Mark Wilson/Getty Images Female members of the House Democratic caucus posed for a photograph on Thursday on the steps of the Capitol.Perhaps the first sign of the historic number of women - 20 in the Senate and 81 in the House - gracing the 113th Congress came at 10:45 Thursday morning, when the 61 female members of the House Democratic caucus gathered on the House steps for a group photo.
Favoring hues of deep reds and blues, they gathered in the chilly January air, waving to old friends and greeting the new. They laughed and joked, cheekily inviting Representative Barney Frank, a departing Democrat from Massachusetts, to hop in the picture. (He politely demurred.) At one point, a young male aide to Nancy Pelosi, the House minority leader, scurried up to grab some of the members' coats, juggling the fur and wool throw-overs in his left hand while trying to snap iPhone photos with his right.
As latecomers wandered up, the women called for the photographer to wait, pointing out the stragglers.
“Here comes Rosa! Here comes Rosa!†they cheered, referring to Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, who came jogging up from the left side.
They urged Representative Gwen Moore of Wisconsin to hurry, as she made her way down the steps and to t he group. “I'm coming!†she said, to laughter.
But Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida emerged from the House moments too late, just as the group was dispersing. However, all was not lost; the photographer took some shots of the late arrivals, and the caucus plans to Photoshop them in.
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