[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 1] [House] [Pages 20-23] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]ELECTION OF SPEAKER The Clerk. Pursuant to law and to precedent, the next order of business is the election of the Speaker of the House of Representatives for the 107th Congress. Nominations are now in order. The Clerk recognizes the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Watts). Mr. WATTS of Oklahoma. Mr. Clerk, the Congress and the Nation have been blessed these past 2 years by the inspiring leadership of a gentleman whose only special interest in these United States of America is these United States of America. We are deeply grateful for his selfless devotion to this institution and to the advancement of the American people and the American Republic. Mr. Clerk, as Chairman of the Republican Conference, I am directed by the unanimous vote of that conference to present for election to the office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives for the 107th Congress the name of the Honorable J. Dennis Hastert, a Representative- elect from the State of Illinois. The Clerk. The Clerk recognizes the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Frost). Mr. FROST. Mr. Clerk, as Chairman of the Democratic Caucus, I am directed by the unanimous vote of that caucus to present for election to the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives for the 107th Congress the name of the Honorable Richard A. Gephardt, a Representative-elect from the State of Missouri. The Clerk. The Honorable J. Dennis Hastert, a Representative-elect from the State of Illinois, and the Honorable Richard A. Gephardt, a Representative-elect from the State of Missouri, have been placed in nomination. Are there any further nominations? There being no further nominations, the Clerk will appoint tellers. The Clerk appoints the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas), the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the gentlewoman from New Jersey (Mrs. Roukema), and the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur). 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 choice. The reading clerk will now call the roll. The tellers having taken their places, the House proceeded to vote for the Speaker. {time} 1330 The following is the result of the vote: [[Page 21]] [Roll No. 2] HASTERT--222 Aderholt Akin Armey Bachus Baker Ballenger Barr Bartlett Barton Bass Bereuter Biggert Bilirakis Blunt Boehlert Boehner Bonilla Bono Brady (TX) Brown (SC) Bryant Burr Burton Buyer Callahan Calvert Camp Cannon Cantor Capito Castle Chabot Chambliss Coble Collins Combest Cooksey Cox Crane Crenshaw Cubin Culberson Cunningham Davis, Jo Ann Davis, Thomas M. Deal DeLay DeMint Diaz-Balart Doolittle Dreier Duncan Dunn Ehlers Ehrlich Emerson English Everett Ferguson Flake Fletcher Foley Fossella Frelinghuysen Gallegly Ganske Gekas Gibbons Gilchrest Gillmor Gilman Goode Goodlatte Goss Graham Granger Graves Green (WI) Greenwood Grucci Gutknecht Hansen Hart Hastings (WA) Hayes Hayworth Hefley Herger Hilleary Hobson Hoekstra Horn Hostettler Houghton Hulshof Hunter Hutchinson Hyde Isakson Issa Istook Jenkins Johnson (CT) Johnson (IL) Johnson, Sam Jones (NC) Keller Kelly Kennedy (MN) Kerns King (NY) Kingston Kirk Knollenberg Kolbe LaHood Largent Latham LaTourette Leach Lewis (CA) Lewis (KY) Linder LoBiondo Lucas (OK) Manzullo McCrery McHugh McInnis McKeon Mica Miller (FL) Miller, Gary Moran (KS) Morella Myrick Nethercutt Ney Northup Norwood Nussle Osborne Ose Otter Oxley Paul Pence Peterson (PA) Petri Pickering Pitts Platts Pombo Portman Pryce (OH) Putnam Quinn Radanovich Ramstad Regula Rehberg Reynolds Riley Rogers (KY) Rogers (MI) Rohrabacher Ros-Lehtinen Roukema Royce Ryan (WI) Ryun (KS) Saxton Scarborough Schaffer Schrock Sensenbrenner Sessions Shadegg Shaw Shays Sherwood Shimkus Shuster Simmons Simpson Skeen Smith (MI) Smith (NJ) Smith (TX) Souder Spence Stearns Stump Sununu Sweeny Tancredo Tauzin Taylor (NC) Terry Thomas Thornberry Thune Tiahrt Tiberi Toomey Traficant Upton Vitter Walden Walsh Wamp Watkins Watts (OK) Weldon (FL) Weldon (PA) Weller Whitfield Wicker Wilson Wolf Young (AK) Young (FL) GEPHARDT--206 Abercrombie Ackerman Allen Andrews Baca Baird Baldacci Baldwin Barcia Barrett Becerra Bentsen Berkley Berman Berry Bishop Blagojevich Blumenauer Bonior Borski Boswell Boucher Boyd Brady (PA) Brown (FL) Brown (OH) Capps Capuano Cardin Carson (IN) Carson (OK) Clay Clayton Clement Clyburn Condit Conyers Costello Coyne Cramer Crowley Cummings Davis (CA) Davis (FL) Davis (IL) DeFazio DeGette Delahunt DeLauro Deutsch Dicks Dingell Doggett Dooley Doyle Edwards Engel Eshoo Etheridge Evans Farr Fattah Filner Ford Frank Frost Gonzalez Gordon Green (TX) Hall (OH) Hall (TX) Harman Hastings (FL) Hill Hilliard Hinchey Hinojosa Hoeffel Holden Holt Honda Hooley Hoyer Inslee Israel Jackson (IL) Jackson-Lee (TX) Jefferson John Johnson, E. B. Jones (OH) Kanjorski Kaptur Kennedy (RI) Kildee Kilpatrick Kind Kleczka Kucinich LaFalce Lampson Langevin Lantos Larsen (WA) Larson (CT) Lee Levin Lewis (GA) Lofgren Lowey Lucas (KY) Luther Maloney (CT) Maloney (NY) Morkey Mascara Matheson Matsui McCarthy (MO) McCarthy (NY) McCollum McDermott McGovern McIntyre McKinney McNulty Meehan Meek (FL) Meeks (NY) Menendez Millender-McDonald Miller, George Mink Moakley Mollohan Moore Moran (VA) Murtha Nadler Napolitano Neal Oberstar Obey Olver Ortiz Owens Pallone Pascrell Pastor Payne Pelosi Peterson (MN) Phelps Pomeroy Price (NC) Rahall Rangel Reyes Rivers Rodriguez Roemer Ross Rothman Roybal-Allard Rush Sabo Sanchez Sanders Sandlin Sawyer Schakowsky Schiff Scott Serrano Sherman Shows Sisisky Skelton Slaughter Smith (WA) Snyder Solis Spratt Stenholm Strickland Stupak Tanner Tauscher Thompson (CA) Thompson (MS) Thurman Tierney Towns Turner Udall (CO) Udall (NM) Velazquez Visclosky Waters Watt (NC) Waxman Weiner Wexler Woolsey Wu Wynn MURTHA--1 Taylor (MS) PRESENT--2 Gephardt Hastert NOT VOTING--3 Gutierrez Lipinski Stark {time} 1249 The Clerk. The tellers agree in their tallies that the total number of votes cast for a person by name is 429, of which the Honorable J. Dennis Hastert of the State of Illinois has received 222, the Honorable Richard A. Gephardt of the State of Missouri has received 206, and the Honorable John P. Murtha of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has received 1, with 2 recorded as ``present.'' Therefore, the Honorable J. Dennis Hastert of the State of Illinois is duly elected Speaker of the House of Representatives for the 107th Congress, having received a majority of the votes cast. The Clerk appoints the following committee to escort the Speaker- elect to the Chair: The gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Gephardt), The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Armey), The gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay), The gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bonior), The gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Watts), The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Frost), The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Crane), The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde), The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Evans), The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Lipinski), The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Costello), The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Manzullo), The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rush), The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. LaHood), The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Weller), The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Jackson), The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Blagojevich), The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis), The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Shimkus), The gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert), The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Phelps), The gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky), The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Johnson), and The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Kirk). The committee will retire from the Chamber to escort the Speaker- elect to the chair. {time} 1345 The Sergeant at Arms announced the Speaker-elect of the House of Representatives of the 107th Congress, who was escorted to the chair by the Committee of Escort. Mr. GEPHARDT. Members of the House, families of House Members, honored guests, ladies and gentlemen. First, I want to say that I thought a few moments ago about asking for a recount, but I decided against it. This is a day of celebration for candidates and our families, and it is also a day of celebration of our continuing experiment in democracy, which we again have successfully achieved, even in the face of a very close election. What sets America apart is that despite very difficult events, we decide elections by the rule of law, and we have peaceful transitions of power. Mr. Speaker, I called you after the election to congratulate you, and all of us on the Democratic side extend our congratulations to you and your Members today. [[Page 22]] We hope for a bipartisan atmosphere in this new Congress, and we understand that this requires not just words, but deeds and actions. We know that our differences on issues are heartfelt and real, but I hope the closeness of the margin between our parties in the Congress will be viewed as an opportunity, not a hindrance. This is the people's House, and we are all proud to be part of it. It is not a Republican House; it is not a Democratic House. As a recognition of that principle, it is our hope that in gestures, both small and large, on the part of each of us as individuals and as leaders, we will make that principle a daily reality. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of my Democratic colleagues, we honor your leadership and we respect your majority. Our pledge is to meet you halfway and, in return, we hope that great things in these 2 years can be accomplished for the American people that we serve. Ladies and gentlemen of the House, it is my honor to present the Speaker of the House of the 107th Congress, the gentleman from Illinois, Dennis Hastert. Mr. HASTERT. I guess I really should not hammer it down while I am still getting applause, but I want to thank Dick Gephardt for his gracious remarks. Dick Gephardt has been a great leader of the House Democrats. He has unified his Democrat Caucus over the last 2 years with unusual effectiveness. He has criss-crossed the Nation, doing his best to help his candidates take a majority in the House. He has worked day and night with a singular determination. I know how hard he has worked, because I had to do my best just to keep up with him. Dick, let me say that I respect your commitment to your principles, I respect and deeply admire your competitive spirit, and thank you so much for your heartfelt comments today. Thank you very much. Now that the campaign is over, I know you will put the same energy and determination that you demonstrated during the campaign in working with me to do the people's business. Thank you all, Democrats, Republicans, for this honor, to be Speaker of the whole House. Today, I stand before you at the beginning of a new year, some say the beginning of a new millennium, and certainly, the beginning of a new Congress. Today, we swear in 41 new Members in the House. One of our new Members is one of the greatest football coaches in college football history, Tom Osborne. On the Senate side, we welcome nine new Senators, including the first First Lady ever to run for public office. {time} 1400 We have a new President in the White House who won in the closest election in our Nation's history. While times in the past 2 years have been difficult, this time of new beginnings provides us with new opportunity to reach out and to work with all of our colleagues to get the people's work done. This will be my second term as Speaker of the House, but I could not have done this without the voters of Illinois' 14th District. This past November they elected me to my eighth term in the House of Representatives. I want to thank those people from the Fox Valley and environs of Illinois for trusting me year after year to represent them in this, the people's House, in the Nation's Capitol. I also appreciate the bipartisan support that I receive from our Illinois leadership. With us today we have the Governor of the State of Illinois, we have the mayor of the great city of Chicago, Richard Daley, along with Governor Ryan. We also have the Republican leader in the Illinois House of Representatives. I thank them for joining us today. To my family, my wife, Jean, my two sons, Josh and Ethan, I thank you for your love, your encouragement, your understanding. Jean, thank you for providing me with a good dose of midwestern common sense every time I need it. And in this job, I need it often. As I said 2 years ago and it is still true, the Fox River, not the Potomac River, is still my home. My family reminds me of that fact every day. Two years ago I stood here as the Speaker of this House, untested and largely unknown. While Hastert may still not be a household name, I hope that I have earned your respect as a fair and just Speaker of this House. By this election today, I am reassured that I have performed the duties that have been asked of me to lead this House and do the will of the people. To all those Democrats who have gone out of their way to support me over the last 2 years, I value your respect and your loyalty because I had to work harder to earn it. And for the rest of my Democratic colleagues, if I have not earned your respect in the last 2 years, I hope I can earn it in the next 2. I know it is not easy to have a rival party lead the House's agenda. After all, I, too, used to be in the minority. But I gave my word that I would go out of my way to make sure your voices are heard, and my word is my bond. Our political system has endured a trial. This trial has exposed many warts in our political process. It has also exposed the great strength of our democracy. After all, our system is based upon laws, not on personalities, and ultimately, our Constitution triumphs. Our democracy is stronger also because we have two strong political parties and a vibrant opposition. Make no mistake, the system of checks and balances originally devised by our Founding Fathers works, and it will continue to work to protect the freedom of our citizens. Many have commented about the deep wounds caused by this latest political competition, but it serves no purpose to dwell on the past. After all, our country is at peace. Our economy is still fundamentally strong. Our people are united with a strength of purpose and by a desire to live the American dream. It is only in Washington where many still have a lingering animosity over the political parties. We need to get over it. We need to work together to revitalize this democracy. We need to get to the people's business. I have a great faith that we can do so. This Nation has faced greater trials, and we have persevered and prospered. A former Speaker, a gentleman from Texas by the name of Sam Rayburn, once said, ``I do believe when critical hours arise, the Members of this House will do as they have done in the past: Rise to the occasion, and show to the world that whether Republicans or Democrats, we are all Americans, and love and want to protect and defend and perpetuate the institutions of this, the best, the mightiest, and the freest government that ever blessed mankind in all the world.'' He was right then, and his words ring true today. Let us show people that even those who disagree can reach reasonable solutions for the sake of a nation. Our new president was elected on an agenda to promote prosperity, opportunity, and security for all Americans. We have a duty to consider his agenda and to help him lead America in this next Congress. Two years ago I stood before you and said that every child should have the right to a good education and a safe school. We have made some progress, but we have a long way to go. In a sense, this election was all about the education of our children. Improving education still represents one of the Nation's greatest challenges. Every child must have access to a good education and a safe environment. Every school must be more accountable. Every parent must have faith that his or her child is getting the best education possible. President-elect Bush spoke of ending the soft bigotry of low expectations. We must expect more of our teachers, more of our parents, more of our students, and more of our schools. We must make sure they have the resources to do the job without wasting money on more Federal bureaucracy. I taught government and history at a small high school in northern Illinois for 16 years. My wife taught in that same town for 34 years. I know firsthand some of the problems that our public schools face: declining test scores, rising dropout rates, complacency, decreasing graduation rates. [[Page 23]] Yet, I know hundreds of teachers personally, and I know there are hundreds of thousands of dedicated teachers who want to see our children succeed. The hundreds of Federal programs created to remedy the problems are not helping. We need local solutions. If we really want to help children learn, we need to send more dollars and decisions to the parents, the teachers, and the folks who run the schools. We need to cut Washington red tape. To show the Nation our commitment to better schools, I will reserve the first House bill, H.R. 1, for President-elect Bush's education proposal. Together, let us pledge to improve education for all of our students. Retirement security is another challenge that Congress must face. Let me begin about social security. Social security is a sacred trust. Our challenge is now to keep it working far into the future. In the last session of Congress we put Americans' social security dollars in a lockbox so that government could no longer raid those funds and threaten the future of the program. That helped social security in the short term. Now we must look to the long term. The American people deserve better than a fraction of 1 percent return on their social security investment. If this program does not do better, it will not survive. The new President and the Congress have both promised to save social security. Now is the time to make good on that promise. Together we must search for a solution to a long-term problem. Retirement security also means health care. Medicare must be modernized, and that process must include prescription drug coverage for all of our senior citizens. No senior should be forced to choose between putting food on the table and having access to lifesaving drugs. Together, we can work to modernize Medicare. National security is another challenge that the 107th Congress must face. We have done a good job of providing for more resources for our men and women in uniform, but we can do better. It is still a dangerous world out there, and our defensive capabilities must improve to keep our citizens safe. President-elect Bush pledged to work with the Congress to support our national missile defense program and provide our military with the funds they need to stay strong. This will be a top priority of the 107th Congress. Together we can work with the President to improve our Nation's security and to keep our citizens safe from international threats. Finally, we have a duty to be fiscally responsible and to take steps to keep our economy strong. The last Congress paid off more debt than any other Congress in history. That is an amazing achievement. You helped make that happen. We are on the road to pay off our public debt by the year 2013. By continuing to pay off debt, we keep our economy strong. We need to also have the responsibility to return surplus money back to the taxpayers with commonsense tax relief. We need to restore fairness to our Tax Code. It is not fair to tax people for being married. It is not fair to tax people on every penny they earn while they are living, and then tax them on what they have left over when they die. In the last Congress we made progress on these two tax fairness initiatives. This year, let us get it done. Also, there are troubling signs that our economy is slowing down. President-elect Bush has proposed a tax relief package that will stimulate economic growth. I believe we have a duty to our constituents and this country to consider this proposal. Together we can work with the new President to keep our economy strong and to give tax relief to all Americans. More than 20 years ago, I stood as a high school teacher before the classes of my high school day in and day out. I taught them about the promises and the possibilities of this Nation, this country we call America. I taught them that in America, people work hard to achieve their dreams for their families, for their careers, and for their communities. I told each student they could fulfill almost even their wildest dreams if they were willing to sacrifice and to work for that dream. Little did I know then how fate would bring me to this place and to this position, the Speaker of the House. But fate has also brought all of you here. You all have sacrificed your time and your effort, and your families have sacrificed with you, for a chance to serve in this body. You have done so because you believe that you can get good things done for your constituents and for all the American people, and that by your efforts, you can make this even a better Nation. {time} 1415 Together we have a great opportunity to work for the American people as their representatives. There is no higher honor and there is no greater responsibility. As we promise in solemn ceremony to uphold the Constitution by taking the oath of office, let us do so with the conviction that we renew the American government with each new Congress; that we will renew our efforts by working together, fighting about principle and searching for truth through debate. Today, we are sworn in to represent the people. We participate in the greatest ongoing democratic ritual in the world. Let us always be mindful of our duties to our constituents and respectful of the traditions of this institution. Let us pray that God guides us in all that we do in these halls; that he gives us the knowledge to do the people's work, the strength to persevere, and the wisdom to know when to listen to what others say on this floor. May God bless this House. Now, it is my time to do the people's business, and it is my great honor to recognize my good friend and colleague from the Committee on Commerce, whose legislative skills I admire so much. I ask the Dean of the House of Representatives, the honorable gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell) to administer the oath. Mr. DINGELL then administered the oath of office to Mr. Hastert of Illinois, 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. Mr. DINGELL. Congratulations. ____________________