[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 176 (Wednesday, October 25, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H5048-H5053]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ELECTION OF SPEAKER
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question now recurs on the election of a
Speaker. The tellers will please come forward to take their seats once
again.
The nominations are now in order.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Stefanik).
Ms. STEFANIK. Mr. Speaker pro tempore, Mr. Clerk, colleagues, on
behalf of the House Republican Conference, I rise today to nominate the
gentleman from Louisiana, Mike Johnson, as Speaker of the people's
House.
We convene this esteemed body today at a time of great crisis across
America, a time of unprecedented challenges in this hallowed Chamber,
and a time when the very existence of our most precious ally, Israel,
is under attack from forces of evil.
Yesterday, our dear colleague, our former Conference chair, the chair
of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, nominated
Mike Johnson in our Conference. She put it best when she said:
``Trust has been broken, and we have come to a standstill. How do we
restore trust between Members, leadership, and ultimately between
Congress and we the people?''
Mrs. McMorris Rodgers noted that there is a sense that it cannot be
business as usual. She said: ``Above the Speaker's chair in the House
Chamber is our Nation's motto, In God We Trust.''
She went on to say: ``The times in which we are living demand
boldness, unity, and transformational leadership that begins with trust
in God and each other. Trust is when the magic happens. In the story of
King David, we are reminded that man looks at the outward appearance,
but the Lord looks at the heart.''
Today is the day that House Republicans will humbly look in our
hearts and elect Mike Johnson as Speaker of the people's House.
A man of deep faith, Mike epitomizes what it means to be a servant
leader. A deeply respected constitutional lawyer, Mike has dedicated
his life to preserving America's great principles of life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness.
Mike is a titan on the Judiciary Committee and a dedicated member of
the House Armed Services Committee. As vice chair of our Conference, he
has united all of our members to speak clearly and boldly on behalf of
the American people. A friend to all and an enemy to none, Mike is
strong, tough, and fair. Above all, Mike is kind.
At this very moment, this Republican Conference knows that we live in
perilous times and that the American people are hurting. Families are
struggling under the pain of inflation caused by reckless, far-left
spending, unable to afford groceries, heat, or gas.
We have an inhumane open border, with millions illegally smuggled and
trafficked and tens of thousands of children lost in the chasm of the
incompetence and negligence of the Biden administration.
Israel is under attack by Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists committing
atrocities, with Israelis suffering the bloodiest days in modern
memory.
Crime is skyrocketing on our streets, while there are vicious calls
from the left to defund our great men and women in blue.
American energy production has been crushed by Joe Biden's radical,
failed far-left Democrat policies, causing seniors, farmers, and
families to pay more at the pump.
Americans fundamentally understand that the Federal Government has
been illegally weaponized against we the people, shredding the
Constitution, targeting conservatives and parents.
Yes, I will say it again: The Federal Government has been illegally
weaponized against we the people, shredding the Constitution, targeting
conservatives, parents, and even Joe Biden's top political opponents.
The people are looking to this great Chamber to save America, and
save America we will.
As we embark on the path ahead, I am reminded of Galatians 6:9: ``And
let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if
we do not give up.''
House Republicans and Speaker Mike Johnson will never give up.
Today is the day we get this done.
May God bless our next Speaker, Mike Johnson, and may God bless the
United States of America.
{time} 1300
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
California (Mr. Aguilar).
Mr. AGUILAR. Mr. Speaker pro tempore, I notice a little bit more of a
smile on your face today than we have in the past.
Mr. Speaker pro tempore, I rise today at the direction of the
Democratic Caucus to place into nomination for the position of Speaker
of the House of Representatives, the Honorable Hakeem Jeffries from New
York.
Mr. Speaker pro tempore, you may agree with this, but we are back
here 22 days into this Republican-manufactured chaos and House
Republicans have brought us to the exact same position that we were
back then. All of the infighting, all of the disarray just to end up
where we were 3 weeks ago.
These past few weeks, we have been left wondering if Republicans were
truly intent on solving our issues, reopening the House of
Representatives, and rallying around someone to lead this Chamber, or
has this been about something else? Has this been about a focus of
House Republicans to find the person who can pass their extreme litmus
test to oppose marriage equality, enact a nationwide abortion ban
without exceptions, gut Social Security and Medicare, and support
overturning a free and fair election?
It is a fair question. Nowhere in that candidate questionnaire is it
about growing the middle class, helping our communities, keeping the
costs of healthcare lower, and making life for everyday Americans
better.
The gentlewoman from New York said it right: This has been about one
thing. This has been about who can appease Donald Trump. House
Republicans have put their names behind someone who has been called the
most important architect of the electoral college objections.
He spearheaded the legal effort, joined by more than 100 of our
colleagues on the other side of the aisle in support of a dangerous and
baseless lawsuit to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
On the eve of January 6, some of my Republican colleagues even called
this a failed strategy. Yet those same individuals plan to stand right
next to him today.
Mr. Speaker pro tempore, House Democrats believe that when Members of
this body voted to reject the results of the 2020 election, they
forfeited their ability to lead this Chamber.
On this side of the aisle, we know what leadership looks like. Hakeem
Jeffries has never turned his back on the will of the American people.
The son of two social workers, he has always stood by the side of
working families. The most pressing needs of everyday Americans are his
North Star. He believes that everyone in America should have the
opportunity to get ahead and achieve their version of the American
Dream. He believes that access to affordable healthcare is a right,
[[Page H5049]]
not a privilege. He believes that reproductive freedom must be
guaranteed, not stripped away. He believes that working families, not
the wealthy and the well-connected, should be rewarded. He believes in
growing the middle class so that everyone can succeed. He believes that
our schools and our communities should be safe and free from gun
violence. He believes in investing in public schools, not depriving
students of fact-based education by banning books. He believes in
taking care of our seniors and our veterans, not slashing their
benefits. He believes in living up to the promise that America is a
beacon of hope and a land of opportunity. He believes in defending
democracy against all enemies and adversaries, foreign and domestic. He
believes in standing by our allies, Israel and Ukraine. He believes in
keeping our government running and open.
Let me be clear: This is not just a belief system. Leader Jeffries
has the track record to back it up. He is certainly a far contrast from
who Republicans have nominated, with or without their votes, to
nominate today, but if House Republicans choose they can still join us
on a bipartisan path forward.
Let's come together to fund our government, support our allies
abroad, and deliver for working families. Let's open up the people's
House and end the chaos, end the dysfunction, end the extremism.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. 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. 527]
JOHNSON (LA)--220
Aderholt
Alford
Allen
Amodei
Armstrong
Arrington
Babin
Bacon
Baird
Balderson
Banks
Barr
Bean (FL)
Bentz
Bergman
Bice
Biggs
Bilirakis
Bishop (NC)
Boebert
Bost
Brecheen
Buchanan
Buck
Bucshon
Burchett
Burgess
Burlison
Calvert
Cammack
Carey
Carl
Carter (GA)
Carter (TX)
Chavez-DeRemer
Ciscomani
Cline
Cloud
Clyde
Cole
Collins
Comer
Crane
Crawford
Crenshaw
Curtis
D'Esposito
Davidson
De La Cruz
DesJarlais
Diaz-Balart
Donalds
Duarte
Duncan
Dunn (FL)
Edwards
Ellzey
Emmer
Estes
Ezell
Fallon
Feenstra
Ferguson
Finstad
Fischbach
Fitzgerald
Fitzpatrick
Fleischmann
Flood
Foxx
Franklin, Scott
Fry
Fulcher
Gaetz
Gallagher
Garbarino
Garcia, Mike
Gimenez
Gonzales, Tony
Good (VA)
Gooden (TX)
Gosar
Granger
Graves (LA)
Graves (MO)
Green (TN)
Greene (GA)
Griffith
Grothman
Guest
Guthrie
Hageman
Harris
Harshbarger
Hern
Higgins (LA)
Hill
Hinson
Houchin
Hudson
Huizenga
Hunt
Issa
Jackson (TX)
James
Johnson (LA)
Johnson (OH)
Johnson (SD)
Jordan
Joyce (OH)
Joyce (PA)
Kean (NJ)
Kelly (MS)
Kelly (PA)
Kiggans (VA)
Kiley
Kim (CA)
Kustoff
LaHood
LaLota
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Langworthy
Latta
LaTurner
Lawler
Lee (FL)
Lesko
Letlow
Loudermilk
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Luna
Luttrell
Mace
Malliotakis
Mann
Massie
Mast
McCarthy
McCaul
McClain
McClintock
McCormick
McHenry
Meuser
Miller (IL)
Miller (OH)
Miller (WV)
Miller-Meeks
Mills
Molinaro
Moolenaar
Mooney
Moore (AL)
Moore (UT)
Moran
Murphy
Nehls
Newhouse
Norman
Nunn (IA)
Obernolte
Ogles
Owens
Palmer
Pence
Perry
Pfluger
Posey
Reschenthaler
Rodgers (WA)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rose
Rosendale
Rouzer
Roy
Rutherford
Salazar
Santos
Scalise
Schweikert
Scott, Austin
Self
Sessions
Simpson
Smith (MO)
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smucker
Spartz
Stauber
Steel
Stefanik
Steil
Steube
Strong
Tenney
Thompson (PA)
Tiffany
Timmons
Turner
Valadao
Van Drew
Van Duyne
Wagner
Walberg
Waltz
Weber (TX)
Webster (FL)
Wenstrup
Westerman
Williams (NY)
Williams (TX)
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Womack
Yakym
Zinke
JEFFRIES--209
Adams
Aguilar
Allred
Auchincloss
Balint
Barragan
Beatty
Bera
Beyer
Bishop (GA)
Blumenauer
Blunt Rochester
Bonamici
Bowman
Brown
Brownley
Budzinski
Bush
Caraveo
Carbajal
Cardenas
Carson
Carter (LA)
Cartwright
Casar
Case
Casten
Castor (FL)
Castro (TX)
Cherfilus-McCormick
Chu
Clark (MA)
Clarke (NY)
Cleaver
Clyburn
Cohen
Connolly
Costa
Courtney
Craig
Crockett
Crow
Cuellar
Davids (KS)
Davis (IL)
Davis (NC)
Dean (PA)
DeGette
DeLauro
DelBene
Deluzio
DeSaulnier
Dingell
Doggett
Escobar
Eshoo
Espaillat
Evans
Fletcher
Foster
Foushee
Frankel, Lois
Frost
Gallego
Garamendi
Garcia (IL)
Garcia (TX)
Garcia, Robert
Golden (ME)
Goldman (NY)
Gomez
Gottheimer
Green, Al (TX)
Grijalva
Harder (CA)
Hayes
Higgins (NY)
Himes
Horsford
Houlahan
Hoyer
Hoyle (OR)
Huffman
Ivey
Jackson (IL)
Jackson (NC)
Jackson Lee
Jacobs
Jayapal
Jeffries
Johnson (GA)
Kamlager-Dove
Kaptur
Keating
Kelly (IL)
Khanna
Kildee
Kilmer
Kim (NJ)
Krishnamoorthi
Kuster
Landsman
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lee (CA)
Lee (NV)
Lee (PA)
Leger Fernandez
Levin
Lieu
Lofgren
Lynch
Magaziner
Manning
Matsui
McBath
McClellan
McCollum
McGarvey
McGovern
Meeks
Menendez
Meng
Mfume
Moore (WI)
Morelle
Moskowitz
Moulton
Mrvan
Mullin
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Neguse
Nickel
Norcross
Ocasio-Cortez
Omar
Pallone
Panetta
Pappas
Pascrell
Payne
Pelosi
Peltola
Perez
Peters
Pettersen
Phillips
Pingree
Pocan
Porter
Pressley
Quigley
Ramirez
Raskin
Ross
Ruiz
Ruppersberger
Ryan
Salinas
Sanchez
Sarbanes
Scanlon
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schneider
Scholten
Schrier
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Sewell
Sherman
Sherrill
Slotkin
Smith (WA)
Sorensen
Soto
Spanberger
Stansbury
Stanton
Stevens
Strickland
Swalwell
Sykes
Takano
Thanedar
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Titus
Tlaib
Tokuda
Tonko
Torres (CA)
Torres (NY)
Trahan
Trone
Underwood
Vargas
Vasquez
Veasey
Velazquez
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watson Coleman
Wexton
Wild
Williams (GA)
Wilson (FL)
ANSWERED ``PRESENT''--0
NOT VOTING--4
Boyle (PA)
Correa
Gonzalez, Vicente
Van Orden
personal explanation
Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker Pro Tempore, today, I missed
rollcall vote No. 526 and No. 527 on the floor of the House of
Representatives. I was in Philadelphia to be with my wife for a
surgical procedure. Had I been present, I would have voted ``Present''
on rollcall No. 526 and ``Hakeem Jeffries'' on rollcall No. 527.
{time} 1350
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The tellers agree in their tallies that the
total number of votes cast is 429, of which the Honorable Mike
Johnson of the State of Louisiana has received 220 votes and the
Honorable Hakeem Jeffries of the State of New York has received 209
votes.
Therefore, the Honorable Mike Johnson of the State of Louisiana,
having received a majority of the votes cast, is duly elected Speaker
of the House of Representatives for the 118th Congress.
The Chair appoints the following committee to escort the Speaker-
elect to the chair:
The gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Scalise)
The gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Emmer)
The gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Stefanik)
The gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Hudson)
The gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Palmer)
The gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. McClain)
The gentleman from California (Mr. McCarthy)
The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Donalds)
The gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Hern)
The gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bergman)
The gentlewoman from Washington (Mrs. Rodgers)
The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Arrington)
The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Fallon)
The gentleman from New York (Mr. Molinaro)
The gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Cammack)
The gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries)
The gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Ms. Clark)
The gentleman from California (Mr. Aguilar)
The gentleman from California (Mr. Lieu)
The gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. DelBene)
[[Page H5050]]
The gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn)
The gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Neguse)
The gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Escobar)
The gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Underwood)
The gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz)
The gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Kildee)
The gentlewoman from California (Ms. Jacobs)
The gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Crockett)
And the Members of the Louisiana delegation:
Mr. Graves
Mr. Higgins
Ms. Letlow
Mr. Carter
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 118th Congress, who was escorted to the chair by
the Committee of Escort.
{time} 1400
Mr. JEFFRIES. Speaker Mike Johnson, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi,
Whip Clark, Chairman Aguilar, all of my colleagues, and government on
both sides of the aisle, it is an honor and a privilege to once again
stand before you as House Democratic leader.
From the very beginning of this Congress, House Democrats have made
clear that we will find bipartisan common ground with our Republican
colleagues whenever and wherever possible for the good of the American
people, and House Democrats have repeatedly done just that.
It was House Democrats who provided a majority of the votes necessary
to avoid a catastrophic default on our debt that would have crashed the
U.S. economy and triggered a job-killing recession.
It was House Democrats who provided a majority of the votes necessary
to avoid a government shutdown that would have hurt everyday Americans.
It was House Democrats who provided a majority of the votes necessary
to secure $16 billion in disaster assistance for Americans whose lives
have been devastated by extreme weather events.
From the very beginning of this Congress, House Democrats have been
governing for the people. We continue to look forward to finding
bipartisan common ground whenever and wherever possible.
House Democrats will continue to partner with President Biden and
Senate Democrats to put people over politics.
House Democrats will continue to fight for lower costs, better-paying
jobs, safer communities, and to build an economy from the middle out
and the bottom up and not the top down.
House Democrats will continue to push back against extremism in this
Chamber and throughout the country.
House Democrats will continue to protect Social Security, protect
Medicare, protect Medicaid, protect our children, protect our climate,
protect low-income families, protect working families, protect the
middle class, protect organized labor, protect the LGBTQ community,
protect our veterans, protect older Americans, protect the Affordable
Care Act, protect the right to vote, protect the peaceful transfer of
power, protect our democracy, and protect a woman's freedom to make her
own reproductive healthcare decisions.
These are blue lines in the sand, and we will work hard to make sure
that they are never crossed.
We must also continue to stand by President Biden as he works to
bring American hostages and Israeli hostages and international hostages
held by Hamas back home.
{time} 1415
We must also stand by our friends on the international stage. We have
no better friend in the Middle East than the State of Israel. Israel
has a right to exist as a Jewish and democratic State. The special
relationship between the United States and Israel is unbreakable. Our
commitment to Israel's security is ironclad. Israel has a right to
defend itself under the international rules of war against the brutal
terror unleashed on its citizens by Hamas.
Our ironclad commitment to Israel's security and the effort to defeat
Hamas is not inconsistent with the goal of achieving a lasting and just
peace between Israel and the Palestinian people. In many ways, it is a
necessary ingredient because Hamas is not good for Israel. Hamas is not
is good for America. Hamas is not good for the free world. Hamas is not
good for the democratic aspirations of the Palestinian people.
We must also support Ukraine in its courageous effort to defeat
Russian aggression. There are only two paths in front of us: We can
either stand up for Ukraine or bow down to Vladimir Putin. That is not
a difficult choice.
We must stand up for America's national security. We must stand up
for democracy. We must stand up for freedom. We must stand up for
truth. We must stand up for the Ukrainian people until victory is won.
It is my expectation that in the next week or so the Senate will send
over for consideration a bipartisan national security funding package
for Israel, Ukraine, and our other allies throughout the free world
that also includes humanitarian assistance for Palestinian civilians
and others who may be in harm's way.
The House of Representatives should take up these national security
and humanitarian relief packages immediately in totality and without
delay. The time for gamesmanship is over. The time for brinksmanship is
over. The time for partisanship is over. It is time to get back to
doing the business of the American people.
Let me conclude with an observation about the state of our democracy.
Joe Biden won the 2020 Presidential election. He is doing a great job
under difficult circumstances, and no amount of election denialism will
ever change that reality. Not now, not ever.
Throughout the years, Presidents, from Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama
and Dwight Eisenhower to Lyndon Baines Johnson, have spoken to this
Chamber and urged us to put aside partisan politics for the good of the
American people.
President Lincoln spoke to this Congress on December 1, 1862, in the
middle of the Civil War, and noted that we in this institution had the
power and bore the responsibility to save the Union. The stakes were
high. As articulated by President Lincoln, we could either nobly save
or meanly lose America as we know it; the last best hope on Earth.
This is a turbulent time in the American journey, and we have but one
charge to keep during this moment of great fragility. Our Union must be
sustained. Our Union must be strengthened. Our Union must succeed.
There are many throughout this country who are understandably alarmed
at the turbulence of the moment, at the chaos, the dysfunction, and the
extremism that has been unleashed in this Chamber from the very
beginning of this Congress, but this too shall pass.
Our country has often confronted adversity. The good news is we
always find a way to make it to the other side. We faced adversity in
the 1860s in the middle of the Civil War when the country was literally
tearing itself apart. We faced adversity in October of 1929 when the
stock market collapsed, plunging us into the Great Depression. We faced
adversity in December of 1941 when a foreign power unexpectedly struck,
plunging us into a world war with an evil empire of Nazi Germany.
We faced adversity in the Deep South in the 1950s and 1960s when the
country was struggling to reconcile the inherent contradictions between
Jim Crow segregation and the glorious promises of the Constitution.
We faced adversity on September 11, 2001, when the towers and the
Pentagon were unexpectedly struck, killing thousands of lives in an
instant.
We faced adversity right here in the House of Representatives when,
on January 6, 2021, a violent mob of insurrectionists, incited by some
in this Chamber, overran the House floor as part of an effort to halt
the peaceful transfer of power.
Every time we faced adversity, the good news here in America is that
we always overcome. That is the power of American exceptionalism. That
is why America is the land of the free and the home of the brave. That
is why I remain optimistic about the future of
[[Page H5051]]
this country. That is why America is the last best hope on Earth.
God bless you. God bless the House of Representatives. God bless the
United States of America.
It is now my solemn honor and responsibility to hand over the
people's gavel here in the United States House of Representatives to a
family man, a hardworking man, a Baptist man, a southern man, a son of
a firefighter's household, the gentleman from the great State of
Louisiana and the 56th Speaker of the United States House of
Representatives, the Honorable Mike Johnson.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Thank you all. First, a few words of
gratitude. I want to thank Leader Jeffries. I do look forward to
working with you on behalf of the American people. I know we see things
from very different points of view, but I know in your heart you love
and care about this country and you want to do what is right. We are
going to find common ground there.
I want to express my great thanks to our Speaker Emeritus, Kevin
McCarthy. Kevin has dedicated over two decades of his life to selfless
public service; 16 of those years in this House. You would be hard-
pressed to find anybody who loves this institution more or who has
contributed more to it. He is the reason we are in this majority today.
His impact can never be overstated. I want to thank him for his
leadership, his friendship, and the selfless sacrifice that he and Judy
have made for so many years. You helped build it, Kevin, and we owe you
a great debt of gratitude.
I want to thank the dedicated and overworked staff of this
beleaguered House. They accept praise so stoically. Ms. Susan Cole, our
House Reading Clerk--yes, all the clerks and all the staff, they are
terribly overworked. This has been a grueling process, but they have
served an integral role in keeping our Republic. We thank them for that
service. I know we all do.
I want to thank my dedicated wife of almost 25 years, Kelly. She is
not here. We couldn't get a flight in time. This happened sort of
suddenly. We are going to celebrate soon. She spent the last couple of
weeks on her knees in prayer to the Lord, and she is a little worn out.
We all are.
I want to thank our children: Michael, Hannah, Abby, Jack, and Will.
All of our children sacrifice. All of them do, and we know that. There
are not a lot of perks to being a Member of Congress' kid. I want to
thank all of your families as well for what they endure and what they
have had to endure for the last few weeks. We have been here awhile.
I want to thank my faithful mother, Jeanne Johnson, who bore me at
the age of 17; my brothers, Chris and Josh; my sister, Laura; all their
families and all of our extended family. In Louisiana, family is a big
deal, and we have a bunch of them.
I especially want to thank all the extraordinary people of the great
State of Louisiana. We have never had a Speaker of the House hail from
our State, and they have been lifting us up. I thank the people of
Louisiana for the opportunity to serve you in Congress, and I am
humbled by your continuous support. We will make you proud.
To my colleagues, I want to thank you all for the trust you have
instilled in me to lead us in this historic and unprecedented moment
that we are in. The challenge before us is great, but the time for
action is now, and I will not let you down.
I want to say to the American people on behalf of all of us here: We
hear you. We know the challenges you are facing. We know that there is
a lot going on in our country, domestically and abroad, and we are
ready to get to work again to solve those problems, and we will.
Our mission here is to serve you well, to restore the people's faith
in this House, in this great and essential institution.
My dad, it was mentioned my dad was a firefighter. He was an
assistant chief of the fire department in my hometown of Shreveport,
Louisiana, a little town in northwest Louisiana.
On September 17, 1984, when I was 12 years old, he was critically
burned and permanently disabled in the line of duty. All I ever wanted
to be when I grew up was the chief of the fire department in
Shreveport. After the explosion on that fateful day, he nearly died and
it was a long road back. It changed all of our life trajectories. I am
the oldest of four kids.
{time} 1430
My dad lived with pain all the rest of his life, for decades more. I
lost my dad to cancer 3 days before I got elected to Congress. He
wanted to be there at my election night so badly. I am the first
college graduate in my family. This was a big deal to him.
Several weeks after that, in early 2017, it was my freshman term, and
it fell to me to be in the rostrum one night to serve here as Speaker
pro tempore. I thought that was a big deal until I figured out that is
what you do for freshmen late at night.
I think, if my memory serves, Ms. Jackson Lee was winding down one of
her long, eloquent speeches--not that I was not enraptured by her
speech. I looked up at the top of the Chamber there and I saw the face
of Moses staring down. I just felt in that moment the weight of this
place, the history that is revered here, and the future that we are
called to forge, and I really was just kind of almost overwhelmed with
emotion.
It occurred to me in that moment that it had been several weeks, and
I had not had an opportunity yet to grieve my dad's passing. I just had
a sense that somehow he knew. I had tears come to my eyes, and I was
standing here, and I am wiping them away, and then it suddenly occurs
to me the late-night C-SPAN viewers are going to think something is
very wrong with the new, young Congressman from Louisiana. It wasn't
Sheila's speech, I am sorry.
I just knew in that moment that my dad, my father, would be proud of
me, and I felt that he was. I think all of our parents are proud of
what we are called to do here.
I think all the American people at one time had great pride in this
institution, but right now, that is in jeopardy. We have a challenge
before us right now to rebuild and restore that trust.
This is a beautiful country. It is the beauty of America that allows
a firefighter's kid like me to come here and serve in this sacred
Chamber, where great men and women have served before all of us and
strived together to build and then preserve what Lincoln did refer to
as the last, best hope of man on Earth.
We stand at a very dangerous time. I am stating the obvious. We all
know that. The world is in turmoil, but a strong America is good for
the entire world.
We are the beacon of freedom, and we must preserve this grand
experiment in self-governance. It still is. We are only 247 years into
this grand experiment. We don't know how long it will last, but we do
know the Founders told us to take good care of it.
I want to tell all my colleagues here what I told the Republicans in
that room last night: I don't believe there are any coincidences in a
matter like this. I believe that Scripture, the Bible, is very clear,
that God is the one that raises up those in authority. He raised up
each of you, all of us. I believe that God has ordained and allowed
each one of us to be brought here for this specific moment and this
time. This is my belief.
I believe that each one of us has a huge responsibility today to use
the gifts that God has given us to serve the extraordinary people of
this great country--and they deserve it--and to ensure that our
Republic remains standing as the great beacon of light and hope and
freedom in a world that desperately needs it.
It was in 1962 that our national motto, In God We Trust, was adorned
above this rostrum. If you look at the little guide that they give
tourists and constituents who come and visit the House, if you turn in
there to about page 14 in the middle of that guide, it tells you the
history of this. It says very simply: These words were placed here
above us. This motto was placed here as a rebuke of the Cold War-era
philosophy of the Soviet Union. That philosophy was Marxism and
Communism, which begins with the premise that there is no God.
This is a critical distinction that is also articulated in our
Nation's birth certificate. We know the language well, the famous
second paragraph that we used to have children memorize in
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school, and they don't do that so often anymore, but they should.
G.K. Chesterton was a famous British philosopher and statesman. He
said one time: ``America is the only nation in the world founded upon a
creed.'' He said it is listed with almost ``theological lucidity in the
Declaration of Independence.''
What is our creed? ``We hold these truths to be self-evident, that
all men are created equal,'' not born equal, created equal, and they
are endowed with the same inalienable rights--life, liberty, the
pursuit of happiness. That is the creed that has animated our Nation
since its founding, that has made us the great Nation that we are.
We are in a time of extraordinary crisis right now. The world needs
us to be strong. They need us to remember our creed and our admonition.
Turmoil and violence have rocked the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
We all know it. Tensions continue to build in the Indo-Pacific. The
country demands strong leadership of this body, and we must not waver.
Our Nation's greatest ally in the Middle East is under attack. The
first bill that I am going to bring to this floor in just a little
while will be in support of our dear friend Israel, and we are overdue
in getting that done.
We are going to show not only Israel but the entire world that the
barbarism of Hamas that we have all seen play out on our television
screens is wretched and wrong, and we are going to stand for the good
in that conflict.
We have a catastrophe at our southern border. The Senate and the
White House can no longer ignore the problem. From Texas to New York,
wave after wave of illegal migrants are stressing our communities to
their breaking points.
We know that our streets are being flooded with fentanyl, and in all
of our communities, children and even adults are dying from it.
The status quo is unacceptable. Inaction is unacceptable, and we must
come together and address the broken border. We have to do it.
The skyrocketing cost of living is unsustainable, and Americans
should not have to worry about how they are going to feed their family
every week because they can't afford their groceries anymore. Everybody
in this room should think about this.
Here are the stats: Prices have increased over 17 percent in the last
2 years; credit card interest rates are at the highest level in nearly
three decades; and mortgage rates are now at a peak we haven't seen
since 2001. We have to bring relief to the American people by reining
in Federal spending and bringing down inflation.
The greatest threat to our national security is our Nation's debt.
While we have been sitting in this room, the debt has crossed to almost
$33.6 trillion. In the time that it is going to take me to deliver this
speech, it will go up another $20 million in debt. It is unsustainable.
We have to get the country back on track.
We know this is not going to be an easy task, and tough decisions
will have to be made, but the consequences if we don't act now are
unbearable.
We have a duty to the American people to explain this to them so they
understand it well. We are going to establish a bipartisan debt
commission to begin working on this crisis immediately.
We all know that we also live in a time of bitter partisanship. It
was noted, and it has been on display here today. When our people are
losing their faith in government, when they are losing sight of the
principles that made us the greatest Nation in the history of the
world, I think we have to be mindful of that. We are going to fight. We
are going to fight vigorously over our core principles because they are
at odds a lot of the time now in this modern era. We have to sacrifice
sometimes our preferences because that is what is necessary in a
legislative body, but we will defend our core principles to the end.
In his farewell address, President Reagan explained the secret of his
rapport with people, and I like to paraphrase his explanation all the
time. He said: You know, they call me the great communicator, but I
really wasn't that. I was just communicating great things, and they are
the same great things that have guided our Nation since its founding.
What are those great things? I call them the seven core principles of
American conservatism, but let me concede to you all, I think it is
really quintessentially the core principles of our Nation. I boil them
down to individual freedom, limited government, the rule of law, peace
through strength, fiscal responsibility, free markets, and human
dignity. Those are the foundations that made us the extraordinary
Nation that we are.
You and I today are the stewards of those principles, the things that
have made us the freest, most powerful, most successful Nation in the
history of the world, the things that have made us truly exceptional.
In this time of great crisis, it is our duty to work together, as
previous generations of great leaders have, to face these great
challenges and solve these great problems.
I will conclude with this: The job of the Speaker of the House is to
serve the whole body, and I will, but I have made a commitment to my
colleagues here that this Speaker's office is going to be known for
decentralizing the power here. My office is going to be known for
Members being more involved and having more influence in our processes,
in all the major decisions that are made here for predictable processes
and regular order. We owe that to the people.
I make this commitment to you, to my colleagues here and on the other
side of the aisle, as well: My office is going to be known for trust
and transparency and accountability, for good stewardship of the
people's treasure, for the honesty and integrity that is incumbent upon
all of us here in the people's House.
Our system of government is not a perfect system. It has got a lot of
challenges, but it is still the best one in the world, and we have an
opportunity to preserve it.
The last thing I am going to say is a message to the rest of the
world. They have been watching this drama play out for a few weeks. We
have learned a lot of lessons, but do you know what? Through adversity,
it makes you stronger. We want our allies around the world to know that
this body of lawmakers is reporting again to our duty stations. Let the
enemies of freedom around the world hear us loud and clear: The
people's House is back in business.
We will do our duty here; we will serve the people well; we will
govern well; and we will make everyone proud of this institution again.
We are going to fight every day to make sure that is true.
I look forward to the days ahead. I genuinely believe in my heart
that the best days of America are still ahead of us. God bless you, 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 Hal
Rogers of Kentucky, to administer the oath of office.
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. When our Founding Fathers chose a bold, new,
and innovative self-rule government, it was met with deep skepticism by
the world's monarchs. They said self-rule is only a dream. Our Founders
said they are right; it is the American Dream.
Now it is our dream. We are in charge. The speakership of the United
States House of Representatives is the crucial outpost for the well-
being of the people's government, the keeper, if you will, of the
dream.
Sir, if you wish to assume this awesome responsibility, please raise
your right hand.
Mr. Rogers of Kentucky then administered the oath of office to Mr.
Johnson of Louisiana, as follows:
Do you solemnly swear or affirm 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.
(Applause, the Members rising.)
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Congratulations, Mr. Speaker.
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