Representatives and Delegates-elect to Congress, whose credentials in due form of law have been duly filed with the Clerk of the House of Representatives, in accordance with the provisions of section 26 of this title, may receive their compensation monthly, from the beginning of their term until the beginning of the first session of each Congress, upon a certificate in the form now in use to be signed by the Clerk of the House, which certificate shall have the like force and effect as is given to the certificate of the Speaker.
(R.S. § 38; Mar. 3, 1875, ch. 130, § 1, 18 Stat. 389.)