Against all odds, nuggets of real information discovered.

This thanks to Christian Century and the heads-up journalism of Sam Smith at Progressive Review.

...Ellison [the Muslim representative-elect from Minnesota who raised a ruckus in certain quarters by saying he intended to take his oath on the Qur'an] would not be the first member of Congress to forgo a Bible at the swearing-in ceremony. Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D., Fla.) took her oath in 2005 on a Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible, which she borrowed from Representative Gary Ackerman (D., N.Y.) after learning a few hours earlier that the speaker of the House didn't have any Jewish holy books. . .

Also governors of Hawaii and Vermont, and four US presidents. And in point of fact...

House members are sworn in together on the House floor in a ceremony without any book, holy or otherwise. But in an unofficial ceremony, individual members reenact an oath-taking so that it can be photographed - a tradition dating from the beginning of the wide use of photography.