[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 1 (Sunday, January 3, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S6]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    WELCOMING MEMBERS OF THE SENATE

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, very briefly, I simply want to welcome 
all Senators on this first day of the 117th Congress.
  Today, six new Members are joining our ranks for the first time. 
Senators Hagerty from Tennessee, Hickenlooper from Colorado, Lujan of 
New Mexico, Lummis of Wyoming, Marshall of Kansas, and Tuberville of 
Alabama have been elected to serve the people of their home States, 
and, of course, Senator Kelly of Arizona was sworn in a few weeks ago. 
We congratulate all of our new colleagues, as well as their families, 
and look forward to the ways in which their unique experiences, their 
ideas, and their priorities will enrich this institution and strengthen 
our shared work for the Nation.
  To say the 117th Congress convenes at a challenging time would indeed 
be an understatement. From political division to a deadly pandemic, to 
adversaries around the world, the hurdles before us are many, and they 
are serious. But there is also plenty of reason for hope. An 
optimistic, forward-looking, can-do spirit has been one of our 
country's most distinctive calling cards since our very earliest days. 
And with safe and effective vaccines rolling out across our Nation 
every day, I would say 2021 looks bright already.
  We gavel in today like 116 prior Senates have gaveled in before us, 
with plenty of disagreements and policy differences among our ranks but 
all--all--swearing the same oath to support and defend the same 
Constitution, all loving the same country, and all of us committed to 
do all we can to leave behind an even stronger nation than the one we 
have been blessed to inherit.
  So I look forward to the Senate's work these next 2 years. Let's make 
the American people proud.

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