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WASHINGTON - Democrats took control of the 110th Congress today, promising to challenge President George W. Bush's Iraq war policies, help the poor and middle class and clean up how lawmakers do business.
On the first day of a two-year session, the House of Representatives made history by electing liberal Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California the first female to lead the 218-year-old chamber as its speaker.
It also marked the first time in his six years as president that Bush will not have fellow Republicans controlling either the House or Senate.
In the other legislative chamber, newly installed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said: "The war in Iraq will cast a long shadow over the Senate's work this year."
Pelosi delivered her first speech as speaker of the House, warning that the elections were "a call to change" that went far beyond Democrats' taking power from Republicans.
"Nowhere were the American people more clear about the need for a new direction than in Iraq," Pelosi said, adding that voters "rejected an open-ended obligation to a war without end."
Democrats are expected to use their newly acquired committee chairmanships to build public support for a phased troop withdrawal from Iraq with a series of hearings examining the build-up and prosecution of the conflict.
The new spirit of bipartisanship that was on display on Congress' first day will be tested by the Iraq war.
Bush soon will unveil a new Iraq strategy that could include increasing combat troop levels, a move opposed by most Democrats.
Jammed halls of congress
The start of the new Congress was mostly taken up with ceremonial activities, including the swearing-in of newly elected House and Senate members.
Capitol hallways were jammed with lawmakers' spouses and other relatives. One spouse, former President Bill Clinton, husband of New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, strolled through the Senate press gallery just before noon. "I came to apply for a job," he joked.
Celebrities watching the House proceedings included singer Tony Bennett, songwriter Carole King and screen actor Richard Gere. They plan to attend the Democrats' evening celebration.
Following the 233-202 party-line vote installing Pelosi as speaker, House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio turned the gavel over to Pelosi, calling her rise to the speaker "historic" and "an occasion I think the Founding Fathers would view approvingly."
Boehner noted Republican achievements during 12 years of House rule. But he indicated that Republicans lost sight of their mission. "The value of a majority lies not in the chance to wield great power, but in the chance to use limited power to do great things."
Democrats planned to quickly get down to business.
The first item on the House and Senate agendas in coming days was ethics reforms to clean up how the scandal-rocked Congress does business.
They will essentially put some new barriers between lawmakers and lobbyists following a series of ethics breeches that led to four House Republicans resigning last year.
Reid said he and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky would try to craft a bipartisan bill to raise the minimum wage. A simple US$2.10-per-hour increase over two years will first be passed by the House. Senate Republicans and Bush want new small business tax breaks added in.
Other major issues Democrats want to tackle this year include balancing the budget within five years, a goal Bush embraced on Wednesday.
Democrats also plan to challenge Bush again on expanding stem cell medical research, a measure he vetoed last year. Lower borrowing costs to pay for college tuition and lower prescription drug costs for senior citizens also lead their agenda.
- REUTERS
