USA: Democrats take control of U.S. Congress
- 00:00:14
- ITN Source
USA: Democrats take control of U.S. Congress
Democrats took control of the U.S. Congress from George W. Bush's Republicans on Thursday (January 4), seeking a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and help for America's needy. While both sides promised to try to work together, major battles seemed certain -- including Democratic efforts to build pressure to change Bush's war strategy, overturn his restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research and reduce the growing gap between America's rich and poor. "Senator McConnell and I believe it's a new day in Washington. Our efforts are going to be to work on a bipartisan basis, in an open fashion, to solve the problems of the American people," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. In a history-making moment, Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, was set to be elected the first woman to head the 218-year-old House of Representatives as its speaker. Pelosi is determined to clean up Congress, which has been rocked the past two years by influence-peddling scandals. One of the first House votes will be to impose new restrictions on the relationship between lawmakers and lobbyists. Democrats won control of the House and Senate in the November 7 elections, largely because of public discontent with the Iraq war and what critics called the "do-nothing" Republican Congress. With polls showing Americans believed the country was headed in "the wrong direction," Democrats campaigned on an agenda, "A New Direction for America." It includes raising the federal minimum wage for the first time in a decade, cutting interest rates on federal student loans, ending some tax breaks for big oil companies and bolstering homeland security.
ITN Source | January 5, 2007
