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Politics

Democrats revel in 'historic moment'

By WES ALLISON and BILL ADAIR
Published January 5, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [AP Photo] Reps. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and James Clyburn, D-S.C., wave from the floor of the House during the roll call vote that made Pelosi the speaker of the House in the U.S. Capitol on Thursday. Clyburn became majority whip.

WASHINGTON - House Democrats celebrated their return to power Thursday by electing the nation's first female speaker, then promptly began passing a sweeping package of ethics reforms they hope will restore the public's confidence in Congress.

During a raucous two-hour ceremony rife with a sense of history and the changes to come, Rep. Nancy Pelosi was sworn in as House speaker.

A homemaker and grandmother from San Francisco who launched her political career in middle age, Pelosi, 66, now holds one of the most powerful jobs in the nation. She is in line for the presidency after the vice president.

She promised "partnership, not partisanship," after 12 years of Republican rule and thanked her husband, Paul, and their five children for "the confidence to go from the kitchen to the Congress."

The 110th Congress boasts a record 90 women - 74 in the House and 16 in the Senate - and women and minorities hold an unprecedented number of leadership posts.

"By electing me speaker, you have brought us closer to the ideal of equality that is America's heritage and hope," Pelosi said in a 20-minute address.

"This is an historic moment - for the Congress, and for the women of this country. It is a moment for which we have waited more than 200 years. ... For our daughters and granddaughters, today we have broken the marble ceiling."

Pelosi was raised in a large Italian-American family in Baltimore, where both her father and her brother were mayors. She moved to San Francisco after marrying 43 years ago. A liberal, she was elected to Congress 20 years ago.

In addition to Pelosi, House Democrats elected a new second-in-command, Steny Hoyer of Maryland, and the nation's second African-American majority whip, James Clyburn of South Carolina. The Republican leader is John Boehner of Ohio.

Before and after the pro forma vote that made Pelosi speaker, most of the Republican members sat glumly, witnessing the first tangible results of their loss of power.

The Democratic side, by contrast, resembled a joyous family reunion. Members chatted in the aisles as their children and grandchildren - including all six of Pelosi's grandchildren - fidgeted in the seats and toyed with the microphones. An aide carried a bottle of baby formula to the speaker's daughter.

Those watching from the gallery included the families of many members, as well as actor Richard Gere and singers Tony Bennett and Carole King, who came to witness Pelosi's ascension. As she finished her speech, Pelosi invited the nearly 100 children in the chamber to come up and touch the speaker's gavel.

As they filtered back to their seats, Pelosi banged the gavel and said, "For these children, and all of America's children, the House will come to order."

The historic day in the House overshadowed ceremonies in the Senate, where Democrats took control and elected Harry Reid of Nevada majority leader. Democrats have only a slight majority in the Senate, 51 to 49, and one of them, Tim Johnson of South Dakota, remains hospitalized after brain surgery.

Combined with rules that allow any senator to stall and amend legislation, the Democratic takeover there is likely to be far less dramatic than in the House, where the majority controls everything from the vote schedule to amendments.

House Democrats plan to use their new powers in a 100-hour blitz to pass a half-dozen campaign promises, including more funding for embryonic stem cell research and raising the minimum wage.

Senate Democrats have set similar goals, and the proposals are likely to pass both chambers.

After that, however, Pelosi has her work cut out for her. With only a 31-vote advantage in the House, 233 to 202, passing bills will require her to hold together a fractious Democratic coalition of urban liberals, antiwar activists and rural conservatives.

She also must contend with a cantankerous Republican minority and a president not known for appeasing Congress.

But Thursday, with momentum on their side, the first order of business for Democrats in the House was a package of rule changes that Pelosi called "the toughest congressional ethics reform in history."

Thursday evening, the House approved the first pieces: new restrictions on travel and gifts from lobbyists.

The new rules are designed to prevent members from taking trips in corporate jets and prohibit all gifts from lobbyists the old rules allowed them if less than $50. The new rules require ethics committee approval before members can take a trip paid for by an outside group.

Today, the House will consider several additional rules:

- Broad new requirements about disclosing earmarks, the pet projects and tax breaks that lawmakers insert into bills.

- A prohibition on keeping votes open after time runs out so that the leadership can persuade members to switch. (Republicans were criticized for doing this in the 2003 vote on the Medicare drug plan.)

- A requirement for a pay-as-you-go approach that puts restrictions on bills that would increase the budget deficit.

Democrats said the changes would be a stark change from 12 years of Republican control, when GOP leaders had a close relationship with corporate lobbyists.

Rep. Kathy Castor, a newly elected Tampa Democrat making her first floor speech, said the changes will "assure our neighbors back home that Congress is operating in a way that serves every American."

The rule requiring full disclosure of earmarks and their sponsors would be the biggest change. Previous rules applied only to appropriations bills, which traditionally are stuffed with pork barrel projects. But the rule being considered today would greatly expand the definition to include other types of bills and tax breaks.

The rule would also prohibit some types of legislative "horse-trading," in which members who vote a certain way on a bill are rewarded with a pet project.

Ethics groups and many Republicans praised the rule changes as a substantial improvement.

"The earmark reform alone will definitely change things," said Melanie Sloan, director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. "This seems like it's really intended to catch everything."

Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said that he would like the rule to be more sweeping but that he was pleased with the Democratic proposal.

"I give them kudos," he said.

Times staff writer Wes Allison can be reached at allison@sptimes.com or (202) 463-0577. Washington bureau chief Bill Adair can be reached at adair@sptimes.com or (202) 463-0575.

Quick action on ethics

House rule changes approved Thursday:

- Prevent members from taking trips in corporate jets.

- Prohibit all gifts from lobbyists.

- Prohibit members from threatening retaliation against private firms that hire employees of a different political party (a response to the Republicans' "K Street Project," which pressured lobbying firms to hire Republicans).

[Last modified January 5, 2007, 00:23:31]