member's family regarding funeral services, whether Congress is in session when the Member dies, pending congressional business at the time of the Member's death, and events external to Congress at the time.
Congressional response to the death of a sitting Member could be characterized as a broad set of actions that are determined in detail at or around the time of the death, in response to a wide array of factors. Broadly, these actions fall into five categories, including announcement or acknowledgment on the House or Senate floor; consideration of resolutions of condolence; a funeral or other rites; issues related to the deceased Member's office, staff, and survivor benefits; and publication of memorials.
This report, which will be updated as events warrant, is one of several CRS products focusing on various aspects of the operations and administration of Congress and the legislative branch. Others include CRS Report RL30064, Congressional Salaries and Allowances, by [author name scrubbed]; CRS Report R42072, Legislative Branch Agency Appointments: History, Processes, and Recent Proposals, by [author name scrubbed]; CRS Report RL34619, Use of the Capitol Rotunda, Capitol Grounds, and Emancipation Hall: Concurrent Resolutions, 101st to 112th Congress, by Matthew Eric Glassman and [author name scrubbed]; and CRS Report R42365, Representatives and Senators: Trends in Member Characteristics Since 1945, coordinated by [author name scrubbed].