MICHELE NORRIS, host:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Michele Norris.
ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
And I'm Robert Siegel at the Capitol, where the 112th Congress got underway with a changing of the guard. Democrats still control the Senate - by a narrower margin than before - but in the House of Representatives, Republicans took over the majority today with a big list of things to do and to undo.
Among the visitors this morning in the ornate Statuary Hall of the Capitol Building was Rich Berg(ph), in town from Wheaton, Illinois. He's here for Republican Randy Hultgren's swearing-in. I asked him and some other visitors what they hope to see from this new Congress.
Mr. RICH BERG: That they get intellectually honest with what's going on and not do all the grandstanding and all that other stuff. We have some really problematic issues that have to be dealt with in a serious way.
SIEGEL: Louise Farley(ph) came from Merced, California, to see Republican freshman Jeff Denham sworn in. Her hopes?
Ms. LOUISE FARLEY: Oh, just hope that there will be a new energy and new ideas and one consensus and - on working together.
SIEGEL: And Sandra Baird(ph) of Dublin, Ohio, and Naples, Florida, said this was exciting for her, since her good friend is John Boehner of Ohio.
Ms. SANDRA BEAR: I think it's real important for the nation to rein in a bit on spending and hope they can do it judiciously, so everybody has to sacrifice a little but not one sector becomes too hurt by it.
SIEGEL: This afternoon, after a predictable party-line vote, the outgoing speaker, Democrat Nancy Pelosi of California, spoke of the two parties' common devotion to country, faith and family, made one last pitch for the virtues of the new health care law and then handed over the symbol of the speaker's authority.
Representative NANCY PELOSI (Democrat, California): I now pass this gavel and the sacred trust that goes with it to the new speaker. God bless you, Speaker Boehner.
(Soundbite of cheering)
SIEGEL: John Boehner of Ohio is 61 and a 20-year veteran of the House. He came to Washington near the end of the GOP's 40-year stretch in the wilderness of the minority. He has seen his party win the majority in 1994, lose it in 2006 and regain it last November.
His message today was that the House under his leadership will be more transparent and more accountable than it was under previous majorities both Democratic and Republican.
Representative JOHN BOEHNER (Republican, Ohio): We will dispense with the conventional wisdom that bigger bills are always better; that fast legislating is good legislating; allowing amendments and open debate makes the legislative process less efficient than our forefathers had intended. These misconceptions have been the basis for the rituals of a modern Washington. They, in my opinion, have not been served well to the American people.
SIEGEL: Speaker John Boehner referring to how Republicans will run the House of Representatives. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.