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112th Congress Convenes; Bullish Jobs Report Released Today; Actress Glenn Close 'Distraught' Over Images in Lewd Navy Video; New Developments in Former Pentagon Official's Death; Republicans Take Over The House; Challenge Of Divided Government
Aired January 05, 2011 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "SITUATION ROOM": Up on Capitol Hill, they're voting for the next speaker of the House. We know John Boehner will win. The Republicans will have 242 members. On the Senate side, they've been paying tribute to Barbara Mikulski. The longest serving woman to serve in the United States Senate. Republicans and Democrats paying tribute to Barbara Mikulski as well.
Gloria, the shift at the White House, the changes that are going on there's always some changes, but is it more now than in years past at the two-year mark of the first term.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, the two-year mark is always the perfect time to make changes. And, I think, there's been a sense, both inside Washington and outside of Washington, that this administration has been an administration that's had the same group of people for years and years and years around Barack Obama. Robert Gibbs has been with Barack Obama since his days in the Senate in 2004.
And, so, you do have a bubble within the bubble. And, so, this may be a moment to bring in some different people. Now, David Plouffe, as Candy pointed out during the break, we were talking, is not exactly new. He ran Barack Obama's campaign. Bill Daley is not new to the political scene, but he doesn't really know Barack Obama, very well. So, he may be considered as somebody who'd have a different point of view.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Donna Brazile, Bill Daley is rumored to be the next White House chief of staff. The former commerce secretary, during the Clinton administration, the brother of the outgoing mayor of Chicago. There are some liberals who are not happy with Bill Daley. They don't like his stance on financial regulation. They don't -- they didn't like his stance on health care reform, and they are making their views pretty clear, right now, that he's not as quote, "progressive or liberal" enough as they would like.
DONNA BRAZILE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: And, I think, what the President is looking for is a good manager, and Bill Daley is a great manager. He has a strong rolodex. He knows people, inside and out in Washington, D.C. I think, he will bring to the White House, if the President decides to put him in that position, the ability to make a lot of phone calls. Not just on Wall Street, but, also, on main street. So, I think he will, you know, be a good addition to the team.
But let me just go back and say something about Robert Gibbs. I've known him for a long time. He's a tenacious public servant. But, you know, I think, Robert Gibbs has really spent a lot of time, over the last couple of weeks, you know, figuring out what's the best way to serve the President. Should he stay in the White House, should he go over to the DNC. He's decided to go into the private sector, he'll be an asset to the President outside the White House.
BLITZER: All right, Donna, stand by. John King is up on Capitol Hill with Bill Bennett, our CNN contributor, as well. I'm sure that Bill, John, has some thoughts on this historic day as well.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He sure does, Wolf. Because you were talking about the changes at the White House. That is part of the traditional two-year transfer. What we have here on Capitol Hill is he has part of a traditional post-election transfer, but it is anything but ordinary. You have Bill Bennett, as he joins us, now, our CNN contributor, our conservative, our resident (ph) philosopher, if you will. You have this huge new team on the House side. You have a new team on Senate side. You were just with one of the new Republican stars, Marco Rubio, in the Senate side.
Assess the moment, and, also, if you could, assess the risks for tension and disappointment. And, then, already, we hear the House Republicans say they were going to cut $100 billion right away. Now, they are scaling back, saying, well, maybe we can only do 50. What happens if the air comes out of the balloon?
WILLIAM BENNETT, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR, NATIONAL TALK RADIO HOST: Well, first, if you don't mind, a moment of exuberance. We just came - or I just came from the Marco Rubio Reception, and the word, there, was, well, was we have our vice president, now, for 2012. We just have to pick the number one spot. Well, a lot of interest, a lot of enthusiasm. Look, I think this is the best team we've had on the field as Republicans in a very long time. And --
KING: As a veteran of the Reagan days, that's a big thing to say.
BENNETT: Absolutely. I think so, in terms of debt, of the extent of the seriousness of this group, and, I think, it's an even a more serious group than we saw in '94. These guys are full of resolve in convection. It's, also, a different looking Republican Party, which is a good thing for this (ph). We're big. We're 243. So, there will be divisions. There will be differences. And we will -- and we will continue with this to start from day one, some of these differences, but, I think, you will see us, for the most part, as a large flanks (ph) moving forward.
KING: So, as we're watching, our viewers can see on the left side of their screen, there, that is -- that is the roll call of the House. That will make John Boehner of Ohio the speaker of the house in just moments here. You mentioned, this large flanks (ph) moving forward. You have conservatives. You have people who came here with firmly said (ph) campaign promises. Where does the movement bump into the -- what happens, here in Washington, the realism, the pragmatism? Even Boehner, himself, said he doesn't like to use the word, compromise. He prefers to say, common ground, because compromise, somehow, is at very faint (ph).
BENNETT: I think the movement has won. If we need to declare a winner, the movement has won. But I've been saying to John Boehner and others, there's a distinction of willingness on principle to compromise, which is fine, and the willingness to compromise on principle, which is not fine. We made a deal in December. We made a deal on the taxes. Continuing the Bush tax rates. That was a compromise.
And I've been arguing with my audience -- with my radio audience on this, some, John, but it was a good compromise. It was good for us. We deserved those tax cuts. So, I think, these differences will be hammered out in detail. You'll see it each time. You'll see it on the health care. You'll see it on the debt -- on the debt ceiling limit and on almost everything else. But you've got huge agreement on 80-85 percent of these issues.
KING: Well, Blitz (ph), I want Erick Erickson to join the conversation, because in Bill Bennett, we have a veteran of the conservative movement going back to the Reagan days or before that. Erick, from RedState.com, is a younger member of the conservative movement, a Tea Party ally, if you will. I want -- Bill, to you, first. You're a veteran of divided government. Ronald Reagan had to deal with divided government. You mentioned the 1994 class. They had to deal with a Democratic president when (ph) came to power of the House of Representatives. How do you map it out? Where do you hold your ground, and say, absolutely not, Mr. President. And where do you say, all right, we have to cut a deal?
BENNETT: I think it will depend on the issue, John. But just as Holmes used to say, there, you can't help things you just can't help but believe and hold on to. And, I think, some of these things, like health care, which we're already in a big fight about, Republicans won't lift out of the that process, not a single Republican voted for Obama care. You're going to see people go to the mat on all that. Cutting the deficits. Getting those deficits down. Major budget cuts.
As you know, I think, one of the pivotal guides in this operation is Paul Ryan, the new chairman of the budget committee. See the powers that have been already been seated, a little bit, from appropriations to budget. See how many freshman want to get on that budget committee. That's where a lot of the fight's going to be.
KING: Erik Ericson, does that make sense? Is that a young Turk, if you will, my terminology in the movement, are you in full sync with Bill Bennett, or are there some tensions, as this new breed comes to Washington, running into the guys who have been here for five or eight or, maybe, 15 or 20 years, saying, you know, slow down, kid, it doesn't work that way?
ERICK ERICKSON, CONTRIBUTOR AND CONSERVATIVE, REDSTATE.COM: Well, there are always going to be some tensions. I think, though, that Bill's right. You can compromise with the President. You can compromise internally with other Republicans. It's a matter of what are your principles, though. And you will have, in some cases, some of the younger guys coming in, Mike Lee, Rand Paul, on the Senate side, even, Marco Rubio, who have principles or they have things that they view as principles and they're not going to be willing to compromise on those. You'll have internal struggles, and you'll have external struggles.
Largely, though, I mean, and to Bill's point to say that the Republicans aren't willing to compromise, or they are going to shut down the Senate, this debate over the filibuster, for example, last I checked, the Democrats were able to get health care out of the Senate. They were able to get the S.T.A.R.T. Treaty out. They were able to get Don't Ask Don't Tell repealed, and a whole host of other issues. They're going to compromise. It's just on what they compromise. It'll be on a case-by-case basis.
BENNETT: We're here at the Russell office building. Elaine and I were walking up looking at the history (ph), here. We have three branches of government. Republicans control one-half of one branch. That's not full control by any stretch of the imagination.
KING: But it is important.
BENNETT: Oh, it is important.
KING: Bill Bennett, thanks very visiting with us. Wolf, as we go back to you, Bill makes an employment plight about the history, here. There's a lot of substance that we will deal with in the days and weeks ahead. There's a lot of ceremony, today. And we should, also, as we reflect on this day, consider the history. The American people are not strangers to divided government. We'll see how this chapter of it plays out.
BENNETT: Right.
BLITZER: Yes, and let's not forget, John Boehner, he is going to be the next speaker of the House of Representatives. We're getting ready for that gavel to be given to him, as well. Nancy Pelosi, out. John Boehner, in. We're talking history. This is a very historic day, here, in Washington, D.C., history of the United States. On the Senate floor, by the way, the president pro tem of the Senate, Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, he's the new president pro tem of the Senate. That means he, after the speaker next in line for the presidency, god forbid if anything were to happen to the president, the Vice President, Speaker would take over after the Speaker is the President Pro Tem Daniel Inouye. The longest serving Democrat in the US Senate. For a long time, it was Robert Byrd of West Virginia. The president pro tem of the Senate, but now it will be Daniel Inouye. We're going to continue our coverage in just a moment, of this, the opening day of the 112th Congress.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. We're covering the new Congress. This is the opening day of the 112th Congress. We're standing by. There's going to be a new speaker of the House. You're looking at the House floor on the left part of your screen. John Boehner will be elected speaker of the house. On the right side, you see the re-elected majority leader in the Senate, Harry Reid, but his majority has gone down to 53 to 47 Republicans in the Senate. Lots going on, here, in Washington on this day, as well as over at the White House. You saw Robert Gibbs telling reporters he's stepping down as the White House press secretary within a month. The President looking for a new press secretary, new chief of staff, a new economic adviser. He's got a lot on his plate, as well. Let's go up to Capitol Hill. Dana Bash is standing by with a special guest -- Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Wolf. Well, obviously, a lot of the focus on the House side. Where I am, is on the Republicans, since they are taking back control of Congress, but, obviously, this is not a great day for Democrats.
And I have with me a member of the House Democratic leadership, Rosa De Lauro of Connecticut.
Thank you, very much, for joining us. Just if you could give me a sense, and give our viewers a sense of -- as I said, this is a bad day for Democrats. You're losing control of the Congress that you just gained four years ago.
REP. ROSA DE LAURO (D), CONNECTICUT: Well, it's never good to be in the minority, but you what need to do is focus on what the feature needs to be. And the future -- our future needs to be creating jobs, getting this economy right, putting people back to work, making sure that people have an opportunity for the future. And that's where the focus will be. And we, also, have to move to get the deficit down and to protect the middle class of this country.
BASH: Yesterday, I was at a press conference with Nancy Pelosi. You were there. And she said she had no regrets about the way the Democrats ran the House for the past four years. But you're a self- described liberal. It was clear in watching the voters and how they reacted -- how they voted, but they, perhaps, thought that the Congress, in particular, had gone too far to the left. Do you have some blame (ph) for that?
DE LAURO: Well, I think that -- I have no regrets about what he did in the House of Representatives. We passed legislation that would create jobs. We passed legislation that, in fact, would create jobs. We passed record legislation in providing the people with the opportunity to send their children to school. I think, the health care bill is transformative in people's lives, and, I think, quite frankly, that, you know, the Republicans said they were going to come here, focus like a laser on the economy, on deficit reduction, on protecting the middle class, but if you take a look, they change in a nanosecond.
Repealing health care is not going to happen. This is just political theatre. It helps to motivate their base. So, that's what that is. In addition to it, repealing health care will add about $143 billion to the deficit and create more unemployment. They talked about $100 billion in cuts. That will create unemployment in education and in transportation. And the deficit argument, it is, quite frankly, a joke.
BASH: Let me just ask you one more question before I let you go. And that is a personal reflection.
DE LAURO: Yes.
BASH: Obviously, it was just four years ago that one of your very, very good friends, Nancy Pelosi, began the first keynote speaker of the House. She says she doesn't look back, she doesn't reflect. But, for you, as a fellow female member of Congress, how bitter sweet is it to see this woman give up the gavel?
DE LAURO: Well, I -- you know, I would like to see Nancy Pelosi remain speaker of the House. That is not what's happened. The fact of the matter is that this is a body of deliberation where we can move forward. The former has said, she is moving forward. We are going to move the party in what we need to do, and what she's committed to do, is what is important for the future of this country. And that's a national economic growth strategy, putting people back to work, revitalizing our manufacturing base, dealing with education, and research, innovation, and infrastructure -- everything that the republican majority has now said that they want to cut.
We are consumed with a -- creating jobs and creating an economic recovery for this nation.
BASH: Thank you very much for joining us, I appreciate it.
LAURO: Thank you.
BASH: And, Wolf, you heard right here, a member of the democratic leadership -- the pivot has happened. The democrats are now in the house -- the opposition party. And that is absolutely clear in their rhetoric towards the new republican majority.
BLITZER: Significant opposition. And I'll restate the numbers again. In fact, in the new House of Representatives, 242 republicans, 193 democrats. The republicans gained 63 seats. Just to underscore that, the freshmen, the incoming members of the House of Representatives -- there will be 96 freshmen in the house of representatives. Of those 96, 87 -- 87 are republicans. Only nine new democrats. Underscoring what the President of the United States called the "shellacking" that the democrats suffered back on November 2nd.
There is real action going on on the Senate floor right now. They're voting for the Speaker of the House on the house floor. We all know what the results of that are going to be, but Harry Reid is now talking about a proposal by the democrats to sort of weaken the filibuster rules that have governed the Senate for some time. This is some proposal that Senator Tom Udall of New Mexico, the democrat from New Mexico, has put forward.
I want to bring in our congressional correspondent, Brianna Keilar, to explain what the democrats are trying to do right now.
Brianna? BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, as you know, one of the big tools of the minority in the Senate for republicans has been this 60- vote threshold that they can force the majority to come up with 60 votes to move legislation. And now the reality is that the democrats see their minority diminished to 53 and it's just going to make it very difficult to hit that 60-vote threshold.
So, what you have is this effort -- and it's being spearheaded by freshmen democrats like Senator Udall. And they're putting in changes here on this first day of the senate, proposed changes, that would say you don't have to hit that 60-vote threshold just to get a bill to the floor. And also, it would end secret holds, where one senator can object on behalf of another senator who gets to remain anonymous.
Also, if you want to filibuster something, you actually have to do that speaking filibuster, kind of the way Jimmy Stewart did in "Mr. Smith Comes to Washington". We know it doesn't happen that way anymore.
The bottom line here, though, Wolf, is these are proposed changes. Negotiations are continuing between democrats and republicans on this. And certainly republicans are really loathe to give up any of their power. As the minority, they don't really want to give up this tool that they have as the filibuster. And you also have some senior democrats who say, "you know, we maybe don't want to do this because we could be in the minority again soon and we're going to want to have that tool as well."
We're going to be seeing, possibly, a vote on January 24th. This was introduced formally today. There could be a vote on January 24th. There also could not be a vote.
BLITZER: Yes, Brianna, thanks very much for that. Brianna on the hill.
Donna Brazile, are you among those democrats who believe that this effort to weaken the filibuster, not do away with the filibuster, but to weaken it right now could backfire if the democrats suffer a real additional setback in two years or for years? They might want to use all these techniques to stop the republicans, who potentially could have a huge majority in the house, from pushing through their agenda.
DONNA BRAZILE, DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL ADVISOR: Wolf, I think that the Senate should adopt new rules the will allow the debate to proceed. Part of this package, which is only four pages, will still give 41 members the ability to stop progress, but it will allow -- after they get up and state their objections and have their say -- it will allow the Senate to proceed with a vote on some of this crucial piece of legislation, so I do support modifications of the Senate rules.
BLITZER: Because I know, Gloria, based on conversations, there are some democrats that are saying "well, you know, maybe not so fast".
GLORIA BORGER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, where you stand depends on where you sit and depends on who's in the majority and -- and look, so these democrats are saying "look, you know, wait a minute, we could be in the minority at some point and you're not going to like this". But you've got to think about where congress is right now. People don't like congress. They don't think congress gets anything done.
One of the reasons congress doesn't get anything done is because in the Senate, you rarely ever get to a debate if there's a difference between the parties on it unless you have a huge majority of one party or another. So, 60 votes is tough and you want to at least be able to proceed to a debate on something and the secret holds are also sort of an anachronistic at this point. Why should somebody be able to hold something secretly? That's, you know -- if you want to talk about letting the public in to the way the Senate operates and having transparency -- secret holds are probably not a great idea.
BLITZER: Reminds me of the song from "Fiddler on the Roof" -- "Tradition". That's the tradition in the Senate. Right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, be careful what you wish for. I mean, you know, here's the problem -- it's always been majority rules - minority rights. One of the biggest minority rights has been the filibuster. Yes, Congress rating is very low. It's traditionally, historically been really low and sometimes it even gets lower when they pass something people don't like. So, you know, making the senate more active may not be something that wins them a lot of accolades depending on what they do.
I'm not arguing that they should or shouldn't do it, I'm just saying that there's another side to this and when the minority does begin to lose any way of sort of slowing down legislation, then you do have the, you know, unintended consequences rule that begins to set in when you pass something really quickly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we've seen is an abuse of the filibuster rules over the last couple of years.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sure, absolutely. Well, many years on both sides.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right, but one of the problems -- there's been more abuse over the last few years with the republicans putting up all kinds of obstruction. But even Chief Justice Roberts complained recently that there's a concern about some of the judicial nominees being stopped.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They have been since Ronald Regan, so totally, the courts need to get these people approved. It's craziness.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right, and, you know, what they're proposing is not like completely overturning filibuster. It's a little bit of a step to sort of say, at least let's get to the debate. Let's stop the secret holds, and then see what happens.
BLITZER: The Senate is in session today and, correct me if I'm wrong, but then they go into recess, effectively for the next two weeks after coming back from a recess? Help me, I'm missing something here. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They have things to do, things to do. Well, you know, first of all, they have to get their act together and there are these rule changes that they can only make on a single day. What I was surprised to learn, and I covered the senate for a very long time, that they can hold the first day of the first session for days by just kind of going home at night --
BLITZER: Only the magic of the Senate could take 24 hours and it becomes two weeks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exactly.
BLITZER: Alright, hold on for a second. Dana Bash is just outside the floor of the House of Representatives. What's going on over there, Dana?
BASH: It is now official, Wolf, John Boehner is now the Speaker of the house. That is according to the vote count going on right now. The election for the Speaker is happening, and he crossed the threshold in the number of votes that he needs to become Speaker. That is 218 members of the House. That has happened.
So, history has been made. John Boehner has been elected formally by his colleagues to be the 61st Speaker of the House, Wolf.
BLITZER: And he will be sworn in fairly soon. He'll be speaking on the House floor. You see the Clerk of the House on the left reading some of the procedural issues out there. No, now she's on the right of your screen -- there she is. That's Lorraine Miller, the Clerk of the 111th Congress.
Alright, we'll take a quick break. You saw Mitch McConnell on the Senate Floor. He's speaking in opposing some of these democratic proposed rules changes that would weaken the filibuster. We'll listen in to hear what he has to say. Harry Reid making the case earlier. We have a lot more coming up including the swearing-in ceremony of the next Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: An historic day here in Washington, D.C. You're looking at the beautiful United States capitol. The House side, the Senate side, inside, on the floor -- breaking news -- no great surprise, John Boehner -- he has crossed the threshold. He has more than 218 votes needed to become the next Speaker of the House of Representatives, succeeding Nancy Pelosi. He'll be sworn in not that long from now. A little official process.
Once he's sworn in, he becomes the speaker, but he does with this election. Dana Bash is our senior congressional correspondent just outside the house floor on Capitol Hill. You know what was interesting also, Dana, is that Nancy Pelosi did not get all the democrats' votes. Some of those so-called "blue dogs" or moderate democrats did not vote for her, they voted for Heath Shuler -- one of their own -- the democratic congressman from North Carolina. BASH: That's right, and that is what we expected, Wolf, from the very beginning when Nancy Pelosi made it clear -- in a surprise move to many of her colleagues -- that she was not going to step aside after she lost the Speaker's Gavel in the election and she was going to run for the House Minority Leader. People were not happy. Some of the more conservatives, as you said. So they made very clear to us, many of them, that they were not going to vote for her for Speaker -- excuse me -- for Minority Leader or Speaker. That they wanted somebody else just to make a point symbolically that they didn't think that she should still be the democratic leader.
But, look, the big story, obviously, as you've been mentioning, is John Boehner. We reported a little while ago that his colleagues have now officially elected him to be the Speaker. He is somebody who we have watched for years, Wolf. He has been in Congress for 20 years. He actually came here back in 1991 as kind of one of the rabble rousers, not that different from the new republicans that we see now.
He rose to power as part of the early leadership in the republican revolution back in 1994, but he fell out of favor and kind of was pushed aside. But, also interesting, at that time, Wolf, he became the chairman of the education committee. He actually worked very closely with democrats. He helped to get President Bush's "No Child Left Behind" through, so very interesting.
And also, just in terms of the person, I think we have a photograph of John Boehner. Look at this photograph. All of his siblings. He is one of 12. And this is something that he plays up in a big way -- the fact that he comes from a big family, that he comes from a blue collar family, that he knows what it's like, as he says many times, to sweep the floors. He started his own business. And the fact that he is somebody who comes from this big blue collar family -- a Catholic family -- he says really feeds into his sensibilities here, but it really is a dual sensibility because he is somebody also very well- known, as you know, Wolf.
He is very close with business -- makes no apologies for being friends with lobbyists, and that is a dichotomy. Especially given the fact that he is now going to lead the Republican Congress and many of them have said that they want to do things differently.
BLITZER: This is -- these are pictures of him walking to the house floor just a little while ago, about an hour or so ago, Dana. You're standing right there, you tried to cajole him into coming over to your microphone. He smiled a little bit, not much, but he kept on walking, which is not a huge surprise.
Alright, let's go to Cincinnati right now. CNN's Mark Preston is standing by over at "Andy's Cafe". This is a cafe, a bar, that started way back in 1938 by John Boehner's grandfather. He grew up around that bar. He and his 11 brothers and sisters. Tell us what's going on. There must be a lot of excited people over there, Mark.
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Wolf, when you talk about the American Dream, this is where it happened for John Boehner -- here at Andy's Cafe. His grandfather started the bar in 1938, as you said. His father ran it, John Boehner came in here as a young boy, 10, 12. He was mopping these floors. As he got older he tended bar. He ended up going on, became a janitor, went to school for seven years. I'll tell you what, talk about (AUDIO GAP) here, Wolf. This is where some people say "what are Midwestern values?" Well, a lot of people here know what John Boehner is all about, including this young lady who has known him for more than 50 years. Let's hear and listen to what she had to say:
PRESTON: -- this is where some people say, what are Midwestern values? Well, a lot of people here know what John Boehner's all about, including this young lady who's known him for more than 50 years.
Let's listen to what she had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESTON (on camera): What values do you think John Boehner might have gained here, where he grew up in northern Cincinnati, that might help him as Speaker of the House of Representatives?
GINNY WALLBAUM, 85 YEARS OLD: That people count. That the little guy is just as good as the big guy, you know? That's all I can say. I mean, they're just family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PRESTON: Eighty-five years young, Ginny Wallbaum. In fact, her granddaughter is married to John Boehner's nephew. It seems that everybody around here knows John Boehner grew up with his family. His family still comes to this bar and has a beer or shot. And in fact, his sister is still the bartender here at this bar (AUDIO GAP)
BLITZER: All right, we've got a little technical thing, glitches, but we got the gist of what Mark has to say. Very excited over at Andy's Cafe, that's the car where the Boehner's really grew up. Not only John Boehner, the next Speaker of the House of Representatives, but all of his 11 siblings, 10 of whom are here in Washington to celebrate this historic day with him today.
We're going to talk a little bit more about John Boehner in a moment, but I just want to take a quick break. And our special coverage of this opening day of the 112th Congress will continue right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: The U.S. Capitol. This is a big day up on Capitol Hill, here in Washington. Right now, there's a new House, a new Senate, they're all being sworn in. There's going to be a new speaker, John Boehner has just been elected. He'll be formally sworn in, I guess, within the hour or so up in a ceremony on Capitol Hill, and become the next Speaker of the House of Representatives.
In the Senate, they've got some real business underway. The Democrats are trying to weaken some of the arcane rules involving filibusters. We'll see how far that gets on this, the first day of the 112th Congress.
But there's some other important news we're watching right now. I want to check in with CNN's Fredricka Whitfield. She's got some of the headlines for us.
What else is going on, Fred?
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks so much, Wolf.
A lot, beginning with police investigating the death of former Pentagon official John Wheeler. They have found his car in a Wilmington, Delaware parking garage. Wheeler reportedly stumbled into a different garage two days before his body was found at a landfill.
A parking lot attendant in Wilmington described the encounter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IMAN GOLDSBOROUGH, PARKING LOT ATTENDANT: He didn't have a coat on and what really striked (sic) me -- he didn't have a coat on and he didn't have his shoes. Then when I asked him where was his parking ticket at when we were at my garage, he said he couldn't find it. It was inside of his briefcase. So when I asked him where was his briefcase, he said his briefcase was stolen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Police are still trying to figure out where Wheeler was killed.
Actress Glenn Close says she is distraught to find out her image briefly appears in vulgar videos shown aboard the Navy aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise. Close calls the use of her image insulting and deeply offensive, explaining that she visited the Enterprise several years ago. Captain Owen Honors has been relieved of his command of the ship for his prominent role in those videos.
President Barack Obama's Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says he's leaving the White House. He says he'll step down after the State of the Union address later in the month. In a statement today, the president called Gibbs a close friend and one of my closest advisors. Gibbs plans to become a pundit, supporting White House positions on television and in speeches. No word on who will replace him.
A bullish jobs report today with small businesses leading the way in new hiring. Payroll processor ADT says new private sector jobs grew by 297,000 in December, a better showing than expected. That figure is triple the November number, however, the U.S. unemployment rates remain at 9.8 percent. And there are two winning tickets in the Mega Millions Lottery ticket today after brisk sales pushed the jackpot to $380 million. They were sold in Idaho and Washington State. And the two winners in last night's drawing will split the second largest jackpot in U.S. history. Mega Millions has yet to announce the winners.
I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta. Now back to Wolf Blitzer and the Best Political Team on Television.
BLITZER: All right, Fred, thanks very much.
I want to go to right to the House floor because they've wrapped up the formal vote.
Let's listen in to the clerk read that vote.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- of the State of California has received one.
The Honorable Jim Cooper of the state of Tennessee has received one.
The Honorable Jim Custer of the state of California has received one.
The honorable Steny Hoyer of the state of Maryland has received one.
The honorable Marcy Kaptor of the state of Ohio has received one.
The Honorable John Lewis of the state of Georgia has received two.
The honorable Heath Shuler of the state of North Carolina has received 11, with one recorded at present.
Therefore, the Honorable John A. Boehner of the state of Ohio, having received the majority of the votes cast, is duly elected Speaker of the House of Representatives for the 112th Congress.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
(END OF COVERAGE)
BLITZER: All right, so there it is. That's Andy's Cafe in Cincinnati. The Boehner bar since 1938, and people are celebrating -- celebrating the election of John Boehner to be the next Speaker of the House of Representatives. He got 241 votes, by the way.
There are 242 Republicans in this new Congress. I wonder who that one Republican who either was not voting, not present or voted for somebody else might be, but we'll find out at some point down the road. We'll check that. The 241 is more than the 218 needed for the majority.
There's Nancy Pelosi, you just saw her in the blue dress. She did not get re-elected as speaker of the house, for obvious reasons, given the fact that there are only 193 Democrats in this, the new House of Representatives. You saw there were a bunch of Democrats who didn't vote for her for the minority leader position, in effect. They voted for others, including Heath Shuler, the so-called blue dog conservative Democrat from North Carolina.
There you see members of the Boehner family there. His wife, they're celebrating the election of John Boehner to become the Speaker of the House of Representatives. An historic day indeed.
Candy Crowley is here watching all of this, someone who's covered Capitol Hill for a long time. Let's just get a little perspective, Candy, on John Boehner -- You know this man quite well -- and what he means as the next speaker.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": Well, I don't think speakers are formed until the speaker's job is presented to them. I mean, John Boehner is a very methodical, precise -- and we were talking earlier -- you know, a guy that kind of -- to me, defies the stereotype that we see of him. That he is some, you know, mean spirited kind of Republican that's just going to charge right down the right of the party. He's not. He has, in fact, contributed to a number of issues and voted for a number of issues and worked with liberals along the way. Donna had some more detailed information about things he's done for education.
I think what we're going to see, though, is a January speaker and then we're going to see a February speaker. I think the January speaker that you're going to see is the guy that's going to push through a repeal of health care reform, that's going to start trying to toss out some of these regulations, do a lot of spending cuts because the Senate won't be around. None of it's going to pass the Senate. So it's a good time to go to the base.
And then there's going to be the February speaker that's going to have to figure out how to get something done because he understands that the American people also voted out Democrats because it didn't look like either, A, the right things were getting done. But mostly, B, nothing was getting done.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, Wolf, this is a man who was ousted from the Republican leadership 12 years ago. And you have to give him so much credit.
CROWLEY: Tenacious.
BORGER: Tenacious, sticking with it. Coming back. Also, being one of those leaders in the Congress to pay attention to the Tea Party early on and to say, you know what, we need to listen to what these people are saying. His biggest problem is going to be managing the expectations of those Tea Party voters who may say OK, folks, we control the House now. Let's get everything done that we want to get done except he understands the limits of a divided government.
BLITZER: A small group of members have just left the House floor to get John Boehner and to escort the Speaker-elect to the floor. He'll be coming in fairly soon. There will be remarks from Nancy Pelosi and certainly from John Boehner, himself, the formal swearing in ceremony. That is coming up.
Our own John King is up on Capitol Hill watching all of this unfold.
Most of our viewers, dare I say, John, they don't know much about John Boehner, but they will in the coming weeks and months.
JOHN KING, CNN HOST, "JOHN KING USA": He is now, Wolf, one of the most powerful men in the United States of America. He is second in line to the presidency after just the vice president. That is the role the Speaker of the House fills. He is now, as Gloria and Candy just noted, the leader of a somewhat restless Republicans majority. Managing that majority is his primary, number one challenge.
And as we watch and we see this moment, this historic moment of John Boehner becoming the Speaker of the house, we know Republicans have gained some seats in the Senate, as well. And we will have a new speaker of the House; a Republican, the same Minority Republican Leader in the Senate; Mitch McConnell. And an interesting reset moment here in Washington.
Neither one of those men has a very deep, a very good, a very trustworthy relationship with the Democratic President of the United States Barack Obama. They have had more contact since the election, since the Republican shellacking, as the President calls it, than they had in the previous two years. And the challenge now for all of these men, as Speaker Boehner tries to manage his new Tea Party energy, all the energy in the House side as Mitch McConnell essentially has veto power in the Senate, as the president, as he said on the flight back from Hawaii, tries to have a productive 2011 before going into the reelection year of 2012.
Can they develop a relationship of trust? They're not going to agree on a lot of things, but can they negotiate? Can they trust each other? Can they cut some deals on the spending, the deficit, the other challenges facing the country? As Candy noted, January will be about playing to the base. When we talk about these things a month from now and six weeks from now, we will have a better sense of what the American people -- it's a great political moment today, it's a lot of theater today. What will the American people get out of this? We'll know more a little bit down the road.
BLITZER: Fascinating stuff. And, you know, one of the most, I find thrilling moments of any House/Senate, joint session, this is just the House of Representatives. When the Sergeant of Arms -- in this particular case Bill Livingood -- will announce the speaker-elect from the rear of the chamber. That's about to happen.
Dana Bash is just outside the House floor.
I take it what happens next, Dana, is that the speaker-elect will be escorted in and he'll actually be introduced by Nancy Pelosi, the outgoing speaker. She will introduce the incoming speaker.
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is going to be one of those moments -- you're exactly right -- that is how it's going to take place. The reverse order of what we saw in terms of the two of them standing next to each other four years ago.
She is going to introduce, she is going to make brief remarks. And then he is also going to be sworn in by somebody who is a very prominent, powerful -- historically powerful figure in this body revered by the Democrats -- and that is John Dingle. He's known as the Dean of the House. He's been here the longest of anybody, ever. And so he is going to administer the oath to John Boehner.
I got to tell you, one thing that everybody is going to be looking for is John Boehner and how he is going to react as we walks down, as he stands up there, as he takes the gavel. Our Deirdre Walter (ph), our congressional producer, is in the chamber and she already has said that when he first walked in, she saw him start to tear up. It will not be a surprise if he does that again. You know, he's gotten a lot of -- made a lot of headlines for crying in an interview, crying the night that he won the election. Those of us who have covered him for some time know that when he gets -- he's an emotional guy, and when he has moments like this, he tends to emote in a big way.
BLITZER: And we know that these remarks will be carefully drafted, carefully written, Nancy Pelosi's remarks introducing the Speaker- elect, and of course, the Speaker himself, John Boehner, will be delivering his remarks. I'm sure they've been working on these speeches for some time.
One technical issue. I don't know if you know the answer to this, Dana. Will they be reading from hard copy, or will they do what the president does when he comes to Capitol Hill, have a teleprompter there to read their speeches?
BASH: You know, that's a good question. I'm not sure if there's a teleprompter there today. If my memory serves me correctly, they, at least in the past, have read from the news -- from paper in front of them. But wouldn't be surprised if they used a teleprompter.
BLITZER: Well, we'll see. We'll see soon enough. We'll find out.
I want to show our viewers this videotape. This is what happened four years ago, when at that time John Boehner handed over the gavel to Nancy Pelosi becoming the first Speaker of the House -- the first woman Speaker of the House. There she was. She was pretty excited. What a difference four years makes. She's about to hand over that gavel to John Boehner right now. What a change, what a dramatic change, indeed. And we're getting ready for the sergeant-at-arms to introduce the Speaker-elect from the rear of the chamber. We'll have that live coverage right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: -- Republican congressman from Virginia. He's moving up the chain of command as, well, in the House of Representatives.
As we watch what's happening on the House floor, John King is standing by. He's got a special guest with him who's keenly involved in all of this as well -- John? KING: And Wolf, one of the key players in this next chapter in Washington divided government will be Senator John McCain, the senior senator from Arizona, of course, the president's opponent back in the last presidential election.
I want to talk to you in a moment about some of the substantive challenges facing the country. But as we watch this history unfold in the House of Representatives, I know over here on the Senate side, you like to say the House is a foreign land.
(LAUGHTER)
KING: But you know John Boehner. He's been here for 20 years now. Who is he? And who will he be as Speaker of the House?
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Well, he's a solid citizen, and he has learned the lessons of the past. You notice the way he's approaching this whole Speakership with a bit of humility and modesty, as opposed to what happened in 1994. I'm glad that Wolf showed the previous clip because it shows the transience of everything in this town. Just four years ago, the Democrats had a great victory. And we Republicans have better understand that unless we satisfy what the message was or respond to the message of last November, then you're going to a different Speaker.
KING: You make an interesting point because many Republicans say he'll be different from Nancy Pelosi, but you're saying he better be different from Newt Gingrich.
MCCAIN: Yes, indeed. Hubris --
KING: Why?
MCCAIN: Hubris -- the Greek god Hubris has brought down more than one figure in this town. Look, he also has to understand the president is still the president, and I know that John understands that, and you can't govern from being Speaker. But what you can do is carry out the duties of the loyal opposition, and try to work with the president where you can, and be the opposition where you can't. And I think that John Boehner understands these lessons of history. That's why you see a very modest approach to this job.
KING: He's an emotional guy. We just saw him wipe his eyes as he comes up. I want to sneak in one more quick question here. How does he manage the expectations? He has all these Tea Party guys who want to cut spending fast. You have some of them in your new Senate Republican caucus.
MCCAIN: Yes.
KING: How do you say to the new guys, I get it, we'll do it, but it's not going to be as easy as you think?
MCCAIN: We'd better do it. They're already -- the Tea Partiers are disappointed in what we did in the lame duck session. We just better do it. Otherwise, we're going to see a third party in America. KING: All right. Let's listen for a moment --
MCCAIN: Sure.
KING: -- John Boehner taking control of the House of Representatives.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
(APPLAUSE)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: It is a high honor to welcome all members of Congress and their families to the House of Representatives. To the new members and their families, a special congratulations and welcome to you. We all wish you great success.
(APPLAUSE)
PELOSI: Congratulations to you. We all come here to represent our constituents. Our respect for each other is founded in our respect for the people that we represent. This month, we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of John F. Kennedy as president of the United States. As a student, I was there in the freezing cold. For some of you, it was -- you've read about it in the history books. Bob Michel and I, to us, it was our youth. Right, Bob?
I was there in the freezing and heard the stirring address that inspired generations of Americans to public service. In his 1962 State of the Union address right from here, from this dais, President Kennedy said to the Congress, "The Constitution makes us all trustees of the American people, custodians of the American heritage."
Today, as we take the oath of office to support and defend our Constitution, we do so as trustees of America's best hopes and custodians of America's highest values. However we may differ, let us never lose sight of our common love for this exceptional nation and our shared obligation to the way forward.
(APPLAUSE)
PELOSI: I started off by acknowledging and welcoming and congratulating the members and their families. Our families have always helped light the way forward for all of us. With a full and grateful heart, I want to thank my family, my husband of 47 years, Paul Pelosi --
(APPLAUSE)
PELOSI: -- my children, Nancy Corinne, Christine, Jacqueline, Paul, Alexandra, and my grandchildren. I'm proud, too, to be from a large family, the youngest of seven, and to acknowledge my brother, Thomas D'Alesandro III, the former mayor of Baltimore, Maryland (INAUDIBLE)
(APPLAUSE) PELOSI: Let me thank my constituents in San Francisco, who I am proud to represent in the spirit of the anthem of our city of St. Francis, the song of St. Francis. And I'm so pleased that that was recited by all of us at the interdenominational service this morning.
And I'm grateful. I'm grateful to my colleagues for their commitment to equality, which is both our heritage and our hope, giving me the historic honor of being the first woman Speaker of the House of Representatives.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
PELOSI: And now more doors are wide open for all of America's daughters and granddaughters.
(APPLAUSE)
PELOSI: I'm also honored to be the first Italian-American Speaker.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
PELOSI: Thank you, Ron (ph). Like many Americans, our heritage is a source of great pride and the deeply ingrained patriotism which summons us to build a stronger nation. We recognize that the proudest title we will ever hold is not accorded on this floor, it is the simple dignity of the title American. Part of our great democracy that continues to be the greatest hope of liberty and progress for the entire world.
(APPLAUSE)
PELOSI: When I was first elected Speaker, I called the House to order on behalf of America's children. And now, as I prepare to hand the gavel over to Speaker Boehner, I know one thing above all else. Thanks to you, we have stood with those children and for their families, for their health, their education, the safety of the air they breathe, the water they drink and the food they eat.
(APPLAUSE)
PELOSI: Thanks to you, for those children and their families, we have made the largest ever commitment to making college more affordable, enacted Wall Street reform with the greatest consumer protections in history, and passed a strong patients' bill of rights.
(APPLAUSE)
PELOSI: It means that children with preexisting conditions can get care, young people can stay on their parents' policy until they're 26, pregnant women and breast and prostate cancer patients can no longer be thrown off their insurance, our seniors are paying less for medical prescriptions. Taken together, it will save taxpayers $1.3 trillion.
(APPLAUSE)
PELOSI: Thanks to you, thanks to all of us, we advance the defining American cause of equality for all, from the first days of the Congress with the passage of the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, to the last days with the repeal of the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy.
(APPLAUSE)
PELOSI: And thanks to you, we achieved more for America's veterans than at any time since the passage of the G.I. Bill of Rights in 1944.
(APPLAUSE)
PELOSI: Because of our courageous troops and our veterans, we will always be the land of the free and the home of the brave. Let us now salute our men and women in uniform.
(APPLAUSE)
PELOSI: To honor them, we must build a future worthy of their sacrifice, which includes good-paying jobs when they come home. It's not enough that we staved off a depression. Much more needs to be done to open up the American dream and lift up the American economy. The only acceptable outcome is to fully and finally restore the fair prosperity that good-paying jobs provide.
Our most important job is to fight for American jobs to make it in America, Steny. And so Democrats will judge what comes before Congress from either side of the aisle as to whether it creates jobs, strengthens the middle class, and reduces the deficit, not burdening future generations.
When the new speaker of the House, John Boehner, and the new Republican majority -- and congratulations, again -- come forward with solutions that will address these American challenges, you will find us a willing partner.
(APPLAUSE)
As we congratulate Speaker Boehner and our Republican colleagues, as we wish them success, we must stand ready to find common ground to solve problems and to build a more secure future for all Americans.
And as we take the oath of office today to support and defend the Constitution, we must be ever-mindful that it makes us trustees for the American people, with an obligation to do what is right for them, and custodians of the American heritage, our great values.
Thank you, my colleagues, for the honor of serving in that tradition as the speaker of the House of Representatives. I thank you, my friends.
(APPLAUSE)
Again, I want to congratulate all of the new members of Congress, all of you who have been re-elected, but especially the new majority and the new speaker of the House, John Boehner.
Now the House will be led by a proud son of Ohio, a man of conviction, a public servant of resolve, and a legislative leader of skill. Speaker Boehner is a leader who has earned the confidence of his conference and the respect of his colleagues in the Congress.
(APPLAUSE)
He is a man of faith, faith in God, faith in our country, and faith in his family. It is very important for us in acknowledging that for us to a knowledge his family, his wife, his -- Mrs. Boehner is...
(APPLAUSE)
As we congratulate him, we congratulate and thank Debbie for sharing him with us and Lindsay and Tricia and, indeed, the entire Boehner family. Thank you, and congratulations to all of you.
Now, recognizing our roles under the Constitution, united in our love of our country, we now engage in a strong symbol of American democracy: the peaceful and respectful exchange of power.
I now pass this gavel -- which is larger than most gavels here, but the gavel of choice by Speaker Boehner -- I now pass this...
(LAUGHTER)
I now pass this gavel and the sacred trust that goes with it to the new speaker.
God bless you, Speaker Boehner.
(APPLAUSE)
God bless you, Congress, and God bless America.
(APPLAUSE)
BOEHNER: Thank you all. It's still just me.
(LAUGHTER)
Madam Speaker, thank you for your kind words, and thank you for your service to this institution.
Secondly, I want to welcome all of our new members and their families on what is a very special day. All of us who have been here remember vividly that first day that -- that we served here. And I think any of us can tell you that you'll never forget today.
And my own family is here, as well. I think you just met Debbie. And next to Debbie are Lindsay and Tricia, our two daughters. Welcome. We're glad that you're here.
(APPLAUSE)
Ten of my eleven brothers and sisters and sister-in-laws and brother- in-laws are here, as well. And my poor brother, Greg, who runs a restaurant down in Georgia was unable to be here, but I wanted to acknowledge him.
I also want to acknowledge some of my close friends that are here from -- from the other side of the Capitol. You know, Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, is here. And two of my best buds, Richard Burr from North Carolina and Saxby Chambliss from Georgia, along with, you know, my buddy, Latham (ph), thank you for being here, gentlemen. I appreciate it.
(APPLAUSE)
I'm honored and humbled to represent a great, hard-working community in Congress. The people of Ohio's Eighth Congressional District continue to afford me the privilege to serve, for which I am deeply grateful.
We gather here today at a time of great challenges. Nearly 1 of 10 of our neighbors is out of work. Health care costs are still rising for American families. Our spending has caught up with us, and our debt soon will eclipse the entire size of our national economy. Hard work and tough decisions will be required of the 112th Congress.
No longer can we fall short. No longer can we kick the can down the road. The people voted to end business as usual, and today we begin to carry out their instructions.
(APPLAUSE)
In the Catholic faith, we enter into a season of service by having ashes marked on our head. The ashes remind us that life in all -- all of its forms is very fragile, our time on this Earth fleeting. But as the ashes are delivered, we hear those humbling words: Remember, you are dust and to dust you shall return.
The American people have humbled us. They have refreshed our memories to just how temporary the privilege of serving is. They've reminded us that everything here is on loan from them. That includes this gavel, which I accept cheerfully and gratefully, knowing that I am but its caretaker. After all, this is the people's House.
(APPLAUSE)
This is their Congress. It's not -- it's about them, not about us. What they want is a government that's honest, accountable, and responsive to their needs, a government that respects individual liberty, honors our heritage, and bows before the public that it serves.
Let's start with the rules package that the House will consider today. If passed, it will change how this institution operates, with an emphasis on real transparency, greater accountability, and a renewed focus on our Constitution.
Our aim will be to give the government back to the American people. In seeking this goal, we will part with some of the rituals that have come to characterize this institution under majorities, both Republican and Democrat alike. We will dispense with the conventional wisdom that bigger bills are always better, that fast legislating is good legislating, allowing amendments and open debate makes the legislative process less efficient than our forefathers had intended.
These misconceptions have been the basis for the rituals of a modern Washington. They, in my opinion, have not been served well to the American people.
Today, mindful of the lessons of the past, we open a new chapter. Legislators and the public will have three days to read a bill before it comes to a vote. Legislation will be more focused, properly scrutinized, and constitutionally sound.
Committees, once bloated, will be smaller, with a renewed mission, including oversight. Old rules that have made it easy to increase spending will be replaced by new reforms that make it easier to cut spending. And we will start by cutting Congress's own budget.
(APPLAUSE)
But above all else, we will welcome the battle of ideas, encourage it, engage it openly, honestly, and respectfully. As the chamber closest to the people, the House works best when it is allowed to work its will, and I ask members of this body to join me in recognizing this common truth.
And to my colleagues in the majority, my message is this: We will honor our pledge to America, built on a process of listening to the American people. We will stand firm on our constitutional principles that built our party and built a great nation.
We will do these things, however, in a manner that restores and respects the time-honored right of the minority to an honest debate, a fair and open process.
And to my friends in the minority, I offer a commitment: openness. Once a tradition of this institution, but increasingly scarce in recent decades will be the new standard. There were no open rules in the House in the last Congress. In this one, there will be many.
And with this restored openness, however, come a restored responsibility. You will not have the right to willfully disrupt the proceedings of the people's House, but you will always have the right to a robust debate and an open process that allows you to represent your constituents, to make your case, offer alternatives, and be heard.
(APPLAUSE)
In time, I believe this framework will allow the House to be a place where the people's will is done. It will also, I hope, rebuild trust amongst us and the people we serve and, in so doing, provide a guidepost for those who follow us in the service of our nation.
To our new members, Democrat and Republican alike, as you take the oath today, I know that you do so mindful of this shared goal and -- and know that your constituents have placed much trust in you.
As speaker, I feel part of my job is to help each of you do your job well, regardless of your political party. My -- my hope is -- is that every new member -- and, indeed, every member -- will be comfortable with approaching me with regard to matters of the House.
We will not always get it right, and we will not always agree on what is right. There's a great deal of scar tissue that's been built up on both sides of the aisle. We can't ignore that, nor should we.
My belief has always been that we can disagree without being disagreeable. That's why it's critical that this institution operate in a matter that permits a free exchange of ideas and resolves our honest differences through a fair debate and vote.
We may have different -- sometimes very different -- ideas about how to go achieving the common good. It is why we serve. Let us now move forward, humble in our demeanor, steady in our principles, dedicated to proving worthy of the trust and confidence that has been placed in each of us.
If we brace ourselves to do our duty and say -- say -- do what we say we're going to do, I don't think that there's together anything that we can't accomplish, again, on behalf of the people we serve.
More than a country, America is an idea. And it's our job to pass that posterity of blessings that have been bestowed on us to those generations that follow us.
I want to wish all of you the very best. Welcome to the people's House. Welcome to the 112th Congress.
(APPLAUSE)
I am now ready to take the oath of office, and I ask the dean of the House, the honorable John Dingell of Michigan, to administer the oath of office.
DINGELL: I thank you. If the gentleman from Ohio will please raise his right hand.
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're about to enter, so help you God?
BOEHNER: I do.
DINGELL: Congratulations, Mr. Speaker. (APPLAUSE)
(END OF COVERAGE)
