Democrats take control as Congress returns

updated 4:52 p.m. ET Jan. 5, 2007

WASHINGTON - The 110th Congress convened Thursday with Democrats in control of both the House and Senate for the first time in a dozen years.

"Today we make history. Today we change the direction of our country," exulted Rep. Nancy Pelosi, as she prepared to become the first woman Speaker of the House in history.

Both Democrats and Republicans alike pledged cooperation despite years of bitter partisanship and gridlock, to try to get the 110th Congress off on a productive note.

House Democrats also were ready to impose a ban on gifts from lobbyists and a clampdown on travel funded by private interests — measures crafted in response to the ethics scandals that weakened Republicans in last fall's elections.

The first hours of the new Democratic-held House were devoted to Pelosi's election and remarks — for which the Californian received numerous standing ovations, especially from the House's record 71 women lawmakers, thrilled that one of their own had finally ascended to the speakership. Some of the women senators also came to the House side to cheer Pelosi's history-shattering moment.

"This is an historic moment — for the Congress, and for the women of this country," Pelosi said. "It is a moment for which we have waited more than 200 years."

A call for change
On the other end of the Capitol, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., a soft-spoken but tough inside player — took the reins of the notoriously unwieldy Senate, promising to "work in a bipartisan basis in an open fashion to solve the problems of the American people."

Addressing his colleagues Thursday afternoon, Reid vowed to get the Senate back on track after an unproductive past two years.

"Last November, the voters sent us a message — Democrats and Republicans," Reid said. "The voters are upset with Congress and the partisan gridlock. The voters want a government that focuses on their needs. The voters want change. Together, we must deliver that change."

"The Democrats are back," Pelosi said earlier Thursday. She will lead a fractious House divided 233-202, with Democrats claiming control for the first time since 1994.

"The election of 2006 was a call to change — not merely to change the control of Congress, but for a new direction for our country," Pelosi said. Nowhere were the American people more clear about the need for a new direction than in Iraq. The American people rejected an open-ended obligation to a war without end."

Congressional control
Democrats maintain a tenuous hold on a Senate divided 51-49, with ailing South Dakota Democrat Tim Johnson slowly recovering in a Washington hospital weeks after suffering a brain hemorrhage. There are 49 Democrats and 49 Republicans and two independents, who both vote with Democrats.

The fragile Senate margin ensures little Democratic-sponsored legislation can pass without support from at least some Republicans.

"Our efforts are going to be to work in a bipartisan basis in an open fashion to solve the problems of the American people," Reid said.

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