The new Congress is now in session—and it’s the most diverse in history. Of the 535 combined members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, a record 126 of them are now women. (That’s the most ever, but it’s still less than a quarter of the total seats in Congress.)
The number of African-American and Asian-American lawmakers has also increased. Other notable firsts include the election of the youngest woman ever to serve in Congress, as well as two Native American women and two Muslim women. There are also more openly gay Congresspeople than ever before.
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