Latinos in Congress Part 1 - 19 Percent of House Comprised of Minority Groups: A Look Into the Diversity of the 113th Congress

On January 3, the 113th Congress convened for the first time with a historic number of minorities, women and homosexual members. Among the 100 Senators and 435 representatives, 32 Congress members are Latinos.

However, Latinos are not the only minorities being represented in larger numbers. According to the Washington Post, 42 African Americans will serve in the House of Representatives, while one will serve in the Senate. Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders will also be represented in record numbers, with 12 new members added to the House and Senate.

In total, CNN reported that 19 percent of the House of Representatives is comprised of minority groups. In an interview with the news broadcast channel, newly elected Rep. Tammy Duckwork (D-Ill.) said, "It means that we reflect America more and it is good to see Congress starting to look more like the rest of America."

The 113th Congress is being led by an ever diverse group of Democrats and a group of Republicans still seen as the party for white older men? The Washington Posts reported that Democrats claim 24 of the 29 Latinos in the House. In total, Democrats claim 72 minorities in the House and two in the Senate. Meanwhile, Republicans claim six minorities in the House and just three in the Senate.

While Democrats can claim more minorities in the House, Republicans can claim Tim Scott, the first African American from the South to serve in the Senate since the Reconstruction, CNN reported. The other two minority Senators are Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.

The newly convened Congress also holds a record number of female Representatives and Senators. CNN reported that a total of 98 women are part of the new Congress, 78 in the House of Representatives and 20 in the Senate. According to the Washington Post, half of top Democrats on committees are women or minorities.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told the Washington Post, "The more diversity of opinion at the table, the more consensus you can build, the more sustainability of the solutions, and the more respect it commands."

Two female Democrats also hold the roles as the first sworn-in openly gay U.S. Senator (Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin) and first openly bi-sexual member of the House (Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona).

But who exactly are these members of Congress that are representing the Latino community? In the following days, Latinos Post will be focused on discovering who the Latino members of Congress are and what they've worked to represent. In the first installment of this series, Latinos in Congress, will focus on Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida.