[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 1 (Thursday, January 3, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H2-H7]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          ELECTION OF SPEAKER

  The CLERK. Pursuant to law and precedent, the next order of business 
is the election of the Speaker of the House of Representatives for the 
116th Congress.
  Nominations are now in order.
  The Clerk recognizes the gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries).
  Mr. JEFFRIES. Madam Clerk, let me begin by welcoming all of the 
Members and our families to the people's House in connection with the 
start of the 116th Congress.
  The Scripture says:

       Weeping may endure during the long night, but joy will come 
     in the morning.
  Madam Clerk, it is with great joy that I rise today, as directed by 
the House Democratic Caucus, to place the name of Nancy Pelosi in 
nomination to be the next Speaker of the United States House of 
Representatives.
  Without question, Nancy Pelosi has a track record of legislative 
success that is unparalleled in modern American history.
  Nancy Pelosi captained the ship that defeated the effort to privatize 
Social Security; rescued our economy in the midst of the Great 
Recession; saved the American automobile industry; provided affordable 
healthcare to more

[[Page H3]]

than 20 million Americans; created the Consumer Financial Protection 
Bureau; enacted a minimum wage increase for the first time in 10 years; 
struck a blow against mass incarceration with passage of the Fair 
Sentencing Act; and provided relief to tens of millions of Americans 
who are credit card holders that were being defrauded. But Nancy Pelosi 
is just getting started.
  In the 116th Congress, she will continue to fight hard for the 
people. Nancy Pelosi will fight to lower healthcare costs; strengthen 
the Affordable Care Act; protect people with preexisting conditions; 
increase pay for everyday Americans; enact a real infrastructure plan; 
clean up construction; defend the Dreamers; fix the Voting Rights Act; 
and end the era of voter suppression once and for all.

                              {time}  1245

  She will fight for a country that provides for the poor, works for 
working families, makes sense for the middle class, stands up for 
senior citizens, innovates in the inner cities, and strengthens 
suburban communities.
  Nancy Pelosi is a woman of faith; a loving wife; a mother of five; a 
grandmother of nine; a sophisticated strategist; a legendary 
legislator; a voice for the voiceless; a defender of the 
disenfranchised; a powerful, profound, prophetic, principled public 
servant, and that is why we stand squarely behind her today.
  Let me be clear: House Democrats are down with NDP, Nancy D'Alesandro 
Pelosi, the once and future Speaker of the United States House of 
Representatives. I proudly place her name in nomination.
  May God bless her. May God bless the United States of America.
  The CLERK. The Clerk recognizes the gentlewoman from Wyoming (Ms. 
Cheney).
  Ms. CHENEY. Madam Clerk, I would like to begin, I think, by thanking 
my colleague, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries), and welcoming 
all of the Members and the families who are here with us today.
  Madam Clerk, we gather today in this magnificent place, in this body, 
a place where there is no other like it in the world, the United States 
House of Representatives, the people's House.
  This is the place where the great battles and debates about human 
liberty and freedom have been waged since the beginning of our 
Republic.
  It was on these grounds, Madam Clerk, that Abraham Lincoln sought to 
heal this Nation in his second inaugural address.
  It was here that we passed the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, 
guaranteeing equal protection under the law.
  It was here, Madam Clerk, in this Chamber 100 years ago this year, 
that we passed the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote--I 
would point out, Madam Clerk, finally catching up with my home State of 
Wyoming, the first place in all the world where women had suffrage, 
beginning in 1869.
  Now, Madam Clerk, we have not always gotten it right. One legislator 
famously said: ``We have the power to do any damn fool thing we want to 
do, and we seem to do it about every 10 minutes.''
  Madam Clerk, that was a Senator and a Democrat.
  On this ground, Madam Clerk, we have inaugurated Presidents and 
mourned them, declared wars and celebrated peace, debated all the 
issues facing this great Republic down through the years.
  Today, as we take our oath of office, Democrat and Republican alike, 
we inherit that legacy and that duty to defend and protect our 
Constitution.
  Madam Clerk, it is my high honor today to have the great privilege to 
nominate the gentleman from California (Mr. McCarthy) to lead us in 
that work as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
  Leader McCarthy is the grandson of a cattle rancher. He is the son of 
a firefighter. He grew up in a working class family. He started and ran 
his own small business, Kevin O's Deli, in Bakersfield. He paid his way 
through college. He learned firsthand that the Government of the United 
States is more of a burden than a help to small businesses all across 
this country.
  No one has fought harder, Madam Clerk, for the rights and freedoms of 
American families to ensure that they get to keep more of what they 
earn so that the American Dream is accessible to all.
  No one has been a greater champion of ensuring our government is 
limited, exercising its constitutional obligations to defend our rights 
and resisting the urge that our colleagues on the other side of the 
aisle constantly seek to fulfill of empowering Federal bureaucrats to 
tell us how to live.
  Leader McCarthy will always look for ways to work with our colleagues 
on the other side of the aisle when we can, but he will never 
compromise on our fundamental rights and freedoms.
  Leader McCarthy knows our rights come from God. They are enshrined in 
our Constitution. He knows government is not the source of our liberty; 
rather, it is instituted among men and women to secure our liberty.
  Leader McCarthy has led us through the 115th Congress in unmatched 
historic productivity, including passage of the historic Tax Cuts and 
Jobs Act, because we know, Madam Clerk, that the American people know 
better than the government how to spend their money.
  Leader McCarthy led us in passage of the SUPPORT Act, providing 
important resources to help address the devastating opioid crisis 
across this Nation.
  He helped work to pass the VA MISSION Act, so that we could finally 
provide our veterans with the care that they deserve.
  Leader McCarthy led us in repealing historic numbers of Obama-era 
regulations that were strangling families, small businesses, and 
community banks all across our Nation.
  He was the leader in the important fight to combat human trafficking.
  And, Madam Clerk, Leader McCarthy led us in passing legislation to 
secure our borders, keep our Nation safe, end the devastating practice 
of sanctuary cities, and, yes, Madam Clerk, build the wall.
  Leader McCarthy also led to ensure that we pass the American Health 
Care Act to expand access and options, and put patients and families in 
the driver's seat, not government bureaucrats.
  Finally, Leader McCarthy made sure that we passed on time and at a 
sufficient level for the first time in a decade appropriations to fund 
the United States Armed Forces to fulfill our most sacred and important 
constitutional duty to provide for the common defense.
  Madam Clerk, because he will lead us in fighting for all the people 
of this great Nation from all walks of life; because he will stand 
against the fraud of socialism, which strips power from the people and 
gives it to the government; because he knows that the most important 
words of our founding document are the very first words, ``We the 
People,'' as chair of the Republican House Conference, I am honored and 
directed by the vote of that conference to present for election to the 
Office of Speaker of the House of Representatives for the 116th 
Congress the name of the Honorable Kevin McCarthy, a Representative-
elect from the State of California.
  The CLERK. The names of the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, a Representative-
elect from the State of California, and the Honorable Kevin McCarthy, a 
Representative-elect from the State of California, have been placed in 
nomination.
  Are there further nominations?
  There being no further nominations, the Clerk appoints the following 
tellers:
  The gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur);
  The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rodney Davis);
  The gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lofgren); and
  The gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx).
  The tellers will come forward and take their seats at the desk in 
front of the Speaker's rostrum.
  The roll will now be called, and those responding to their names will 
indicate by surname the nominee of their choosing.
  The Reading Clerk will now call the roll.
  The tellers having taken their places, the House proceeded to vote 
for the Speaker.
  The following is the result of the vote:

[[Page H4]]

  


                              [Roll No. 2]

                              PELOSI--220

     Adams
     Aguilar
     Allred
     Axne
     Barragan
     Bass
     Beatty
     Bera
     Beyer
     Bishop (GA)
     Blumenauer
     Blunt Rochester
     Bonamici
     Boyle, Brendan F.
     Brown (MD)
     Brownley (CA)
     Bustos
     Butterfield
     Carbajal
     Cardenas
     Carson (IN)
     Cartwright
     Case
     Casten (IL)
     Castor (FL)
     Castro (TX)
     Chu, Judy
     Cicilline
     Cisneros
     Clark (MA)
     Clarke (NY)
     Clay
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Cohen
     Connolly
     Correa
     Costa
     Courtney
     Cox (CA)
     Craig
     Crist
     Cuellar
     Cummings
     Davids (KS)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis, Danny K.
     Dean
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     DeLauro
     DelBene
     Delgado
     Demings
     DeSaulnier
     Deutch
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Doyle, Michael F.
     Engel
     Escobar
     Eshoo
     Espaillat
     Evans
     Finkenauer
     Fletcher
     Foster
     Frankel
     Fudge
     Gabbard
     Gallego
     Garamendi
     Garcia (IL)
     Garcia (TX)
     Gomez
     Gonzalez (TX)
     Gottheimer
     Green (TX)
     Grijalva
     Haaland
     Harder (CA)
     Hastings
     Hayes
     Heck
     Higgins (NY)
     Hill (CA)
     Himes
     Horn, Kendra S.
     Horsford
     Houlahan
     Hoyer
     Huffman
     Jackson Lee
     Jayapal
     Jeffries
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson (TX)
     Kaptur
     Keating
     Kelly (IL)
     Kennedy
     Khanna
     Kildee
     Kilmer
     Kim
     Kirkpatrick
     Krishnamoorthi
     Kuster (NH)
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Lawrence
     Lawson (FL)
     Lee (CA)
     Lee (NV)
     Levin (CA)
     Levin (MI)
     Lewis
     Lieu, Ted
     Lipinski
     Loebsack
     Lofgren
     Lowenthal
     Lowey
     Lujan


 =========================== NOTE =========================== 

  
  January 3, 2019, in the Roll Call Vote on page H4, the surnames 
of Mr. García (IL) and Mr. Luján were typeset incorrectly 
as Garcia (IL) and Luján, Ben Ray.
  
  The online version has been corrected to show the surnames 
typeset correctly.


 ========================= END NOTE ========================= 


                                 Luria
                                 Lynch
                               Malinowski
                          Maloney, Carolyn B.
                             Maloney, Sean
                                 Matsui
                                 McBath
                                McCollum
                                McEachin
                                McGovern
                                McNerney
                                 Meeks
                                  Meng
                                 Moore
                                Morelle
                                Moulton
                            Mucarsel-Powell
                                 Murphy
                                 Nadler
                               Napolitano
                                  Neal
                                 Neguse
                                Norcross
                               O'Halleran
                             Ocasio-Cortez
                                  Omar
                                Pallone
                                Panetta
                                 Pappas
                                Pascrell
                                 Payne
                                 Pelosi
                               Perlmutter
                                 Peters
                                Peterson
                                Phillips
                                Pingree
                                 Pocan
                                 Porter
                                Pressley
                               Price (NC)
                                Quigley
                                 Raskin
                                Richmond
                                 Rouda
                             Roybal-Allard
                                  Ruiz
                             Ruppersberger
                                  Rush
                                  Ryan
                                Sanchez
                                Sarbanes
                                Scanlon
                               Schakowsky
                                 Schiff
                               Schneider
                                Schrier
                               Scott (VA)
                              Scott, David
                                Serrano
                              Sewell (AL)
                                Shalala
                                Sherman
                                 Sires
                               Smith (WA)
                                  Soto
                                 Speier
                                Stanton
                                Stevens
                                 Suozzi
                             Swalwell (CA)
                                 Takano
                             Thompson (CA)
                             Thompson (MS)
                                 Titus
                                 Tlaib
                                 Tonko
                              Torres (CA)
                           Torres Small (NM)
                                 Trahan
                                 Trone
                               Underwood
                                 Vargas
                                 Veasey
                                  Vela
                               Velazquez
                               Visclosky
                           Wasserman Schultz
                                 Waters
                             Watson Coleman
                                 Welch
                                 Wexton
                                  Wild
                              Wilson (FL)
                                Yarmuth

                             McCARTHY--192

     Abraham
     Aderholt
     Allen
     Amodei
     Armstrong
     Arrington
     Babin
     Bacon
     Baird
     Balderson
     Banks
     Barr
     Bergman
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (UT)
     Bost
     Brady
     Brooks (AL)
     Brooks (IN)
     Buchanan
     Buck
     Bucshon
     Budd
     Burchett
     Burgess
     Byrne
     Calvert
     Carter (GA)
     Carter (TX)
     Chabot
     Cheney
     Cline
     Cloud
     Cole
     Collins (GA)
     Collins (NY)
     Comer
     Conaway
     Cook
     Crawford
     Crenshaw
     Curtis
     Davidson (OH)
     Davis, Rodney
     DesJarlais
     Diaz-Balart
     Duffy
     Duncan
     Dunn
     Emmer
     Estes
     Ferguson
     Fitzpatrick
     Fleischmann
     Flores
     Fortenberry
     Foxx (NC)
     Fulcher
     Gaetz
     Gallagher
     Gianforte
     Gibbs
     Gohmert
     Gonzalez (OH)
     Gooden
     Granger
     Graves (GA)
     Graves (LA)
     Graves (MO)
     Green (TN)
     Griffith
     Grothman
     Guest
     Guthrie
     Hagedorn
     Harris
     Hartzler
     Hern, Kevin
     Herrera Beutler
     Higgins (LA)
     Hill (AR)
     Holding
     Hollingsworth
     Hudson
     Huizenga
     Hunter
     Hurd (TX)
     Johnson (LA)
     Johnson (OH)
     Johnson (SD)
     Jordan
     Joyce (OH)
     Joyce (PA)
     Katko
     Kelly (MS)
     Kelly (PA)
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kinzinger
     Kustoff (TN)
     LaHood
     LaMalfa
     Lamborn
     Latta
     Lesko
     Long
     Loudermilk
     Lucas
     Luetkemeyer
     Marchant
     Marino
     Marshall
     Mast
     McCarthy
     McCaul
     McClintock
     McHenry
     McKinley
     McMorris Rodgers
     Meadows
     Meuser
     Miller
     Mitchell
     Moolenaar
     Mooney (WV)
     Mullin
     Newhouse
     Norman
     Nunes
     Olson
     Palazzo
     Palmer
     Pence
     Posey
     Ratcliffe
     Reed
     Reschenthaler
     Rice (SC)
     Riggleman
     Roby
     Roe, David P.
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rooney (FL)
     Rose, John W.
     Rouzer
     Roy
     Rutherford
     Scalise
     Schweikert
     Scott, Austin
     Sensenbrenner
     Shimkus
     Simpson
     Smith (MO)
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smucker
     Spano
     Stauber
     Stefanik
     Steil
     Steube
     Stewart
     Stivers
     Taylor
     Thompson (PA)
     Thornberry
     Timmons
     Tipton
     Turner
     Upton
     Wagner
     Walberg
     Walden
     Walker
     Walorski
     Waltz
     Watkins
     Weber (TX)
     Webster (FL)
     Wenstrup
     Westerman
     Williams
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman
     Womack
     Woodall
     Wright
     Yoho
     Young
     Zeldin

                               JORDAN--5

     Biggs
     Gosar
     Hice (GA)
     Massie
     Perry

                               BUSTOS--4

     Cunningham
     Golden
     Sherrill
     Spanberger

                        HON. TAMMY DUCKWORTH--2

       
     Crow
     Rose (NY)

                               MASSIE--1

       
       Amash
       

                            JOSEPH BIDEN--1

       
     Brindisi
       

                                LEWIS--1

       
     Kind
       

                               KENNEDY--1

       
     Lamb
       

                               MURPHY--1

       
     McAdams
       

                                FUDGE--1

       
     Schrader
       

                            STACEY ABRAMS--1

       
     Rice (NY)
       

                        ANSWERED ``PRESENT''--3

     Cooper
     Slotkin
     Van Drew

                             NOT VOTING--1

       
     Jones
       

                              {time}  1515

  The CLERK. The tellers agree in their tallies that the total number 
of votes cast is 430, of which the Honorable Nancy Pelosi of the State 
of California has received 220, the Honorable Kevin McCarthy of the 
State of California has received 192, the Honorable  Jim Jordan of the 
State of Ohio has received 5, the Honorable Cheri Bustos of the State 
of Illinois has received 4, the Honorable Tammy Duckworth of the State 
of Illinois has received 2, the Honorable Stacey Abrams of the State of 
Georgia has received 1, the Honorable Joseph Biden of the State of 
Delaware has received 1, the Honorable Marcia Fudge of the State of 
Ohio has received 1, the Honorable Joseph P. Kennedy III of the State 
of Massachusetts has received 1, the Honorable  John Lewis of the State 
of Georgia has received 1, the Honorable  Thomas Massie of the State of 
Kentucky has received 1, the Honorable Stephanie Murphy of the State of 
Florida has received 1, with 3 recorded as present.
  Therefore, the Honorable Nancy Pelosi of the State of California, 
having received a majority of the votes cast, is duly elected Speaker 
of the House of Representatives for the 116th Congress.
  The Clerk appoints the following committee to escort the Speaker-
elect to the chair:
  The gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer)
  The gentleman from California (Mr. McCarthy)
  The gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn)
  The gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Scalise)
  The gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Lujan)
  The gentlewoman from Wyoming (Ms. Cheney)
  The gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries)
  The gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Walker)
  The gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Ms. Clark)
  The gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Palmer)
  The gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Smith)
  And the Members of the California delegation:
  Ms. Waters
  Mr. Calvert
  Ms. Eshoo
  Ms. Roybal-Allard
  Ms. Lofgren
  Mr. Sherman
  Ms. Lee
  Mrs. Napolitano
  Mr. Thompson
  Mrs. Davis
  Mr. Schiff
  Mr. Nunes
  Ms. Sanchez
  Mr. Costa
  Ms. Matsui
  Mr. McNerney
  Ms. Speier
  Mr. Hunter
  Mr. McClintock
  Ms. Judy Chu
  Mr. Garamendi
  Ms. Bass
  Mr. Bera
  Ms. Brownley
  Mr. Cardenas
  Mr. Cook
  Mr. Huffman
  Mr. LaMalfa

[[Page H5]]

  Mr. Lowenthal
  Mr. Peters
  Mr. Ruiz
  Mr. Swalwell
  Mr. Takano
  Mr. Vargas
  Mr. Aguilar
  Mr. DeSaulnier
  Mr. Ted Lieu
  Mrs. Torres
  Ms. Barragan
  Mr. Carbajal
  Mr. Correa
  Mr. Khanna
  Mr. Panetta
  Mr. Gomez
  Mr. Cisneros
  Mr. Cox
  Mr. Harder
  Ms. Hill
  Mr. Levin
  Ms. Porter
  Mr. Rouda
  The committee will retire from the Chamber to escort the Speaker-
elect to the chair.
  The Sergeant at Arms announced the Speaker-elect of the House of 
Representatives of the 116th Congress, who was escorted to the chair by 
the Committee of Escort.

                              {time}  1415

  Mr. McCARTHY. Madam Speaker, colleagues, friends, and fellow 
Americans, it is an honor to serve with you and to welcome you to the 
first day of the 116th United States House of Representatives.
  We are here in this Chamber because of the faith of your neighbors 
and support of your families. We are here today to represent the voice 
and the vote of 325 million Americans.
  Now I would like everyone to pause. I want you to reflect on this 
fact. In the last 230 years, dating back to the founding of our 
Republic, fewer than 11,000 Americans have had the privilege to stand 
here as a Member of the House, just as you do, chosen by their fellow 
citizens to represent them in Washington.
  What an amazing, invigorating, and, yes, frustrating experiment that 
is: representative democracy.
  The ink was barely dry on the Constitution when Ben Franklin wondered 
out loud whether this new Nation was capable of keeping its government 
and its freedom that had been granted to us generation to generation. 
Centuries later, people still harbor similar concerns. They wonder if 
Congress truly represents them, if it is still capable of solving big 
problems.
  Well, there are no guarantees. It is up to us, all of us in this 
room, to make Congress work, to create and debate, just like our 
Founding Fathers did many years ago, with courage, with commitment and 
resolve.
  We are a very small group with a very large responsibility. The 
burden on us 435 Members is to represent 325 million Americans 
faithfully, to work together so that tomorrow is better than today. As 
Ronald Reagan advised us: America is too great for small dreams. When 
we work together, we succeed together as one Nation.
  We are now entering a period of divided government, but that is no 
excuse for gridlock or inaction. We are at our best when we focus not 
on retribution but on building a more perfect Union.
  But while we seek cooperation, there is one core principle upon which 
we will not compromise: Republicans will always choose personal freedom 
over government control.
  On this very floor, we served on and hosted some of the toughest 
debates in the Nation's history, but it is also where some of the most 
noblest achievements have happened.
  This House has weathered times of triumph and crisis. It still stands 
because it is built not on sand but on the solid rock of constitutional 
principles.
  Today marks a new chapter in this House's pursuit of a more perfect 
Union. The country knows Nancy Pelosi as an experienced leader with 
three decades of service in Congress, a fighter for her causes, and a 
true trailblazer.
  Even when we disagree with one another completely, it is important to 
remember that we are bound together in a common cause: our love for 
America.
  As fellow citizens and friends, let us lead together to show the 
people that we are truly their voice and their vote: in that spirit, in 
the spirit of a more perfect Union, and in the unshakeable belief that 
America was, is, and always will be the greatest Nation on the face of 
the Earth.
  In that spirit, I extend my hand of friendship to every Member of 
this body. And to the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, I extend to 
you this gavel.
  Ms. PELOSI. Thank you very much, Leader McCarthy. I look forward to 
working with you in a bipartisan way for the good of our country, 
respecting our constituents--who you are, every one of you. I respect 
you and the constituents who sent each and every one of us here. They 
expect and deserve for us to try to find our common ground, and we must 
try to do that: stand our ground where we can't, but always extend the 
hand of friendship.
  Thank you, Kevin McCarthy, for your leadership. I look forward to 
working with you. Congratulations on being a leader of the Congress.
  And congratulations to each and every one of you. New Members of 
Congress, newly re-elected Members of Congress, thank you for your 
courage to run for office and to serve in this distinguished body.
  Every 2 years, we gather in this Chamber for a sacred ritual under 
the dome of this temple of democracy, the Capitol of the United States. 
We renew the great American experiment.
  I am particularly proud to be woman Speaker of the House of this 
Congress, which marks the 100th year of women having the right to vote, 
and that we all have the ability and the privilege to serve, with over 
100 women Members of Congress, the largest number in history.

                              {time}  1430

  As Leader McCarthy said, each of us comes to this Chamber 
strengthened by the trust of our constituents and the love of our 
families. Let us congratulate and welcome all of the families who are 
here today. Thank you to our families.
  Let me take the privilege of thanking my dear husband, Paul, and our 
five children, Nancy Corinne, Christine, Jacqueline, Paul, and 
Alexandra, and our nine grandchildren, Madeleine and Alexander, Liam, 
Sean and Ryan, Thomas and Paul, Bella, and Octavio. We are so proud of 
all of our grandchildren, and we are proud of everyone's grandchildren 
and children who are here today. We will see more of them.
  I am also proud of my D'Alesandro family that is here from Baltimore 
for us too. And in that spirit, my mother and father and my brother, 
Tommy, who was also mayor of Baltimore, taught us, through their 
example, that public service is a noble calling, that we should serve 
with our hearts full of love, and that America's heart is full of love.
  Singing that to us last night, my comrade, an Italian American, with 
all that pride, I want to acknowledge Tony Bennett, who is here with us 
today as well. Thank you, Tony. He helped free the concentration camps 
during the time of World War II. He marched with Martin Luther King. He 
is a true American patriot. Thank you, Tony.
  Again, I want to thank my constituents from San Francisco who have 
entrusted me to represent them in Congress in the spirit of St. 
Francis, the patron saint of San Francisco, and his song of St. Francis 
is our anthem: Make me a channel of Thy peace. We heard that in church 
this morning, but it is our mission.
  Let me thank our men and women in uniform, our veterans, and our 
military families and caregivers whose service reminds us of our 
mission to make the future worthy of their sacrifice. To our men and 
women in uniform.
  We enter this new Congress with a sense of great hope and confidence 
for the future and deep humility and prayerfulness in the face of 
challenges ahead.
  Our Nation is in a historic moment. Two months ago the American 
people spoke and demanded a new dawn. They called upon the beauty of 
our Constitution, that our system of checks and balances that protects 
our democracy, remembering that the legislative branch is Article I, 
the first branch of government, coequal to the Presidency and to the 
judiciary. They want a Congress that delivers results for the people, 
opening up opportunity, and lifting up their lives.

[[Page H6]]

  We are hearing the voice of the future there. How beautiful.
  When our new Members take the oath, our Congress will be refreshed 
and our democracy will be strengthened by their optimism, idealism, and 
patriotism of this transformative freshman class. Congratulations to 
all of you in the freshman class. Working together, we will redeem the 
promise of the American Dream for every family, advancing progress for 
every community.
  We must be pioneers of the future. This Congress must accelerate a 
future that advances America's preeminence in the world and opens up 
opportunities for all, building an economy that gives all Americans the 
tools they need to succeed in the 21st century, public education, 
workforce development, good-paying jobs, and secure pensions.
  We have heard from too many families who wonder, in this time of 
innovation and globalization, if they have a place in the economy of 
the future. We must remove all doubt that they do and say to them 
individually, we will have an economy that works for you.
  Let us declare that we will call upon bold thinking to address the 
disparity of income in America, which is at the root of the crisis of 
confidence felt by so many Americans. As Justice Brandeis said, we may 
have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a 
few, but we cannot have both. We must end that injustice and restore 
the public's faith in a better future for themselves and their 
children.
  We must be champions of the middle class and all those who aspire to 
it because the middle class is the backbone of our democracy; it has 
been since the birth of our democracy.
  Aristotle said, it is manifest that the best political community is 
formed by citizens of the middle class, in which the middle class is 
large and stronger than any of the other classes. We must fight for the 
middle class that is fair and fiscally sound, protecting Medicare, 
Medicaid, and Social Security.
  We must also face the existential threat of our time, the climate 
crisis, a crisis manifested in natural disasters of epic proportion. 
The American people understand the urgency. The people are ahead of the 
Congress. The Congress must join them, and that is why we have created 
a Select Committee on the Climate Crisis.
  The entire Congress must work to put an end to the inaction and 
denial of science that threaten the planet and the future. This is a 
decision, a public health decision about clean air, clean water for our 
children's health. It is a decision for America's global preeminence in 
green technologies. It is a decision, a security decision to keep us 
all safe, and a moral decision to be good stewards of God's creation.
  We have no illusions that our work will be easy, and that all of us 
in this Chamber will always agree. But let each of us pledge that, when 
we disagree, we respect each other and we respect the truth.
  We will debate and advance good ideas, no matter where they come 
from. And in that spirit, Democrats will be offering the Senate 
Republican appropriations legislation to reopen government later today. 
We will do so to meet the needs of the American people, to protect our 
borders, and to respect our workers.
  I pledge that this Congress will be transparent, bipartisan, and 
unifying; that we will seek to reach across the aisle in this Chamber 
and across divisions across our Nation.
  In the past 2 years, the American people have spoken. Tens of 
thousands of public events were held. Hundreds of thousands of people 
turned out. Millions of calls were made. Countless families, even sick 
little children, our little lobbyists, our little lobbyists bravely 
came forward to tell their stories, and they made a big difference.
  Now, the floor of this House must be America's town hall, where 
people will see our debates and where their voices will be heard and 
affect our decisions. Transparency will be the order of the day.
  As Mr. Jeffries, our distinguished chairman said, we will follow our 
mandate for the people. I thank him for his kind nomination, and accept 
those kind remarks on behalf of the entire House Democratic Caucus 
which made all of those victories possible, some of them in a bold 
partisan way.
  Empower our mandate for the people, to lower healthcare costs and 
prescription drug prices and protect people with pre-existing medical 
conditions; to increase paychecks by rebuilding America with green and 
modern infrastructure from sea to shining sea--we look forward to 
working with the President on that--to pass H.R. 1, to restore 
integrity to government so that people can have confidence in a 
government that works for the people, not the special interests; H.R. 
1.
  This House will take overdue legislation that has bipartisan support, 
bipartisan support in the Congress and across the country. We will make 
our communities safer and keep our sacred promise to the victims and 
survivors and families of gun violence by passing commonsense, 
bipartisan background check legislation.
  We will make America fairer by passing the Equality Act to end 
discrimination against LGBTQ communities; and we will make America more 
American by protecting our patriotic, courageous Dreamers.
  All three of those legislative initiatives have bipartisan support in 
this body. And when we are talking about the Dreamers, let us remember 
what President Reagan said in his last speech as President of the 
United States. I urge you all to read it. It is a beautiful speech.
  He said, if we ever close the door to new Americans, our leadership 
role in the world will soon be lost. Ronald Reagan.
  Our common cause is to find and forge a way forward for our country. 
Let us stand for the people to promote liberty and justice for all as 
we pledge every day; and always, always, keep our Nation safe from 
threats, old and new, from terrorism and cyber warfare, overseas and 
here at home. To protect and defend, that is the oath we all take to 
serve in this body. That is the oath we take, to protect and defend.
  I close by remembering a cherished former Member of this body who 
rose to become a beloved President of the United States and who, last 
month, returned to the Capitol once more, and he came this time to lie 
in state. That week we honored President George Herbert Walker Bush 
with eulogies, tributes and tears.
  Today, I single out one of his great achievements, working with both 
Democrats and Republicans to write the Americans With Disabilities Act 
into the laws of our land. I thank Steny Hoyer for being such a big, 
important part of that.
  In 2010, we marked the 20th anniversary of the act by making it 
possible for our colleagues with disabilities to preside over the House 
by changing the mechanics of this podium. In that spirit of equality 
and justice, let me announce that this afternoon, the first Speaker pro 
tempore I will yield to of the 116th Congress will be Congressman Jim 
Langevin of Rhode Island.

                              {time}  1445

  As we take the oath of office today, we accept responsibility as 
daunting and demanding as any the previous generations of leadership 
have faced.
  Guided by the vision and values of our Founders, the sacrifice of our 
men and women in uniform, and the aspirations that we have for our 
children, let us meet that responsibility with wisdom, with courage, 
and with grace.
  Together, we will let it be known that this House will truly be the 
people's House.
  Let us pray that God may bless our work and crown our good with 
brotherhood and sisterhood from sea to shining sea.
  God bless you all, and God bless the United States of America.
  I am now ready to take the oath of office.
  I ask the dean of the House of Representatives, the Honorable Don 
Young, to administer the oath of office. But before we do, Mr. Dean, 
and I thank you for your great leadership in the Congress over the 
decades, I would like to call my grandchildren up to be here when I 
take the oath, and any other children who want to join them.
  Mr. Young then administered the oath of office to Ms. Pelosi of 
California, as follows:

       Do you solemnly swear that you will support and defend the 
     Constitution of the United States against all enemies, 
     foreign and domestic; that you will bear true faith and 
     allegiance to the same; that you take this obligation freely, 
     without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and 
     that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the 
     office on which you are about to enter, so help you God.

[[Page H7]]

  (Applause, the Members rising.)
  Mr. YOUNG. Congratulations, Madam Speaker.

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