The night-walkers of Uganda

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The Democrats hail new era for US as 
they sweep into Congress
by Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
January 5, 2007
A new era was proclaimed in Washington as 
the Democratic party recaptured control of both 
houses of Congress for the first time in 12 years. 
“The Democrats are back,” said Nancy Pelosi, 
who made history when she became the first 
woman speaker of the House of Representatives. 
“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,” 
Ms Pelosi told Congress. 
Keith Ellison of Minnesota became the first 
Muslim to serve in Congress, taking his office on 
a Qur’an. 
The official message from Ms Pelosi as well 
as the new Democratic Senate majority leader, 
Harry Reid, was about cooperation with their 
Republican opponents. But Ms Pelosi said that 
George Bush would face new and energetic 
opposition. The President had a Republican 
House and Senate in his first six years in the 
White House.
“The American people were clear about the need 
for a new direction in Iraq. The American people 
rejected an open-ended obligation to a war 
without end,” Ms Pelosi said. 
“It is the responsibility of the President to 
articulate a new plan for Iraq that makes it 
clear to the Iraqis that they must defend their 
own streets and their own security, a plan that 
promotes stability in the region and that allows 
us to responsibly redeploy American forces,” Ms 
Pelosi said. 
Ms Pelosi plans to use the Democrats’ new 
majority in domestic politics as well. She wants 
to begin almost immediately with measures 
to clarify relationships between lobbyists and 
politicians. The move would ban such 
inducements as free seats at basketball games 
and trips on private jets. 
In the Senate, where the Democratic majority is 
very thin, Mr Reid said yesterday that the focus 
would remain on Iraq. 
The Democrats have also promised to raise the 
federal minimum wage for the first time in ten 
years, as well as make federal money available 
for stem cell research. But the White House 
announced that Mr Bush is still opposed to 
stem cell research. Mr Bush warned of further 
confrontations. “If the Congress chooses to pass 
bills that are simply political statements, they will 
have chosen stalemate,” he wrote in the Wall 
Street Journal this week.