 WASHINGTON (AP) _ Politically, the 213th Congress that was sworn
in Thursday won't be much of a change from the less-than-stellar 212th
Congress it replaces: Democrats picked up a few seats in the House and
Senate, but the balance of power is unchanged, with Republicans
controlling the House and Democrats holding a majority in the Senate.
Yet a closer look finds that Congress is undergoing some of the
changes that have altered the face of America in general, with women and
minorities playing increasingly more prominent roles. Here's a
breakdown.
THE NUMBERS
The House has 233 Republicans and 200 Democrats. Each party
should pick up one more seat when two vacancies are filled. Going into
the election, the GOP edge was 242-193. Senate Democrats will have a
caucus of 55, including two independents, Angus King of Maine and Bernie
Sanders of Vermont. Republicans have 45. That's a pickup of two seats
for Democrats.
WOMEN
The House will have 79 women, including 60 Democrats. At the end
of the last session, there were 50 Democratic women and 24 Republican
women. The new Senate will have 20 women members, an increase of three.
That consists of 16 Democrats and four Republicans. The last Senate had
12 Democratic women and five Republicans.
FRESHMEN
With two vacancies to be filled, the House has 82 freshmen; 47
Democrats and 35 Republicans. As of the end of the last session, 87 of
103 freshmen were Republicans. The Senate will include 14 new faces,
with nine Democrats and the independent King. Five are women. New
senators include Brian Schatz, who was sworn in on Dec. 27 to fill the
seat of the late Hawaii Democrat Daniel Inouye.
AFRICAN AMERICANS
The House will have 40 African Americans, all Democrats. The
number of Democrats is unchanged, although two Republicans will be gone:
Allen West, R-Fla., lost his re-election bid, and Tim Scott, R-S.C.,
was appointed to fill the Senate seat of Jim DeMint, R-S.C., who is
retiring. Scott will be the first black lawmaker in the Senate since
Roland Burris, who retired in 2010 after filling the Illinois Senate
seat of Barack Obama for almost two years.
HISPANICS
The new House will have 33 Hispanics, with 25 Democrats and eight
Republicans. That's up slightly from last year. The Senate will have
three Hispanics: Democrat Robert Menendez of New Jersey, Republican
Marco Rubio of Florida and Republican freshman Ted Cruz of Texas.
OTHER MINORITIES
The new House will have nine Asian Americans, all Democrats.
There are two American Indians: Tom Cole, R-Okla., and Ben Lujan, D-N.M.
OTHER FACTS
According to CQ Roll Call newspaper, the average age of House
members in the 113th Congress is 57; the average age of senators is 62.
It estimates that the House will include some 277 Protestants and
Catholics, 22 Jews, two Muslims and two Buddhists. The Senate will have
80 Protestants and Catholics and 10 Jews. The House will have its first
Hindu, Rep.Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii. Senate freshman Mazie Hirono, also
of Hawaii, will be the Senate's only Buddhist. Also for the first time,
white men will be a minority among House Democrats.
*Pictured above is former Rep. Allen West.
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