US midterm elections raise women's clout in the Congress

Washington, Nov 18 (UNI) The victory of at least 71 women to the House of Representatives and 16 to the Senate in the just concluded midterm elections sets a new record in the United States' Congress.

This display of women's growing political power also made history by elevating the first woman to the third most important post in the US government.

Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California and the current House minority leader, was confirmed by the Democratic Caucus on Thursday as the Speaker of the House for the 110th Congress which will be convened in January next year.

She will be second in line for the presidency of the United States.

According to US law, should the President be rendered unable to serve, the Vice-President takes control. Should the President and the Vice-President both be unable to perform their duties, the Speaker of the House assumes the presidency.

She will hold the highest office in the 435-seat House of Representatives, the legislative body that reflects the wishes of the American people on a regional basis.

Pelosi is a trailblazer for women in politics. Representative of the Eighth District in San Francisco since 1987, she was voted leader of the House Democrats in 2002, the first woman to hold that position. Before that, she directed her party's legislative strategy as Democratic whip.

According to Rutgers University Center for American Women and Politics, more women ran for office in 2006 than ever before.

''If you look at the 40 most competitive races in the country, women were running in almost half of them,'' it said.

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