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The most diverse Congress in history is moving to the Capitol, with newly elected legislators arriving in Washington, DC to meet their future colleagues and acclimate to their new environment.
Next year, the Congress will have a record number of women, while the new promotion will also include a number of premieres: The first two Native American women. The first US-Somali legislator. The first two Muslim women. The first American-Palestinian woman.
"It's exciting, absolutely moving to see the energy around this election cycle and the impressive number of women sitting in Congress," said elected representative Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.) In front of a Courtyard by Marriott hotel on Tuesday. . The orientation of the members will take place this week. "I'm just honored to be part of it."
"I'm so excited," said Rep. Elected Deb Haaland (N.M.), one of two Native Americans ready to join the ranks of Democrats next year.
The legislature will be more like the composition of the United States, although its overall composition is still white and masculine in relation to the general population.
Many New Democrats are young and progressive, underscoring the generational and ideological divisions that are likely to dissipate at the conference over the next two years.
The dynamic was bright on Tuesday, when the elected representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y.), a rising star on the left, caused a sensation on her first day of orientation as a first rookie joining more than 100 young protesters outside of Minority Leader Nancy PelosiNancy Patricia's Alesandro Pelosi, Abraham backs a bill to protect Mueller Clyburn, critics criticize the race for opposing his candidacy for leadership of the party. Congress can unite for global affairs MORE(D-Calif.) Calls for action to combat climate change.
"It does not concern me, it's not about the dynamics of a personality," Latina, a 29-year-old press, told reporters, who toppled Republican veteran Rep. Joseph Crowley at the Democratic primary of New York. "It's about raising your voice and making it clear that we need a new green deal."
"We are here to support [Pelosi] 100% renewable energy, "added Ocasio-Cortez. "It's an encouragement to her."
Some of the activists who organized the event were less positive.
After reading a UN report that there was little time left to fight climate change, Alexandria Rojas, executive director of Justice Democrats, said in a statement: "Nancy Pelosi and the leadership of the Democratic Party is reviving so-called "bipartisan" obsolete ideas that lead nowhere near the scale of the crisis. "
The Pelosi office issued a statement applauding the enthusiastic protests and reiterating its plan to reinstate a small committee on climate change – an initiative the groups described as toothless.
"We welcome the presence of these activists and urge the Capitol Police to allow them to continue to organize and participate in our democracy," Pelosi said.
The event drew attention to the internal pressures that Liberal caucuses are likely to feel among Democratic leaders, believing that progressivism allowed their party to win back the majority in the House.
The elected caucus is not only younger and more diverse, but also reflects a wide range of ideologies. In addition to Ocasio-Cortez, a Liberal star with over one million followers on Twitter, she includes Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA member who beat representative Dave Brat (R-Va.) In a bustling neighborhood. and Angie Craig, a former medical technology executive who won a seat in the suburbs of Minneapolis. None of them has pledged to support Pelosi as president.
All of these new members are among the candidates who made historic gains on polling day by helping to deliver a majority in the House to the Democrats.
At least 129 women were elected to Congress next year, up from 112 today, according to Quorum, a legislative monitoring firm. This includes 35 new women in the House and three in the Senate.
Yet even after the "year of the woman", women will only represent 24% of Congress, which is far less than the entire population of about 50% women.
And the rift between Democrats and Republicans is expected to widen, with the GOP on the verge of losing ten of its women, nearly half.
Nevertheless, the influx of women Democrats could influence the agenda of the Congress next year, with a number of women candidates campaigning for policies such as equal pay, family paid revision of the rules on sexual assault.
The new Congress should also be more racially diverse than the current one, adding nine new Hispanic members and eight new black deputies, according to Quorum.
Haaland and her newly elected Sharice Davids (D-Kan.), Who will become the first two Native American women to sit in Congress, are among the new faces that will invade the Capitol Hallways next year.
The two men have already met but they met again for coffee after orientation of the new members on Tuesday.
"We will meet and start our fellowship," Haaland told reporters.
Meanwhile, Democrats Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota became the first Muslim women elected to Congress. Tlaib, an American of Palestinian origin, replaces the former representative. John ConyersJohn James ConyersWomen play a crucial role in the delivery of House to Dems Don Young retains its seat in Alaska Rashida Tlaib becomes the first US-Palestinian woman to win a seat in Congress SUITE Jr. (D-Mich.), Who resigned at the end of last year due to sexual harassment allegations.
Omar, who is on the verge of becoming the first US-Somali representative, lamented that only minority candidates should be questioned about how they were able to win the predominantly white districts.
"I just want to say that, in a new era, where we are focusing our efforts on the issues for the people we represent, I hope this kind of question is an issue we never ask," Omar said. at a meeting of the Progressive Caucus of Congress. Monday press conference. "In the same way that I hope we will never talk about the" first "continually."
Boston city councilor Ayanna Pressley (D) will be the first black woman to represent Massachusetts.
Ocasio-Cortez has documented his orientation on Instagram, posting a photo with the note "team" with Tlaib, Omar and Pressley.
On the GOP side, California Congressman Young Kim is about to become the first US-Korean woman to be elected to Congress. She is running too tightly to replace the retired representative. Ed RoyceEdward (Ed) Randall RoyceThe countdown to the elections: Florida prepares for a volatile recount | Counties fight to finish recount | Trump speeds up his attacks | Abrams files a new trial in Georgia | 2020 will be a new puzzle for Schumer | Why does California count so slowly its votes? Republicans vie for first place in GOP at the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Deputies (R-Calif.).
Democrats Veronica Escobar and Sylvia Garcia are expected to become the first Latinas to represent Texas, a state whose Hispanic population continues to grow and has gradually evolved politically with demographic changes.
"It's an incredible privilege, I'll tell you," Escobar told reporters on Tuesday. "A woman, probably about 70 years old, Latina, basically cried at her door, claiming that she had never thought that she would see the day a Latina would represent her at the door. Congress, and it affected me a lot.
Rafael Bernal and Miranda Green contributed.
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