January 8, 1790

On this date, George Washington delivered his first regular Annual Message to a Joint Session of Congress. Article II, Section 3, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution states that the President “shall from time to time give to the Congress Information on the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” Washington opted to make his address in person during the opening days of the second session of the 1st Congress (1789–1791). Arriving by horse-drawn carriage on a cold January morning, the President spoke in the Senate Chamber of Federal Hall in New York City. Washington commended the work of the 1st Congress. He also made legislative recommendations regarding the administration of the new country such as the “proper establishment of the troops,” the creation of post roads, and the establishment of uniform currency, weights, and measures. “The welfare of our country is the great object to which our cares and efforts ought to be directed,” the President observed. “And I shall derive great satisfaction from a cooperation with you, in the pleasing though arduous task of ensuring to our fellow citizens the blessings which they have a right to expect.” Washington’s address set a precedent, used by subsequent Presidents, to provide an outline of goals and an annual update on the welfare of the nation to the House and Senate. Believing the practice of appearing in person to be too like the British monarch's address to Parliament, President Thomas Jefferson began sending written annual messages in 1801. President Woodrow Wilson revived the practice of presenting the message to Congress in person in 1913. The Annual Message to Congress became known as the State of the Union Address by the 1940s.

January 9, 1830

Francisco Perea of New Mexico, who fought to keep his territory loyal to the Union and served a term as a Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives during the Civil War, was born on this date in Las Padillas, New Mexico. Perea attended private schools in New Mexico, and studied at colleges in St. Louis and New York City. Two of Perea’s schoolmates from New Mexico, Jose Francisco Chaves and Miguel Antonio Otero, later served as Delegates to Congress. After college, Perea returned to New Mexico and built a successful distribution and ranching business. From the summer of 1861 to the summer of 1862, Union forces attempted to dislodge Confederate occupiers of the New Mexico Territory. Over a four-month period, Perea rallied prominent New Mexicans, then under pressure to support the Confederacy, to remain with the Union. He raised a battalion at his own expense and served as lieutenant colonel of a regiment, seeing action against insurgents and Native Americans in the decisive battle of Apache Canyon that broke the back of the Confederate offensive in New Mexico. During the summer of 1863, Perea challenged José Manuel Gallegos for a seat in Congress. Narrowly elected as a Delegate to the 38th Congress (1863–1865), Perea submitted bills for war damage compensation and disputed land claims for his constituents. A close friend of Abraham Lincoln, Perea was seated near Lincoln’s box at Ford’s Theatre when the President was assassinated. Defeated for re-election to the 39th Congress (1865–1867) by Chaves, Perea returned to his business activities in New Mexico. He died in Albuquerque, on May 21, 1913.

January 10, 1896

On this date, the House of Representatives officially banned smoking in the House Chamber. In 1871, under Speaker James G. Blaine of Maine, the House had initiated the first ban which eliminated smoking in the galleries and on the House Floor while in legislative session. The 1896 provision amended House Rule 65 (present day Rule 17) to prohibit smoking at all times in the House Chamber. Representative Thomas Catchings of Mississippi and future Speaker of the House David Henderson of Iowa introduced the amendment. In making his argument for modifying the rule Henderson stated, “I believe that since I have had a seat in this body members have been killed not alone because of the polluting effects of tobacco, but generally because of the impure air in this Hall. I think this provision will be a great step toward the preservation of the health of members of this body.” Members applauded Henderson’s speech and quickly approved the amendment. The amendment did not extend to the Democratic or Republican cloakrooms, the Speaker’s Lobby, or other areas of the House side of the Capitol. The 110th Congress (2007–2009), on the initiative of Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, banned smoking throughout the Capitol in 2007.