111th Congress

111th United States Congress
110th ← → 112th
United States Capitol (2007)
January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2011
Senate President	Dick Cheney (R), until January 20, 2009 Joe Biden (D), from January 20, 2009
Senate Pres. pro tem	Robert Byrd (D), until June 28, 2010 Daniel Inouye (D) from June 28, 2010
House Speaker	Nancy Pelosi (D)
Members	100 Senators 435 Representatives 6 Non-voting members
Senate Majority	Democratic
House Majority	Democratic
Sessions
1st: January 6, 2009 – December 24, 2009 2nd: January 5, 2010 – December 22, 2010

The One Hundred Eleventh United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government from January 3, 2009, until January 3, 2011. It began during the last two weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with the remainder spanning the first two years of Barack Obama's presidency. It was composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The apportionment of seats in the House was based on the 2000 U.S. Census. In the November 4, 2008, elections, the Democratic Party increased its majorities in both chambers, giving President Obama a Democratic majority in the legislature for the first two years of his presidency. A new delegate seat was created for the Northern Mariana Islands. The 111th Congress had the most experienced members in history: at the start of the 111th Congress, the average member of the House had served 10.3 years, while the average Senator had served 13.4 years. This Congress has been considered one of the most productive Congresses in history in terms of legislation passed since the 89th Congress, during Lyndon Johnson's Great Society.

At the encouragement of the Obama administration, Congress devoted significant time considering health care reform. In March 2010, Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law, the first comprehensive health care reform legislation in decades that created the first National health insurance program, along with further amendments in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. Other major reform proposals during the health care debate included: