Dems to elect first female House speaker

By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Jubilant Democrats prepared to elect Rep. Nancy Pelosi as the first woman to run the House of Representatives as the party takes control of both chambers of Congress for the first time in 12 years.

House Democrats planned quick action on legislative priorities that included boosting both the minimum wage and stem cell research. Democrats also said they would pressure President Bush to bring the troops home from Iraq.

The new Congress was to convene at noon Thursday, with Democrats still adjusting to the trappings of power, while Republicans grappled with their new role in the minority.

Pelosi, taking over as House speaker, promised immediate steps to ban gifts from lobbyists and to clamp down on travel funded by private interests. Democrats also planned to vote next week to raise the federal minimum wage, increase federal support for stem cell research and allow the government to negotiate with drug companies for lower prices on prescription drugs for Medicare recipients.

On the other side of the Capitol, Nevada Democrat Harry Reid - a soft-spoken but tough inside player - was to take the reins of the notoriously unwieldy Senate. He invited both Democrats and Republicans to a rare closed-door conference Thursday in the Old Senate Chamber in hopes of setting a bipartisan mood after years of political rancor.

The Democratic-led Congress also opens a new chapter in the presidency of Bush, who faces divided government as he cements his legacy in his final two years in the White House. He said Wednesday that he soon would propose a five-year plan to balance the budget, and he challenged Democrats to avoid passing "bills that are simply political'' statements.

"There is nothing political about finding a policy to end the war in Iraq, raising the minimum wage, achieving energy independence or helping kids afford college'' Reid shot back.

"In fact, politics has prevented progress on these issues for too many years,'' added Reid, who was to become the new Senate majority leader.

Pelosi was to open the day Thursday at a prayer service at a Catholic church on Capitol Hill before being sworn in as speaker in the afternoon by Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., the longest serving member of the House. Pelosi then was to address the House - and the nation - in a speech carried live on C-SPAN, which broadcasts all House proceedings, and on cable news networks.

Dingell administered the same oath to former Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., 12 years ago when Republicans seized the House after 40 years of Democratic control - and he's set to get back his gavel as the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

House Democrats promise speedy passage of the first six bills on their agenda and a series of stiffer ethics rules.

The first steps would take place by early evening on Thursday, and consist of several measures crafted in response to the ethics scandals that weakened Republicans in last fall's elections.

In addition to expanding restrictions on privately financed trips enjoyed by lawmakers, House Democrats said they would prohibit travel on corporate jets. A vote will come Friday to require greater disclosure of "earmarks,'' the pet projects inserted into legislation at the behest of individual lawmakers.

The rules do not prohibit lawmakers from taking trips financed by foundations that seek to influence public opinion. Those trips will require pre-approval from the ethics committee.

Current rules prohibit congressional travel paid for by lobbyists or foreign governments, and violations of the existing restrictions played heavily in the influence-peddling scandal involving Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

The Senate, as is typical, will get off to a slower start than the House, where rules and practice permit speedy debate and ensure tight majority power control over the agenda. After passage of a series of routine resolutions - including elevating 89-year-old Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., as President Pro Tempore, third in the line of presidential succession - the Senate floor will open up for speeches about the upcoming session.

The Senate will take up a bipartisan ethics and lobbying reform bill next week.

In the House, GOP feelings already were bruised over Democrats' plans to muscle through the first round of bills despite campaign pledges of a new era of civility and openness in the House.

Democrats said they would not allow Republicans the chance to amend any of the first half-dozen bills to be brought to a vote during the first 100 hours of the new Congress. The measures deal with the minimum wage, stem cell research, energy, student loans and recommendations by the commission that investigated the terrorist attacks of 2001.

"We view the first 100 hours as essentially a mandate from the American people,'' incoming House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told reporters, explaining the decision to safeguard those measures from Republican attack.

Rep. David Dreier, R-Calif., sent Democrats a letter saying they were violating promises Pelosi had made to allow a "fair debate consisting of a full amendment process that grants the minority the right to offer its alternatives.''