After 12 years of Republican dominance, Democrats took control of both the House and Senate Thursday on the opening day of the 110th Congress. In one of the first orders of business, Nancy Pelosi was elected the country’s first female speaker of the House.

Karen Haas, clerk of House of Representatives: “The tellers agree in their tallies that the total number of votes cast is 435, of which the honorable Nancy Pelosi of the state of California has received 233. The honorable John Boehner of the state of Ohio has received 202. Therefore the honorable Nancy Pelosi of the state is duly elected speaker of the House for the 110th Congress, having received a majority of the votes cast.”

Pelosi later outlined the Democrats’ ambitious plan to increase the minimum wage, allow the federal government to negotiate lower prescription drug prices for Medicare recipients and increase federal support for stem cell research. She also called for a new direction in Iraq.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: “It is the responsibility of the president to articulate a new plan for Iraq that makes it clear to Iraqis that they must defend their own streets and their own security, a plan that promotes stability in the region and a plan that allows us to responsibly redeploy our troops.”