Joint Meeting & Joint Session Addresses Before Congress by Foreign Leaders & Dignitaries
The purpose of a Joint Meeting has usually been for Congress to hear an address from an important figure—generally a visiting foreign leader. This practice became a standard part of foreign leaders’ state visits to the United States after 1945. In the early Congresses, a Joint Session or a House Reception was often used for the address.
There are two known instances of unofficial addresses by foreign leaders to the House and Senate in the House Chamber. Referred to as a Joint Caucus of the House and Senate, President Oscar Arias of Costa Rica and President José Napoleón Duarte gave informal addresses on September 22, 1987, and October 15, 1987, respectively.
Date | Addresses by Foreign Heads-of-State and Dignitaries1 |
---|---|
June 8, 2016 | Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
September 24, 2015 | His Holiness Pope Francis of the Holy See addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
April 29, 2015 | Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
March 25, 2015 | Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
March 3, 2015 | Binyamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
September 18, 2014 | Petro Poroshenko, President of Ukraine addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
May 8, 2013 | Park Geun Hye, President of Republic of Korea addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
October 13, 2011 | Lee Myung-bak, President of Republic of Korea addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
May 24, 2011 | Binyamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
March 9, 2011 | Julia Gillard, Prime Minister of Australia addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
May 20, 2010 | Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, President of Mexico addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
November 3, 2009 | Dr. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
March 4, 2009 | Gordon Brown, Prime Minster of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
April 30, 2008 | Bertie Ahern, Prime Minister of Ireland addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
November 7, 2007 | Nicolas Sarkozy, President of the French Republic addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
March 7, 2007 | King Abdullah II Bin Al Hussein, King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
July 26, 2006 | Dr. Nouri Al-Maliki, Prime Minister of Iraq addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
June 7, 2006 | Vaira Vike-Freiberga, President of Latvia addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
May 24, 2006 | Ehud Olmert, Prime Minister of Israel addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
March 15, 2006 | Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of the Republic of Liberia addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
March 1, 2006 | Silvio Berlusconi, Prime Minister of the Republic of Italy addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
July 19, 2005 | Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
April 6, 2005 | Viktor Yushchenko, President of Ukraine addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
September 23, 2004 | Ayad Allawi, Interim Prime Minister of the Republic of Iraq addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
June 15, 2004 | Hamid Karzai, Prime Minister of the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
February 4, 2004 | Jose Maria Aznar, President of the Government of Spain addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
July 17, 2003 | Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
June 12, 2002 | John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. The scheduled address by Prime Minister John Howard of Australia to a Joint Meeting of Congress on September 12, 2001, was cancelled. |
September 6, 2001 | Vicente Fox, President of Mexico addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
September 14, 2000 | Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Prime Minister of India addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
July 15, 1998 | Emil Constantinescu, President of Romania, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
June 10, 1998 | Kim Dae-jung, President of South Korea, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
February 27, 1997 | Eduardo Frei, President of Chile, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
September 11, 1996 | John Bruton, Prime Minister of Ireland, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
July 10, 1996 | Binyamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
February 1, 1996 | Jacques Chirac, President of France, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
December 12, 1995 | Shimon Peres, Prime Minister of Israel, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
June 26, 1995 | Kim Yong-sam, President of South Korea, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
October 6, 1994 | Nelson Mandela, President of South Africa, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
July 26, 1994 | Hussein I, King of Jordan, and Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister of Israel, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
May 18, 1994 | Narasimha Rao, Prime Minister of India, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
June 17, 1992 | Boris Yeltsin, President of Russia, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
April 30, 1992 | Richard von Weizsäcker, President of Germany, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
November 14, 1991 | Carlos Saul Menem, President of Argentina, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
May 16, 1991 | Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
April 16, 1991 | Violeta B. de Chamorro, President of Nicaragua, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
June 26, 1990 | Nelson Mandela, Deputy President of the African National Congress, South Africa, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
March 7, 1990 | Giulio Andreotti, President of the Council of Ministers of Italy, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
February 21, 1990 | Vaclav Hável, President of Czechoslovakia, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
November 15, 1989 | Lech Walesa, chairman of SolidarnoϾ labor union, Poland, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
November 18, 1989 | Roh Tae Woo, President of South Korea, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
October 4, 1989 | Carlos Salinas de Gortari, President of Mexico, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
June 7, 1989 | Benazir Bhutto, Prime Minister of Pakistan, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
June 23, 1988 | Robert Hawke, Prime Minister of Australia, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
April 27, 1988 | Brian Mulroney, Prime Minister of Canada, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
November 10, 1987 | Chaim Herzog, President of Israel, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
September 18, 1986 | Corazon C. Aquino, President of the Philippines, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
September 11, 1986 | Jose Sarney, President of Brazil, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
October 9, 1985 | Lee Kuan Yew, Prime Minister of Singapore, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
June 13, 1985 | Rajiv Gandhi, Prime Minister of India, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
March 20, 1985 | Raul Alfonsin, President Argentina, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress |
March 6, 1985 | Bettino Craxi, President of the Council of Ministers of Italy, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
February 20, 1985 | Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
May 16, 1984 | Miguel de la Madrid, President of Mexico, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
March 22, 1984 | François Mitterand, President of France, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
March 15, 1984 | Dr. Garett FitzGerald, Prime Minister of Ireland, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
October 5, 1983 | Karl Carstens, President of West Germany, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
April 21, 1982 | Beatrix, Queen of the Netherlands, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
February 22, 1977 | Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau of Canada addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
September 23, 1976 | President William R. Tolbert, Jr., of Liberia addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
June 2, 1976 | Juan Carlos I, King of Spain, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
May 18, 1976 | President Valery Giscard d’Estaing of France addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
March 17, 1976 | Prime Minister Liam Cosgrave of Ireland addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
January 28, 1976 | Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
November 5, 1975 | President Anwar El Sadat of Egypt addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
June 17, 1975 | President Walter Scheel of West Germany addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
June 15, 1972 | President Luis Echeverria Alvarez of Mexico addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
June 3, 1970 | President Rafael Caldera of Venezuela addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
February 25, 1970 | President Georges Pompidou of France addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
October 27, 1967 | President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz of Mexico addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
September 15, 1966 | President Ferdinand E. Marcos of the Philippines addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
May 28, 1964 | President Eamon de Valera of Ireland addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
January 15, 1964 | President Antonio Segni of Italy addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
April 12, 1962 | Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, Shahanshah of Iran, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
April 4, 1962 | President Joao Goulart of Brazil addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
September 21, 1961 | President Manuel Prado of Peru addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
July 12, 1961 | President Mohammad Ayub Khan of Pakistan addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
May 4, 1961 | President Habib Bourguiba of Tunisia addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
June 29, 1960 | Bhumibol Adulyadej, King of Thailand, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
April 28, 1960 | Mahendra, King of Nepal addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
April 25, 1960 | President Charles de Gaulle of France addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
April 6, 1960 | President Alberto Lleras-Camargo of Columbia addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
May 12, 1959 | Baudouin, King of the Belgians, addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
May 18, 1959 | President Sean T. O’Kelly of Ireland addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
March 11, 1959 | President Jose Maria Lemus of El Salvador addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
January 21, 1959 | President Arturo Frondizi of Argentina addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
June 18, 1958 | President Carlos F. Garcia of the Philippines addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
June 5, 1958 | President Theodor Heuss of West Germany addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
May 9, 1957 | President Ngo Dinh Diem of Vietnam addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
May 17, 1956 | President Sukarno of Indonesia addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
February 29, 1956 | President Giovanni Gronchi of Italy addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
January 27, 1955 | President Paul E. Magloire of Haiti addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
July 28, 1954 | President Syngman Rhee of South Korea addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
May 28, 1954 | Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
May 4, 1954 | Governor General Vincent Massey of Canada addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
January 29, 1954 | President Celal Bayar of Turkey addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
April 3, 1952 | Queen Juliana of the Netherlands addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
January 17, 1952 | Prime Minister Winston Churchill of the United Kingdom addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
September 24, 1951 | Prime Minister Alcide de Gasperi of Italy addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
June 21, 1951 | President Galo Plaza of Ecuador addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
April 2, 1951 | President Vincent Auriol of France addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
May 19, 1949 | President Gaspar Dutra of Brazil addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
April 19, 1948 | Ambassador Guillermo Belt of Cuba addressed a Joint Session of Congress held to memorialize the 50th anniversary of Cuban independence. |
May 1, 1947 | President Miguel Aleman of Mexico addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
November 13, 1945 | Prime Minister Clement R. Attlee of the United Kingdom addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
May 19, 1943 | Prime Minister Winston Churchill of the United Kingdom addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
December 26, 1941 | Prime Minister Winston Churchill of the United Kingdom addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress. |
May 20, 1934 | Ambassador Andre’ de Laboulaye of France addressed a Joint Session of Congress held to memorialize the centennial anniversary of the death of Lafayette. |
December 18, 1874 | A Joint Meeting of Congress is held to receive King Kalakaua of Hawaii. |
Footnotes
1Joint Meetings and Joint Sessions recorded in Congressional Directory and Congressional Record.