The Big Story: New Congress pledges to rescue economy

WASHINGTON, D.C.— The Capitol rang loud with vows to fix the crisis-ridden economy Tuesday as Congress opened for business at the dawn of a new Democratic era. “We need action and we need action now,” said Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Republicans agreed, and pledged cooperation in Congress as well as with President-elect Barack Obama — to a point.

On a day largely devoted to ceremony, new members of Congress and those newly re-elected swore to defend the Constitution. The Senate galleries were crowded; children and grandchildren of lawmakers squirmed in their seats in the House chamber as the winners in last fall’s elections claimed their prizes.

In a scripted bit of political theater, Democrat Roland Burris of Illinois was informed he would not be seated because his paperwork was not in order. He pledged a lawsuit, the latest twist in a political drama that began when he was named to Obama’s Senate seat by Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who has been charged with having attempted to sell the appointment was simply the legal thing to do.

Democratic leaders, set to meet with Burris on Wednesday, were searching for a way to defuse the dispute before it further overshadows the 111th Congress. Knowledgeable officials of both parties who spoke on condition of anonymity widely predicted that the saga would end with Burris being seated.

Also Tuesday, Republican Norm Coleman filed a lawsuit challenging Democrat Al Franken’s apparent recount victory in Minnesota’s U.S. Senate race, delaying a resolution of the contest for weeks or months.

Obama was across town in a meeting with his economic advisers as the opening gavels fell in the House and Senate at noon. His inauguration as the nation’s first black president is two weeks away.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a veteran of numerous battles with President George W. Bush, made plain how glad he was the old administration was winding down.

“We are ready to answer the call of the American people by putting the past eight years behind us and delivering the change that our country desperately needs,” he said on the Senate floor. We are grateful to begin anew with a far more robust Democratic majority.”

At the same time, in comments directed at Republicans, he said, “we are in this together” when it comes to the economy, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, health care and the country’s energy needs.

Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, replied in a speech of his own, saying, “The opportunities for cooperation are numerous.” He said Democrats should avoid a “reckless rush to meet an arbitrary deadline” to pass an economic stimulus bill that could reach $1 trillion, and he outlined possible changes in the approach Obama and the Democratic congressional leaders have been considering.

Speechmaking and celebrations aside, House Democrats pushed through a series of rule changes, including one that calls for greater disclosure of earmarks.

They also repealed the six-year term limit for committee chairman. It was a legacy of the Republican Revolution that swept through Congress in 1994, and in erasing it Democrats evinced confidence in the strength of their majority status.