Record numbers of women and racial minorities were elected to the 113th Congress, which was sworn in Thursday. Among them were the first Buddhist to join the Senate, the first Hindu and the first openly bisexual woman in the House of Representatives.

House Democrats became the first caucus in the history of either chamber not to have a majority of white men. It was a watershed moment for the Democratic Party, which has adopted diversity as one of its chief selling points and has marketed itself as the party that looks more like a fast-changing United States.

"It was a decision," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said in an interview about boosting the number of Democratic women in Congress. "We made a decision a long time ago that we were going to try to expand the number. We made a decision for women to help women, and also for the Democrats as a party to help recruit women and help fund campaigns."