[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 7 (Monday, January 22, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S421-S423]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Inauguration Ceremony, Saturday, January 20, 2001, 11:47 a.m.
Members of the House of Representatives, Members of the
Senate, Justices of the Supreme Court, nominees to the
Cabinet, the Governors of the States, and the Mayor of the
District of Columbia, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other
distinguished guests assembled on the West Front.
Mr. Martin Paone, Senate Secretary for the Majority,
escorted Senator Clinton and Mrs. Gore, accompanied by Mrs.
Clegg Dodd, Mrs. Gephardt, and Mrs. Daschle, to the
President's platform.
Mrs. Elizabeth Letchworth, Senate Secretary for the
Minority, escorted Mrs. Bush and Mrs. Cheney, accompanied by
Mrs. McConnell (Elaine Chao), Mrs. Lott, Mrs. Hastert, and
Mrs. Armey, to the President's platform.
Mr. Jay Eagen, House CAO, Mr. Gary Sisco, Secretary of the
Senate, and Mr. Jeff Trandahl, Clerk of the House, escorted
President Clinton and Vice President Gore, accompanied by
Senator Dodd, Representative Gephardt, and Senator Daschle,
to the President's platform.
Ms. Lani Gerst, Executive Director, JCCIC, Mrs. Loretta
Symms, Senate Deputy Sergeant at Arms, and Ms. Kerri Hanley,
House Deputy Sergeant at Arms, escorted Vice President-elect
Cheney, accompanied by Senator Lott and Representative Armey,
to the President's platform.
Ms. Tamara Somerville, Chief of Staff, JCCIC, Mr. Jim
Ziglar, Senate Sergeant at Arms, and Mr. Bill Livingood,
House Sergeant at Arms, escorted President-elect Bush,
accompanied by Senator McConnell, Senator Dodd, Speaker
Hastert, and Senator Lott, to the President's platform.
Mr. McCONNELL. Everyone, please be seated so we can begin.
Welcome to the 54th inauguration of the President and the
Vice President of the United States of America. Today we
honor the past in commemorating two centuries of
inaugurations in Washington, DC. As well, we embrace the
future, this day marking the first inauguration of the 21st
century and the new millennium.
America has now spanned four centuries, her promise still
shining bright--beginning and present--linked by timeless
ideals and faith. The enduring strength of our Constitution,
which brings us to the West Front of the Capitol today,
attests to the wisdom of America's founders and the heroism
of generations of Americans who fought wars and toiled in
peace to preserve this legacy of liberty. In becoming the
43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush will
assume the sacred trust as guardian of our Constitution. Dick
Cheney will be sworn in as our new Vice President. Witnessed
by the Congress, Supreme Court, Governors, and Presidents
past, the current President will stand by as the new
President peacefully takes office. This is a triumph of our
democratic Republic, a ceremony befitting a great nation.
In his father's stead, the Rev. Franklin Graham is with us
today to lead the Nation in prayer. Please stand for the
invocation.
Reverend Graham.
Reverend GRAHAM. Let us pray:
Blessed are You, O Lord our God. Yours, O God, is the
greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the
splendor, for everything in heaven and Earth is Yours. Yours,
O Lord, is the kingdom. You are exalted as head over all.
Wealth and honor come from You. You are the ruler of all
things. In Your hands are strength and power to exalt and to
give strength to all.
As President Lincoln once said, we have been the recipients
of the choicest bounties of heaven. We have been preserved
these many years in peace and prosperity. We have grown in
numbers, wealth, and power, as no other nation has ever
grown, but we have forgotten God. It behooves us then to
humble ourselves before the offended powers, to confess our
national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.
O Lord, as we come together on this historic and solemn
occasion to inaugurate once again a President and Vice
President, teach us afresh that power, wisdom, and salvation
come only from Your hand.
We pray, O Lord, for President-elect George W. Bush and
Vice President-elect Richard B. Cheney to whom You have
entrusted leadership of this Nation at this moment in
history. We pray that You will help them bring our country
together so that we
[[Page S422]]
may rise above partisan politics and seek the larger vision
of Your will for our Nation. Use them to bring reconciliation
between the races, healing to political wounds, that we may
truly become one nation under God.
Give our new President, and all who advise him, calmness in
the face of storms, encouragement in the face of frustration,
and humility in the face of success. Give them the wisdom to
know and to do what is right and the courage to say no to all
that is contrary to Your statutes and holy law.
Lord, we pray for their families, and especially their
wives, Laura Bush and Lynne Cheney, that they may sense Your
presence and know Your love.
Today we entrust to You President and Senator Clinton and
Vice President and Mrs. Gore. Lead them as they
journey through new doors of opportunity to serve others.
Now, O Lord, we dedicate this Presidential inaugural
ceremony to You. May this be the beginning of a new dawn for
America as we humble ourselves before You and acknowledge You
alone as our Lord, our Saviour, and our Redeemer.
We pray this in the name of the Father and of the Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Mr. McCONNELL. Thank you, Reverend Graham.
It is my distinct pleasure to introduce the Dupont Manual
Choir of Louisville, KY.
(Performance by the Dupont Manual Choir of Louisville, KY.)
Mr. McCONNELL. I now call on Senator Christopher J. Dodd of
Connecticut to introduce the Chief Justice of the United
States.
Mr. DODD. Thank you, Senator McConnell.
President and Senator Clinton, Vice President and Mrs.
Gore, President-elect and Mrs. Bush, and fellow citizens, the
Vice President-elect will now take the oath of office. His
wife, Lynne, and their daughters, Elizabeth Cheney Perry and
Mary Cheney, will hold the family Bible. I have the honor and
privilege to now present the Chief Justice of the United
States Supreme Court, the Hon. William Hobbs Rehnquist, to
administer the oath of office to the Vice President-elect,
Richard Bruce Cheney.
(Applause.)
Mr. Chief Justice REHNQUIST. Mr. Cheney, are you ready to
take the oath? -
Vice President-elect CHENEY. I am.
Mr. Chief Justice REHNQUIST. Please raise your right hand
and repeat after me.
The Chief Justice of the United States, William Hobbs
Rehnquist, administered to the Vice President-elect the oath
of office prescribed by the Constitution, which he repeated,
as follows:
``I, Richard Bruce Cheney, do solemnly swear that I will
support and defend the Constitution of the United States
against all enemies foreign and domestic; that I will bear
true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this
obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose
of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the
duties of the office of which I am about to enter. So help me
God.''
Mr. Chief Justice REHNQUIST. Congratulations.
(The Marine Band performed ``Hail Columbia.'')
(Applause.)
Mr. McCONNELL. Ladies and gentlemen, Staff Sergeant Alec T.
Maly of the United States Army Band will now perform an
American medley.
(Staff Sergeant Alec T. Maly sang a medley of American
music.)
Mr. McCONNELL. It is now my high honor to again present the
Chief Justice of the United States who will administer the
Presidential oath of office. Everyone, please stand.
(Applause.)
Mr. Chief Justice REHNQUIST. Governor Bush, are you ready
to take the oath?
President-elect BUSH. Yes, sir.
Mr. Chief Justice REHNQUIST. Please raise your right hand
and repeat after me.
The Chief Justice of the United States, William Hobbs
Rehnquist, administered to the President-elect the oath of
office prescribed by the Constitution, which he repeated, as
follows:
``I, George Walker Bush, do solemnly swear that I will
faithfully execute the office of President of the United
States and will, to the best of my ability, preserve,
protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. So
help me God.''
Mr. Chief Justice REHNQUIST. Congratulations.
(Applause.)
Mr. McCONNELL. Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the
United States, George W. Bush.
(Applause.)
(Herald Trumpets play ``Ruffles and Flourishes'' and ``Hail
to the Chief,'' and 21-gun salute.)
President BUSH. Thank you all.
Chief Justice Rehnquist, President Carter, President Bush--
--
(Laughter, applause.)
President Clinton, distinguished guests, and my fellow
citizens:
This peaceful transfer of authority is rare in history, yet
common in our country. With a simple oath, we affirm old
traditions and make new beginnings.
As I begin, I thank President Clinton for his service to
our Nation. -
(Applause.)
And I thank Vice President Gore for a contest conducted
with spirit and ended with grace.
(Applause.)
I am honored and humbled to stand here, where so many of
America's leaders have come before me and so many will
follow.
We have a place, all of us, in a long story; a story we
continue, but whose end we will not see. It is the story of a
new world that became a friend and liberator of the old,
the story of a slave-holding society that became a servant
of freedom, the story of a power that went into the world
to protect but not possess, to defend but not to conquer.
It is the American story; a story of flawed and fallible
people, united across the generations by grand and
enduring ideals.
The grandest of these ideals is an unfolding American
promise: that everyone belongs, that everyone deserves a
chance, that no insignificant person was ever born.
Americans are called to enact this promise in our lives and
in our laws. And though our Nation has sometimes halted, and
sometimes delayed, we must follow no other course.
Through much of the last century, America's faith in
freedom and democracy was a rock in a raging sea. Now it is a
seed upon the wind, taking root in many nations.
Our democratic faith is more than the creed of our country,
it is the inborn hope of our humanity; an ideal we carry but
do not own, a trust we bear and pass along. And even after
nearly 225 years, we have a long way yet to travel.
While many of our citizens prosper, others doubt the
promise--even the justice--of our own country. The ambitions
of some Americans are limited by failing schools, and hidden
prejudice, and the circumstances of their birth. And
sometimes our differences run so deep, it seems we share a
continent, but not a country.
We do not accept this, and we will not allow it. Our unity,
our union, is the serious work of leaders and citizens in
every generation. And this is my solemn pledge: I will work
to build a single nation of justice and opportunity.
(Applause.)
I know this is within our reach, because we are guided by a
power larger than ourselves who creates us equal in His
image.
And we are confident in principles that unite and lead us
onward.
America has never been united by blood or birth or soil. We
are bound by ideals that move us beyond our backgrounds, lift
us above our interests, and teach us what it means to be
citizens. Every child must be taught these principles. Every
citizen must uphold them. And every immigrant, by embracing
these ideals, makes our country more, not less, American.
(Applause.)
Today we affirm a new commitment to live out our Nation's
promise through civility, courage, compassion, and character.
America, at its best, matches a commitment to principle
with a concern for civility.
A civil society demands from each of us good will and
respect, fair dealing and forgiveness.
Some seem to believe that our politics can afford to be
petty because, in a time of peace, the stakes of our debates
appear small. But the stakes, for America, are never small.
If our country does not lead the cause of freedom, it will
not be led. If we do not turn the hearts of children toward
knowledge and character, we will lose their gifts and
undermine their idealism. If we permit our economy to drift
and decline, the vulnerable will suffer most.
We must live up to the calling we share. Civility is not a
tactic or a sentiment. It is the determined choice of trust
over cynicism, of community over chaos. And this commitment,
if we keep it, is a way to shared accomplishment.
America, at its best, is also courageous.
Our national courage has been clear in times of depression
and war, when defeating common dangers defined our common
good. Now we must choose if the example of our fathers and
mothers will inspire us or condemn us. We must show courage
in a time of blessing by confronting problems instead of
passing them onto future generations.
(Applause.)
Together we will reclaim America's schools, before
ignorance and apathy claim more young lives. We will reform
Social Security and Medicare, sparing our children from
struggles we have the power to prevent. And we will reduce
taxes, to recover the momentum of our economy and reward the
efforts and enterprise of working Americans.
(Applause.)
We will build our defenses beyond challenge, lest weakness
invite challenge.
(Applause.)
We will confront weapons of mass destruction, so that a new
century is spared new horrors.
The enemies of liberty and our country should make no
mistake, America remains engaged in the world, by history and
by choice, shaping a balance of power that favors freedom. We
will defend our allies and our interests. We will show
purpose without arrogance. We will meet aggression and bad
faith with resolve and strength. And to all nations, we will
speak for the values that gave our Nation birth.
(Applause.)
America, at its best, is compassionate.
In the quiet of American conscience, we know that deep,
persistent poverty is unworthy of our Nation's promise. And
whatever our views of its cause, we can agree that children
at risk are not at fault. Abandonment and abuse are not acts
of God; they are failures of love.
(Applause.)
[[Page S423]]
And the proliferation of prisons, however necessary, is no
substitute for hope and order in our souls.
Where there is suffering, there is duty. Americans in need
are not strangers, they are citizens; not problems, but
priorities. And all of us are diminished when any are
hopeless.
(Applause.)
Government has great responsibilities, for public safety
and public health, for civil rights and common schools. Yet
compassion is the work of a nation, not just a government.
And some needs and hurts are so deep, they will only respond
to a mentor's touch or a pastor's prayer. Church and charity,
synagogue and mosque lend our communities their humanity, and
they will have an honored place in our plans and in our laws.
(Applause.)
Many in our country do not know the pain of poverty. But we
can listen to those who do. And I can pledge our Nation to a
goal. When we see that wounded traveler on the road to
Jericho, we will not pass to the other side.
(Applause.)
America, at its best, is a place where personal
responsibility is valued and expected.
Encouraging responsibility is not a search for scapegoats;
it is a call to conscience. And though it requires sacrifice,
it brings a deeper fulfillment. We find the fullness of life,
not only in options, but in commitments. And we find that
children and community are the commitments that set us free.
Our public interest depends on private character; on civic
duty and family bonds and basic fairness; on uncounted,
unhonored acts of decency which give direction to our
freedom. Sometimes in life we are called to do great things.
But as a saint of our times has said, every day we are called
to do small things with great love. The most important tasks
of a democracy are done by everyone.
I will live and lead by these principles: to advance my
convictions with civility; to pursue the public interest with
courage; to speak for greater justice and compassion; to call
for responsibility, and try to live it as well. In all these
ways, I will bring the values of our history to the care of
our times.
What you do is as important as anything government does. I
ask you to seek a common good beyond your comfort; to defend
needed reforms against easy attacks; to serve your Nation,
beginning with your neighbor. I ask you to be citizens--
citizens, not spectators; citizens, not subjects; responsible
citizens building communities of service and a nation of
character.
(Applause.)
Americans are generous and strong and decent, not because
we believe in ourselves, but because we hold beliefs beyond
ourselves. When this spirit of citizenship is missing, no
government program can replace it. When this spirit is
present, no wrong can stand against it.
(Applause.)
After the Declaration of Independence was signed, Virginia
statesman John Page wrote to Thomas Jefferson:
We know the race is not to the swift nor the Battle to the
Strong. Do you not think an Angel rides in the Whirlwind and
directs this Storm?
Much time has passed since Jefferson arrived for his
inauguration. The years and changes accumulate, but the
themes of this day he would know: our Nation's grand story of
courage and its simple dream of dignity. We are not the
story's author, who fills time and eternity with His purpose.
Yet His purpose is achieved in our duty; and our duty is
fulfilled in service to one another.
Never tiring, never yielding, never finishing, we renew
that purpose today: to make our country more just and
generous; to affirm the dignity of our lives and every life.
This work continues. This story goes on. And an angel still
rides in the whirlwind and directs this storm.
God bless you all, and God bless America.
(Applause.)
Mr. McCONNELL. Please stand now as Pastor Kribyjon H.
Caldwell will now deliver the benediction, and afterward,
please remain standing for the singing of our National
Anthem, after which the ceremony will be concluded. I call
upon Senator Dodd to organize the Presidential party after
the ceremony has ended to depart the platform.
Pastor Caldwell.
Pastor CALDWELL. Thank you, Senator McConnell.
Let us pray, please:
Almighty God, the supply and supplier of peace, prudent
policy, and nonpartisanship, we bless Your holy and righteous
name. Thank You, O God, for blessing us with forgiveness,
with faith, and with favor. Forgive us for choosing pride
over purpose. Forgive us for choosing popularity over
principles. And forgive us for choosing materialism over
morals. Deliver us from these and all other evils, and cast
our sins into Your sea of forgetfulness to be remembered no
more. And Lord, not only do we thank You for our forgiveness,
we thank You for faith, faith to believe that every child can
learn and no child will be left behind and no youth will be
left out.
Thank You for blessing us with the faith to believe that
all of Your leaders can sit down and reason with one another
so that each American is blessed.
Thank You for blessing us with the faith to believe that
the walls of inequity can be torn down and the gaps between
the rich and the poor, the haves and the have-nots, the
uneducated and the educated, can and will be closed.
And, Lord, lastly, we thank You for favor. We thank You for
Your divine favor. Let Your favor be upon President Clinton
and the outgoing administration. May they go forth in
spiritual grace and civic greatness. And, of course, O Lord,
let Your divine favor be upon President George W. Bush and
First Lady Laura Welch Bush and their family. We decree and
declare that no weapon formed against them shall prosper. Let
Your divine favor be upon the Bush team and all Americans
with the rising of the Sun and the going down of the same.
May we grow in our willingness and ability to bless You and
bless one another.
We respectfully submit this humble prayer in the name that
is above all other names, Jesus the Christ. Let all who agree
say ``Amen.''
(Staff Sergeant Maly performed the National Anthem with
accompaniment.)
(Applause.)
The inaugural ceremonies were concluded at 12:24 p.m.
____________________