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Big Changes in the House
The New Year began with a bang in Washington D.C. when the new Congress took the oath of office last week. 2007 brings important changes to who's in charge as Democrats and Republicans switched places for the first time in over a decade.
Congress has two main groups: the 435 members of the House of Representatives and the 100 members of the Senate. These are the people who pass the laws needed to run our country. For over 10 years, there were more Republicans than Democrats in Congress. That meant the Republicans took the lead and had more to say about what laws could be passed. But, last November, the Democrats won elections and now outnumber the Republicans in both the House and Senate. They will try to introduce new laws and make changes that they promised while running for office. Of course these laws must be signed by President Bush who is a Republican.
A new Congress takes charge every two years. This latest Congress, the 110th in our history made history too. It includes 86 women--the most ever. One of them, Democrat Nancy Pelosi from California, became the first woman Speaker of the House of Representatives. The Speaker is the leader of the House. "It's an historic moment for the women of America," Nancy Pelosi declared in her opening speech. "For our daughters and our granddaughters now the sky is the limit. Anything is possible for them."
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