Thread: Meet the 113th Congress: More diverse than ever

January 3rd, 2013 08:01 PM ET

Meet the 113th Congress: More diverse than ever

By Jim Acosta, CNN National Political Correspondent

Washington (CNN) - The newly sworn-in 113th Congress is the most diverse group of representatives in history, reflecting changing demographics and changing public attitudes.

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98 women, 43 African-Americans, 31 Latinos, 12 Asian-American and Pacific Islanders, and seven gay and bisexual members are now new members of the House and Senate. Plus, there is the first Buddhist member in the Senate and Hindu member in the House of Representatives.

“It means that we reflect America more,” said newly elected Rep. Tammy Duckwork, an Illinois Democrat. “And it is good to see Congress starting to look more like the rest of America.”

Duckworth, a double-amputee veteran of the Iraq War, is one of the historic number of Asian-Americans elected and joins the record number of women inducted, along with new Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

“Here is the first woman from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” Warren said to cheers from her supporters.

And the new members are not the only ones making history. Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski will serve as the first female chair of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee and Nancy Pelosi has returned to her role as that chamber’s Democratic leader.

But the diversity is not exclusive to the Democrats.

Republican Tim Scott became the first African-American from the South to serve in the Senate since Reconstruction, and Ted Cruz, who is Cuban-American, was elected to the Senate. Both were supported by the Tea Party.

“It is an incredible day and a testament to the power of the grass roots and the power of the people,” Cruz told CNN.

There is also more representation of the gay and lesbian community in the Congress.

Democrat Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin was sworn-in as the first openly gay U.S. Senator. On the other side of the Capitol, Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Arizona) is the first openly bi-sexual member of the House.

By the numbers: 113th Congress

http://inamerica.blogs.cnn.com/2013/01/03/meet-the-113th-congress-more-diverse-than-ever/

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By the numbers: 113th Congress

By Amy Roberts, CNN Library
updated 1:48 PM EST, Thu January 3, 2013


113th Congress will be sworn in today

(CNN) -- While the demographic composition of the 113th Congress is in some sense historic, many issues it will face - government spending, entitlement reform, and immigration - are nothing new.

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Here's a look - by the numbers - at the new wave of legislators on Capitol Hill:
13 - New senators.
84 - New House members.


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98 - Women in the new Congress: 78 in the House, 20 in the Senate.
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38 - Years in office of the longest currently serving senator, Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont.
53+ - Years in office of the longest currently serving congressman, John Dingell, D-Michigan.
5 - Net gain in number of seats women hold in 113th Congress over 112th.
3 - States with two women senators: California, New Hampshire, and Washington.
95 - Percent of the U.S. Senate that is white.
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19 - Percent of the U.S. House of Representatives that belong to minority groups.
89 - Age of the oldest-ever member of the House, Ralph Hall, R-Texas. He broke the previous record on Christmas Day, his birthday.
8.5 - Percent of the U.S. House under 40.
27 - Percent of the Senate that is Catholic.
4 - The number of new U.S. House seats in Texas created by reapportionment; out 12 total. Texas gained more new seats than any other state.
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5 - Members of the 113th Congress who had previous careers in professional sports.
7 - Members who are openly gay or bisexual.
12 - New members who have served in the U.S. military.
2 - Physicists in Congress: Rep. Bill Foster, a Democratic congressman-elect from Illinois, and Rep. Rush Holt, Jr., a New Jersey Democrat.
6 - Number of reindeer owned by Kerry Bentivolio, a congressman-elect from Michigan. He has worked as a Santa impersonator since the 1980s before running for Congress.

New Congress takes office Thursday, will tackle leftovers from old Congress


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