More women, minorities in new U.S. Congress

January 07, 2015 01:07 am | Updated 01:07 am IST - WASHINGTON:

The new 114th U.S. Congress counts more minorities and women than ever, although lawmakers remain overwhelmingly white and male in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and Senate.

A record 104 women are in the new Congress, and for the first time, African-American members of both genders are representing both parties. No seats in Congress are reserved for women or minorities.

The number of woman lawmakers is up slightly from 100 at the close of the last Congress, but represents about 20 per cent of the total in Congress. It’s far less than the nearly 51 per cent of the U.S. population.

There are 100 senators and 435 seats in the House.

A total of 84 women will serve in the House, compared with 80 in the last Congress. The House will also have 44 African-Americans, 34 Hispanic lawmakers and two Native Americans.

The number of women in the Senate remains at 20 while two African-Americans three Hispanics and one Asian-American will serve there this term.

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