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WASHINGTON – The Capitol rang loud with vows to fix the crisis-ridden economy Tuesday as Congress opened for business at the dawn of a new Democratic era. "We need action and we need action now," said Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Republicans agreed, and pledged cooperation in Congress as well as with President-elect Barack Obama — to a point.

AP – Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., center, holds a bible as he stands with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of

On a day largely devoted to ceremony, new members of Congress and those newly re-elected swore to defend the Constitution. The Senate galleries were crowded; children and grandchildren of lawmakers squirmed in their seats in the House chamber as the winners in last fall's elections claimed their prizes.

One office-seeker was not among them.

In a scripted bit of political theater, Democrat Roland Burris of Illinois was informed he would not be seated because his paperwork was not in order. He pledged a lawsuit, the latest twist in a political drama that began when he was named to Obama's Senate seat by Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who has been charged with having attempted to sell the appointment.

Obama was across town in a meeting with his economic advisers as the opening gavels fell in the House and Senate at noon. His inauguration as the nation's first black president is two weeks away.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a veteran of numerous battles with President George W. Bush, made plain how glad he was the old administration was winding down.

"We are ready to answer the call of the American people by putting the past eight years behind us and delivering the change that our country desperately needs," he said on the Senate floor. We are grateful to begin anew with a far more robust Democratic majority."

At the same time, in comments directed at Republicans, he said, "we are in this together" when it comes to the economy, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, health care and the country's energy needs.

Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, replied in a speech of his own, saying, "The opportunities for cooperation are numerous." He said Democrats should avoid a "reckless rush to meet an arbitrary deadline" to pass an economic stimulus bill that could reach $1 trillion, and he outlined possible changes in the approach Obama and the Democratic congressional leaders have been considering.

Among them was a proposal to cut taxes by 10 percent. Another was to lend money to hard-pressed state governments rather than give it to them. "States will be far less likely to spend it frivolously" in that case, he said.

By the new political calculus, McConnell will soon be the most powerful Republican in government after elections that handed Democrats the White House and left them with gains of least seven seats in the Senate and 21 in the House.

McConnell's counterpart in the House, Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio, handed the speaker's gavel to Pelosi in a traditional unity tableau. He, too, pledged cooperation, then said, "America's potential is unlimited. But government's potential is not. We must not confuse the two."

Obama spent much of Monday in the Capitol, conferring with Republicans and Democrats alike on the economic stimulus measure he hopes to sign early in his term. The nation's consumer spending has plummeted, manufacturing has withered and job losses have grown in recent months, adding urgency to the legislative effort in contrast to the customary sluggish start to a new Congress.

Strikingly, the war in Iraq drew scant mention during the day, a contrast to the weeks of debates that Democrats once had forced to try and maneuver Bush into withdrawing American forces.

Reid mentioned the fighting in passing when he noted the country was fighting two wars overseas, a reference to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Pelosi was even more indirect, saying, "We cannot afford to wait to modernize and rebuild our military."

Like Reid, she focused her remarks on domestic issues, the economy chief among them.

"We need action and we need action now," she said again and again, calling for help for "hardworking and still hopeful Americans" bearing the brunt of the economic crisis, for the states struggling to provide services, for families without health care, for a climate crisis and for energy needs.

Speechmaking and celebrations aside, House Democrats pushed through a series of rule changes, including one that calls for greater disclosure of earmarks.

They also repealed the six-year term limit for committee chairman. It was a legacy of the Republican Revolution that swept through Congress in 1994, and in erasing it Democrats evinced confidence in the strength of their majority status.

In all, 34 senators were sworn it, and apart from the controversy involving Burris, one other Senate seat was in limbo.

Democrat Al Franken holds a 225-vote lead over former Sen. Norm Coleman in Minnesota, a result certified on Monday by the state Canvassing Board. He has not yet received a certificate of election, and with Republicans threatening to protest, Democrats made no attempt to seat him.

Inevitably, it was a day for personal transitions.

Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware took the oath of office for a seventh time for a seat he has held for more than 30 years and will soon relinquish to become Obama's vice president.

Anh "Joseph" Cao, who arrived in the United States as an 8-year-old war refugee, was sworn in as the nation's first Vietnamese-American lawmaker. He's a Louisiana Republican.

WASHINGTON – Senate Democratic leaders plan to grant few if any privileges next week to Roland Burris, the man picked by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to represent the state in the Senate, even if Burris arrives on Capitol Hill with the proper credentials.

AP – Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich stands by as his choice to fill President-elect Barack Obama's U.S. Senate

Senate officials involved in the tangle of legal and logistical planning said Friday that a Democrat will object to Burris being duly sworn with the rest of his class and will propose that his credentials be reviewed for a period of time by the Rules Committee.

That would give Burris the status of a senator-elect to the seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama in the juiciest of several dramas swirling around open Senate seats days before the 111th Congress convenes.

Senate Democrats are slow-walking Burris' appointment because they hope Blagojevich will be removed from office before the Rules Committee completes its investigation.

As early as next week Blagojevich — federal authorities accuse him of offering to sell the appointment to the highest bidder — could become the state's first chief executive to be impeached. A state Senate trial would follow and if he were convicted, Blagojevich would be removed from office.

For his part, Burris planned to argue his case in the news media and threatened to sue Senate Democrats if they refuse to swear him in as the chamber's only black member.

Race is a prominent force in the dispute. Rep. Donald Payne, D-N.J., said he called Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and "made it abundantly clear that we felt that they should reconsider."

No luck, Payne reported on Friday.

"I have heard no one say that they felt that he is not qualified," Payne said. Race would not be a factor, he added, were there black members of the Senate. "There is a legitimate opportunity to have the Senate at least start to look a teeny bit like America."

Democrats have said that their opposition to Burris is not about Burris but the fact that anyone appointed by Blagojevich would be tainted by the corruption charges against the governor.

And they're not budging, despite significant questions about whether they have the legal standing to block an appointee of a sitting governor.

The only way Burris will be allowed on the floor, according to Democratic officials who asked not to be identified, is if he possesses a certification of appointment signed by Blagojevich and Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White.

Burris would then be treated as a senator-elect, which by tradition means he'll be allowed on the Senate floor without voting or speaking privileges — and he wouldn't be granted a desk, according to the officials. They requested anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

The man charged with letting people through the door of the chamber, Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Terrance Gainer, said he expects the two sides to work out a deal before Tuesday.

Gainer has known Burris since their days in Illinois law enforcement, when Burris was attorney general and Gainer was the director of the state police.

"He is a good man," Gainer said in a telephone interview. "He plays by the rules. I don't think there's going to be a confrontation."

Republicans have been wary about commenting, pleased to see Democrats mucking through a political mess of their own party's making.

But Republican Whip Jon Kyl of Arizona said Friday that he wants to review state and federal law before opining on whether Burris should be seated. Still, he questioned whether the legal status of the patron is enough reason to block the appointee.

"The Senate has to be very careful of setting a precedent that just because it doesn't like the governor that appointed (Burris) we therefore refuse to seat a qualified appointee," Kyl said in a telephone interview.

Not that Republicans are against blocking people from being seated. Another Republican leader, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told reporters Friday that he would object to seating any new senator from Minnesota until an anticipated court case is finished and an official election certificate issued in the battle between Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken.

In contrast, nobody's objecting to Denver Public Schools Superintendent Michael Bennet, who is expected to be named to replace Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., set to be Obama's interior secretary.

In the Illinois case, Senate Democrats believe the Constitution and their agenda-setting power give them the tools for a slow-motion rejection of Burris' credentials if they are not signed by both the governor and White, who has refused to certify anyone Blagojevich appoints.

If Burris appears at the Capitol with his certification signed by Blagojevich and White, the officials said, Burris would be permitted on the Senate floor.

Vice President Dick Cheney, as president of the Senate, would then ask whether anyone objects to the senators-elect being duly sworn. A Democrat would object and propose that Burris' credentials be referred to the Rules Committee for an investigation. If no one objects to that motion, the credentials go to the panel for a period of perhaps 90 days.

In the meantime, Burris gets the privileges of an unsworn senator-elect. The Senate's unofficial customs and traditions leave unclear whether that status would come with a pay check, but Burris could be accorded a stipend for staff and given office space.