[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 1 (Sunday, January 3, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H2-H5]
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

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House of Representatives for the 117th Congress.
  Nominations are now in order.
  The Clerk recognizes the gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries).
  Mr. JEFFRIES. Madam Clerk, I rise today at the direction of the House 
Democratic Caucus, by the vote of that Caucus, to place the name of the 
Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Representative-elect from the great State of 
California, by way of Charm City, into nomination for election to the 
position of Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
  Nancy Pelosi believes in the power of American exceptionalism.
  Nancy Pelosi believes in the goodness of the American people.
  Nancy Pelosi believes that our diversity is our strength and that our 
unity is our power.
  Nancy Pelosi believes that the House is fundamentally the institution 
best equipped to reflect the hopes, the dreams, and the aspirations of 
everyday Americans.
  Nancy Pelosi believes that our sacred mission is to continue 
America's long, necessary, and majestic march toward a more perfect 
Union.
  The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., once observed that the true 
measure of a leader is not how one fares in moments of comfort or 
convenience, but how one fares in moments of challenge and controversy. 
Nancy Pelosi has passed that test with flying colors over and over and 
over again.
  As a result of her tremendous leadership, during a moment of great 
turbulence, House Democrats ended the longest government shutdown in 
American history; addressed the humanitarian crisis at the border; 
negotiated a historic trade agreement that protected good-paying 
American jobs; held the President accountable because no one is above 
the law; passed progressive legislation to transform policing in 
America as part of our effort to deal with systemic racism; ended the 
egregious practice of surprise billing because healthcare is a right, 
not simply a privilege; and confronted the once-in-a-century COVID-19 
pandemic with a comprehensive, passionate, and continuing congressional 
response that, at the end of the day, will crush the virus and 
supercharge our economy.
  That is the Nancy Pelosi track record.
  Nancy Pelosi is a champion of the children, a defender of the 
disenfranchised, a voice for the voiceless, a fabulous facilitator, a 
notorious negotiator, and a legendary legislator for such a time as 
this.
  This is a moment of great challenge here in America, filled with 
trials and tribulations and a lot of pain and suffering and death. But 
America is a resilient Nation. House Democrats are a resilient Caucus. 
Nancy Pelosi is a resilient leader.
  Brighter days are ahead in the United States of America. This is a 
day of great renewal in the House of Representatives. This is a day 
when House Democrats will begin our work with the next President of the 
United States of America, Joe Biden, and his partner, Kamala Harris, so 
we can build back better for the people. This is a day when, once 
again, Nancy D'Alesandro Pelosi will become the Speaker of the United 
States House of Representatives.
  Madam Clerk, I proudly place her name into nomination, and when it is 
all said and done, history will record that today was a good day.
  God bless Nancy Pelosi. God bless the Congress. God bless the United 
States of America.
  The CLERK. The Clerk now recognizes the gentlewoman from Wyoming (Ms. 
Cheney).
  Ms. CHENEY. Madam Clerk, first of all, let me thank my colleague from 
New York (Mr. Jeffries).
  Madam Clerk, I also start by asking all of our colleagues to remember 
in their thoughts and prayers the family of Luke Letlow, Congressman-
elect from Louisiana, who died tragically last week.
  We also want to remember our friend and colleague Jamie Raskin and 
pray for his family as they deal with the devastating loss of their 
son.
  We engage in heated exchanges in this body, as we should, but it is 
well for us always to remember that we are all God's children. Our 
hearts break when our colleagues and friends are suffering. I am 
reminded of the words of the 19th century religious scholar who said: I 
expect to pass through this world but once. If, therefore, there can be 
any kindness I can show or any good thing I can do my fellow being, let 
me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass 
this way again.
  Fine words to guide us as we embark on this Congress.
  Madam Clerk, the nominating ceremony looks very different today in 
this Chamber. Our masks and our distancing requirements are reminders 
of this pandemic threat that we face and that we must defeat together, 
but the Congress is also different because of something we all take 
great pride in.
  This body now has more women Members than at any time in our history. 
Our new Republican women are here to work. They are here to get things 
done. As we like to say in Wyoming, it is time to cowgirl up.
  There is no one in this body more responsible for our tremendous new 
class of Members, our men and women, than our leader, Kevin McCarthy. 
Through his tireless work and his efforts to date, we have made 
historic gains, and we are not done yet.
  These gains would not have happened without Leader McCarthy's 
unmatched work ethic, his strategic and tactical skill, and his 
commitment to our candidates. Nor would they have happened without 
Kevin's steadfast commitment to defending our freedom, standing up for 
our Constitution, and remembering that the work we do in this Chamber 
affects American families and workers all across this Nation.
  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 our 
work as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
  Leader McCarthy is a grandson of a cattle rancher, the son of a 
firefighter. He grew up in a working-class family. He started and ran 
his own business, Kevin O's in Bakersfield. He paid his way through 
college. And he knows firsthand that our small businesses are the 
backbone of our economy and that government is more often the problem 
than the solution.
  No one has been a greater champion of ensuring that our government is 
limited, defending the rights of the States and the people in those 
States, and resisting the urge of some of our colleagues to steal power 
from the people and give it to the government.
  Leader McCarthy will always look for ways to work across the aisle. 
More times than I can count over the last 2 years, he has led us in 
putting forward proposals, like the Commitment to America, that 
encapsulate good policy and should be bipartisan. He will continue to 
do this, but he will never compromise our fundamental rights and 
freedoms.
  Last year, as the threat from the Chinese Communist Party grew and 
spread, Leader McCarthy established the China Task Force and urged 
Democrats to join us in confronting a grave threat that requires 
bipartisan solutions. They refused. Nonetheless, the task force he 
directed published legislative recommendations, two-thirds of which are 
bipartisan.
  Leader McCarthy ensured that we were united as we successfully fought 
the unconstitutional and partisan impeachment effort launched by our 
Democrat colleagues, and he guided us through the unprecedented 
challenges of operating in and responding to the global COVID pandemic.
  For a real guide as to how things will operate once Leader McCarthy 
is Speaker McCarthy, look to the historic productivity we saw the last 
time Republicans were in charge in the 115th Congress. Leader McCarthy 
led us in repealing regulations, cutting taxes, supporting our 
veterans, combating opioid addiction and human trafficking, securing 
our borders, growing our economy, and defending our Nation.
  Leader McCarthy made sure that we passed on time and at a sufficient 
level, for the first time in more than a decade, defense appropriations 
to ensure that we fulfilled our most sacred constitutional duty. As 
Speaker, that is the kind of record he will deliver on again.
  Madam Clerk, as Republicans, we know that the United States 
Constitution is our sword and our shield. We know that our rights do 
not come from government; they come from God. We

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know that those rights are protected by the exquisite structure 
designed by our Founding Fathers.

  Madam Clerk, over here on this side of the aisle, we are going to 
continue to call them Founding Fathers, despite the new House rules 
package. We know that the man to lead us as we confront the important 
work ahead is our Republican leader, Kevin McCarthy.
  Madam Clerk, because he will lead us in fighting for all the people 
of this great Nation; because he will continue to stand against 
socialism and will continue to stand against the expansion of 
government power that 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 first 3 words, ``We the people,'' as chair of 
the House Republican Conference, I am honored and directed by the vote 
of that Conference to present for election to the Office of the Speaker 
of the House of Representatives for the 117th Congress the name of the 
Honorable Kevin McCarthy, 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:

                              [Roll No. 2]

                              PELOSI--216

     Adams
     Aguilar
     Allred
     Auchincloss
     Axne
     Barragan
     Bass
     Beatty
     Bera
     Beyer
     Bishop (GA)
     Blumenauer
     Blunt Rochester
     Bonamici
     Bourdeaux
     Bowman
     Boyle, Brendan F.
     Brown
     Brownley
     Bush
     Bustos
     Butterfield
     Carbajal
     Cardenas
     Carson
     Cartwright
     Case
     Casten
     Castor (FL)
     Castro (TX)
     Chu
     Cicilline
     Clark (MA)
     Clarke (NY)
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Cohen
     Connolly
     Cooper
     Correa
     Costa
     Courtney
     Craig
     Crist
     Crow
     Cuellar
     Davids (KS)
     Davis, Danny K.
     Dean
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     DeLauro
     DelBene
     Delgado
     Demings
     DeSaulnier
     Deutch
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Doyle, Michael F.
     Escobar
     Eshoo
     Espaillat
     Evans
     Fletcher
     Foster
     Frankel, Lois
     Fudge
     Gallego
     Garamendi
     Garcia (IL)
     Garcia (TX)
     Gomez
     Gonzalez, Vicente
     Gottheimer
     Green, Al (TX)
     Grijalva
     Haaland
     Harder (CA)
     Hayes
     Higgins (NY)
     Himes
     Horsford
     Houlahan
     Hoyer
     Huffman
     Jackson Lee
     Jacobs (CA)
     Jayapal
     Jeffries
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson (TX)
     Jones
     Kahele
     Kaptur
     Keating
     Kelly (IL)
     Khanna
     Kildee
     Kilmer
     Kim (NJ)
     Kind
     Kirkpatrick
     Krishnamoorthi
     Kuster
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Lawrence
     Lawson (FL)
     Lee (CA)
     Lee (NV)
     Leger Fernandez
     Levin (CA)
     Levin (MI)
     Lieu
     Lofgren
     Lowenthal
     Luria
     Lynch
     Malinowski
     Maloney, Carolyn B.
     Maloney, Sean
     Manning
     Matsui
     McBath
     McCollum
     McEachin
     McGovern
     McNerney
     Meeks
     Meng
     Mfume
     Moore (WI)
     Morelle
     Moulton
     Mrvan
     Murphy (FL)
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal
     Neguse
     Newman
     Norcross
     O'Halleran
     Ocasio-Cortez
     Omar
     Pallone
     Panetta
     Pappas
     Pascrell
     Payne
     Pelosi
     Perlmutter
     Peters
     Phillips
     Pingree
     Pocan
     Porter
     Pressley
     Price (NC)
     Quigley
     Raskin
     Rice (NY)
     Richmond
     Ross
     Roybal-Allard
     Ruiz
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan
     Sanchez
     Sarbanes
     Scanlon
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schneider
     Schrader
     Schrier
     Scott (VA)
     Scott, David
     Sewell
     Sherman
     Sires
     Smith (WA)
     Soto
     Speier
     Stanton
     Stevens
     Strickland
     Suozzi
     Swalwell
     Takano
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Titus
     Tlaib
     Tonko
     Torres (CA)
     Torres (NY)
     Trahan
     Trone
     Underwood
     Vargas
     Veasey
     Vela
     Velazquez
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson Coleman
     Welch
     Wexton
     Wild
     Williams (GA)
     Wilson (FL)
     Yarmuth

                             McCARTHY--209

     Aderholt
     Allen
     Amodei
     Armstrong
     Arrington
     Babin
     Bacon
     Baird
     Balderson
     Banks
     Barr
     Bentz
     Bergman
     Bice (OK)
     Biggs
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (NC)
     Boebert
     Bost
     Brady
     Brooks
     Buchanan
     Buck
     Bucshon
     Budd
     Burchett
     Burgess
     Calvert
     Cammack
     Carl
     Carter (GA)
     Carter (TX)
     Cawthorn
     Chabot
     Cheney
     Cline
     Cloud
     Clyde
     Cole
     Comer
     Crawford
     Crenshaw
     Curtis
     Davidson
     Davis, Rodney
     DesJarlais
     Diaz-Balart
     Donalds
     Duncan
     Dunn
     Emmer
     Estes
     Fallon
     Feenstra
     Ferguson
     Fischbach
     Fitzgerald
     Fitzpatrick
     Fleischmann
     Fortenberry
     Foxx
     Franklin, C. Scott
     Fulcher
     Gaetz
     Gallagher
     Garbarino
     Garcia (CA)
     Gibbs
     Gimenez
     Gohmert
     Gonzales, Tony
     Gonzalez (OH)
     Good (VA)
     Gooden (TX)
     Gosar
     Granger
     Graves (LA)
     Graves (MO)
     Green (TN)
     Greene (GA)
     Griffith
     Grothman
     Guest
     Guthrie
     Hagedorn
     Harris
     Harshbarger
     Hartzler
     Hern
     Herrell
     Herrera Beutler
     Hice (GA)
     Higgins (LA)
     Hill
     Hinson
     Hollingsworth
     Hudson
     Huizenga
     Issa
     Jackson
     Jacobs (NY)
     Johnson (LA)
     Johnson (OH)
     Johnson (SD)
     Jordan
     Joyce (OH)
     Joyce (PA)
     Katko
     Keller
     Kelly (MS)
     Kelly (PA)
     Kim (CA)
     Kinzinger
     Kustoff
     LaHood
     LaMalfa
     Lamborn
     Latta
     LaTurner
     Lesko
     Long
     Loudermilk
     Lucas
     Luetkemeyer
     Mace
     Malliotakis
     Mann
     Massie
     Mast
     McCarthy
     McCaul
     McClain
     McClintock
     McHenry
     McKinley
     Meijer
     Meuser
     Miller (IL)
     Miller (WV)
     Miller-Meeks
     Moolenaar
     Mooney
     Moore (AL)
     Moore (UT)
     Mullin
     Murphy (NC)
     Nehls
     Newhouse
     Norman
     Nunes
     Obernolte
     Owens
     Palazzo
     Palmer
     Pence
     Perry
     Pfluger
     Posey
     Reed
     Reschenthaler
     Rice (SC)
     Rodgers (WA)
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rose
     Rosendale
     Rouzer
     Roy
     Rutherford
     Scalise
     Schweikert
     Scott, Austin
     Sessions
     Simpson
     Smith (MO)
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smucker
     Spartz
     Stauber
     Steel
     Stefanik
     Steil
     Steube
     Stewart
     Stivers
     Taylor
     Thompson (PA)
     Tiffany
     Timmons
     Turner
     Upton
     Van Drew
     Van Duyne
     Wagner
     Walberg
     Walorski
     Waltz
     Weber (TX)
     Webster (FL)
     Wenstrup
     Westerman
     Williams (TX)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman
     Womack
     Wright
     Young
     Zeldin

                              DUCKWORTH--1

       
     Golden
       

                              JEFFRIES--1

      
     Lamb
       

                        ANSWERED ``PRESENT''--3

     Sherrill
     Slotkin
     Spanberger

                             NOT VOTING--3

     Hastings
     Salazar
     Valadao

                              {time}  1750

  The CLERK. The tellers agree in their tallies that the total number 
of votes cast is 427, of which the Honorable Nancy Pelosi of the State 
of California has received 216, the Honorable Kevin McCarthy of the 
State of California has received 209, the Honorable Tammy Duckworth of 
the State of Illinois has received 1, the Honorable Hakeem Jeffries of 
the State of New York has received 1.
  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 117th 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 gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Ms. Clark);
  The gentlewoman from Wyoming (Ms. Cheney);
  The gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries);
  The gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Emmer);
  The gentleman from California (Mr. Aguilar);
  The gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Palmer);
  The gentleman from New York (Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney);

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  The gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Johnson);
  The gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Beatty);
  The gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Hudson);
  The gentlewoman from California (Ms. Jacobs);
  The gentlewoman from Oklahoma (Mrs. Bice);
  And the Members of the California delegation.
  The members of the committee from majority and minority leadership 
will retire from the Chamber to escort the Speaker-elect to the chair.

                          ____________________