From George Washington to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, 4 January 1790
To the United States Senate and House of Representatives
United-States [New York] January 4th 1790
Sir,
Whenever there shall be a sufficient number of the two Houses of Congress assembled to proceed to business, I request to be informed of it. And also at what time and place it will be convenient for Congress that I should meet them, in order to make some oral communications at the commencement of their session.1 I have the honor to be, Sir, Your most humble servant
Go: Washington
LS, DNA: RG 46, First Congress, Records of Legislative Proceedings, President’s Messages; LB, DLC:GW.
1. On 7 Jan. the House of Representatives received a message from the Senate that a committee had been appointed “to wait on the President of the United States, and inform him, that a quorum of both Houses of Congress had assembled, and are ready to receive any communications that he may be pleased to make.” On the same day the House appointed Nicholas Gilman, Fisher Ames, and Joshua Seney as a committee to join Caleb Strong and Ralph Izard, the Senate committee, in informing the president of the existence of a quorum (, 1:214, 3:251). The committee reported on the same day that “the President was pleased to say, he would attend, to make his communication to both Houses of Congress, to-morrow morning, at eleven o’clock” (ibid., 3:251).