New Congress Opens Pledging to Rescue Economy

They also repealed the six-year term limit for committee chairman.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.

Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, right, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speak during a news...

Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, right, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speak during a news conference following their bi-partisan meeting with President-elect Barack Obama on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Jan. 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

(AP)

In all, 34 senators were sworn it, and apart from the controversy involving Burris, one other Senate seat was in limbo.

Democrat Al Franken holds a 225-vote lead over former Sen. Norm Coleman in Minnesota, a result certified on Monday by the state Canvassing Board. He has not yet received a certificate of election, and with Republicans threatening to protest, Democrats made no attempt to seat him.

Inevitably, it was a day for personal transitions.

Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware took the oath of office for a seventh time for a seat he has held for more than 30 years and will soon relinquish to become Obama's vice president.

Anh "Joseph" Cao, who arrived in the United States as an 8-year-old war refugee, was sworn in as the nation's first Vietnamese-American lawmaker. He's a Louisiana Republican.

Across the Capitol in mid-afternoon, the chamber nearly deserted, Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia, 91, spoke about his 50 years in the Senate.

"I look forward — yes, look forward — to the next 50 years," he said.

He spoke from a wheelchair, his hair white, his voice often faltering.

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