Old and New Members of Congress Convene in Washington

KWAME HOLMAN:

The 38 newly elected members of the House of Representatives came to Washington this week for orientation, office selection and, of course, the official freshmen class photo.

There are seven new members of the Senate as well and more new Republicans than Democrats in both Houses. They won't have any legislative responsibilities until the new 109th Congress convenes in January.

However, members of the 108th Congress– the retiring, the recently defeated, and those who will return next year– still have much work to do. Congress still has to approve nine of thirteen appropriations bills for the fiscal year that began six weeks ago.

It needs to raise the debt limit beyond the current $7.4 trillion ceiling by Thursday, or risk default. And the much-anticipated intelligence reform legislation is yet to be completed, and may not be.

SPOKESPERSON:

The leader is recognized.

KWAME HOLMAN:

Today was the first time the Senate had convened since Election Day. Yet Majority Leader Bill Frist did not acknowledge the imminent departure of Tom Daschle, his Democratic counterpart who was defeated for reelection.

SEN. BILL FRIST:

In short and in closing, there are a very few days remaining. We have a lot of scheduling challenges. I'll be looking forward to working with our counterparts on the other side of the aisle.

KWAME HOLMAN:

Nor did Daschle, who served ten years as Senate Democrat leader, mention his departure.

SEN.TOM DASCHLE:

So much remains but much has been done. And we would hope to work very closely with our Republican friends to make this as productive a week as we can.

KWAME HOLMAN:

Forced to move ahead, Senate Democrats this morning elected as their new leader, three-term senator Harry Reid of Nevada, Tom Daschle's assistant, who has served as the Democrat whip since 1999.

Reid probably has spent more time on the Senate floor over the past six years than any other member, primarily using procedural moves to protect the floor rights of Democrats, thwarting Republican legislation and several key judicial nominations in the process.

West Virginia's Robert Byrd once called Reid the best whip the Senate has ever had. This morning, Harry Reid spoke to the assembled Capitol Hill press corps shortly after his election.

SEN. HARRY REID:

We just completed a tremendously important, and I think visionary, caucus, where people spoke from their hearts about the Democratic Party and the successes we had this last election.

Of course we're disappointed that John Kerry was not elected president, and we said so, and he received many standing ovations. We are going to try to work with the president. We're going to work with the president.

He said four years ago he wanted to be a uniter. He called me the day after the election and said he wanted to be a uniter. It didn't work too well the first four years; we hope it works the second four years because we want to work together.

If we work together on legislation, and pass legislation, we can all take credit for it. But if we continually fail, as the Republican leadership has done, in moving legislation forward because they don't want to vote on this issue or that issue, and in the process, major legislation falls, there's blame to go around for everybody.

And keep in mind, even though we want to work together and we will do that, we're also… understand that we are in the United States Senate, and constitutionally we're empowered to represent the American people.

For example, in the Senate races, even though we only won 19 of… I'm sorry, we lost 19 of 34 seats that were open, we, by numbers, had 3.4 million more votes than Republican Senate candidates.

We represent millions and millions of people who are looking for our leadership to continue, and it will continue.

KWAME HOLMAN:

Senate Democrats also elected Dick Durbin of Illinois to replace Reid as the whip, the number-two leadership position, and Michigan's Debbie Stabenow as the Democrats' caucus secretary.

Meanwhile, Senate Republicans have a delicate personnel decision of their own to make: Who will become the new chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter appeared to be the almost certain choice, until he uttered a post-election comment that it was unlikely the Senate would confirm any Supreme Court nominee opposed to the Roe versus Wade abortion decision. Specter calls himself pro-choice.

His comment raised the anger of anti-abortion groups around the country, some of whom protested outside the Senate office buildings today.

REV. PATRICK MAHONEY:

If Sen. Specter becomes head of the Judiciary, it is a betrayal and a slap in the face to millions of pro-life Americans who worked to elect this president and get a 55 Republican majority in the Senate.

No longer can the Republican Party turn to us and thank you pro-life, pro-family evangelicals and Catholics for your votes, now go home and let us legislate.

No. We will be heard. We are impassioned and Sen. Frist must decide: Seniority or a principle? Seniority or the core of the Republican Party who helped elect them?

SEN. ARLEN SPECTER:

I'm not about to make an evaluation as to what will happen. That remains to be seen. It remains for others to comment about.

KWAME HOLMAN:

Specter since has tried to clarify his comments on judicial nominations. And this morning, that was enough to convince Utah Republican Robert Bennett.

REP. ROBERT BENNETT:

Sen. Specter has always supported the president's nominees. His actions speak much louder than the interpretations some people have put into his words. I'm very strongly in favor of his appointment as chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

KWAME HOLMAN:

But Specter needs to convince a majority of Republican senators, who held a closed-door meeting with him late this afternoon. There was no word of any decision following the meeting.