Women make history in new U.S. Senate

(CBS News) WASHINGTON - Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi was the first woman to be elected House speaker in 2007. On Thursday the Senate has made history with a record number of women.

When 13 new U.S. senators took the oath Thursday, five of them were women.

Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat from North Dakota, is one of the newest members in the Senate.

/ CBS News

Those five bring the ranks of women senators to 20 -- a full one-fifth of a legislative body that was all-male as recently as the 1970s.

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"The quality of these women is so incredible," said Democrat Heidi Heitkamp, a new senator from North Dakota.

Asked how it will change the dynamic in the Senate, Heitkamp replied: "I'm hoping that it will mean that this body will become more collaborative, more willing to compromise."

The last time five women were elected to the senate was 1992, and it was dubbed "the year of the woman."

Maryland Democrat Barbara Mikulski was one of them. "It was forbidden for women to wear trousers on the Senate floor," she said. "And when I stepped out in my slacks, you would have thought I was working on the moon."

The new members will become part of a longstanding tradition. All the female senators from both parties get together for lunch once a month to talk about policy and their personal lives.

Deb Fischer of Nebraska is one of the newly-added members of the Senate.

/ CBS News

"That's how you work with people." said Republican Deb Fischer, a new senator from Nebraska. "It doesn't matter if you are in the U.S. Senate, or if you have a job anywhere else. You work on relationships by knowing the people you're with, what their interests are."

It's a big shift from the first women senators, like Hattie Wyatt Caraway and Margaret Chase Smith who had to go it alone.

How long it will take to get to 50 women U.S. senators?

"I think we'll be able to do this in less than 15 years," said Mikulski. "We're accepted, we know how to raise our money, we know how to raise hell. We know how to organize everything from grassroots all the way up."

Mikulski just became chair of the powerful Appropriations Committee, the first woman to hold that position. Over in the House of Representatives, the number of women dipped two years ago. But as of Thursday's swearing-in, it is back up to 78, the all-time high.

[DOGGYPANTS]

Its sad to see our leaders engaged in discussing gender over job. Aren't they elected to work for us in Congress? If sex is so important, then why isn't ethnic group important too? Are these all white Anglo women? If so, why aren't other ethnic groups represented? Why not?

[TJphoto]

They will be Corrupted by the money. Not a single one will introduce a bill to eliminate the money given to Congress. Yet they all will say "We are not for sale"! I'm bookmarking this comment for future use.

[Ulgnud]

If they can do the job correctly, who cares about the gender. I remember the last time they "Made History" was Pelosi as Speaker of the House. We all saw what a bucket of manure that turned into. Just do the job you were elected to do and leave the "Politically Correct" nonsense where it belongs. In the Garbage.

[Protect_US_Jobs]

Good luck to them. Maybe they will do more good that the people we had in there.

Wouldn't it be More Productive if Our Elected Leaders Started Working Together as AMERICANS for AMERICANS and AMERICA, instead of just bickering, stalling and posturing for the next election as democrats and republicans! The American People have had it with this unproductive BS! The way that both parties having been operating for years just stinks! Neither party has really been looking out for the best interests of the US Citizens who elect them and who they're supposed to represent.

Both parties have sold out the bulk of the American citizens, who they're supposed to represent, by allowing the "out-sourcing" floodgates to open wider and wider without taking any sensible measures to stem the tide.

It shouldn't be all about Democrats or Republicans! It should be about Americans, especially our elected officials, doing the right thing for our country and its citizens. All the single-minded, left versus right, ideological one dimensional bull has got to go!

Both parties need to start working together and actually start doing something to fix the real problems in our country like "out-sourcing", illegal immigration, the out of control costs of health care insurance and our reliance on foreign fuel. If they don't start working together and actually start making progress by the next election, then American citizens should run a nation-wide campaign to vote out all incumbents regardless of party to send the message.

And yes - I'm Angry - As are most American Citizens right now!

[Protect_US_Jobs]

The ONLY REAL FIX is to Raise Revenue, by Bringing Back Jobs to US Citizens who Pay Income Tax.

Massive cutting just puts more people on unemployment, which just depresses the economy even further.

Returning private sector jobs to American Citizens will provide income tax revenue to OUR Government versus our government having to pay unemployment benefits to those who would be jobless instead. We need our elected officials to Start Protecting American Jobs and do whatever it takes to bring back the jobs they let go. We need leaders who will actually stand up for the American people.

The bottom line is that "Our Government" has to protect domestic industry and the jobs that those industries provide. If they do that, the rest will take care of itself.

We may have to pay a bit more for products made here in the USA by US citizens, but at least we'll still have jobs and a future for our children.

[Type_Z]

Unions have driven jobs out of the country.

I am however willing to pay more for products made in the U.S.A. Whatever it takes.