Senate
When Florida was admitted to the union in 1845, Westcott ran for U.S. senator and was victorious. Westcott and fellow democrat David Levy (Yulee) became the first U.S. senators from the new state of Florida. In a choice by lot, Westcott was named a Class III senator while Levy was named a Class I meaning Westcott drew the shorter term of four years.
While in the Senate, Westcott was the chairman on the Committee on Territories and the Committee on Patents and the Patent Office. He did not run for re-election in 1848.
Read more about this topic: James Westcott
Famous quotes containing the word senate:
“This is a Senate of equals, of men of individual honor and personal character, and of absolute independence. We know no masters, we acknowledge no dictators. This is a hall for mutual consultation and discussion; not an arena for the exhibition of champions.”
—Daniel Webster (1782–1852)
“What times! What manners! The Senate knows these things, the consul sees them, and yet this man lives.”
—Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 B.C.)
“It took six weeks of debate in the Senate to get the Arms Embargo Law repealed—and we face other delays during the present session because most of the Members of the Congress are thinking in terms of next Autumn’s election. However, that is one of the prices that we who live in democracies have to pay. It is, however, worth paying, if all of us can avoid the type of government under which the unfortunate population of Germany and Russia must exist.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)