authorization acts. mr. mica: i yield back the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york. ms. slaughter: i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the ranking member on the transportation committee, mr. rahall. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from west virginia is recognized for two minutes. mr. rahall: i thank the distinguished gentlelady for yielding the time. while i regret i did not hear all the previous colloquy, i do want to express my strong reservation and opposition to these rule changes because of the effects it would have on transportation-related issues. the republican rules package eliminates the current rule's direct tie to revenues of the highway trust funds paid by users through gas taxes at the pump and level investment for the programs. currently they provide that must find at levels set forth in transportation authorizations this provision was championed by

republican budd shuster and was used to reduce funds building up in the highway trust fund to mask the true size of the federal deficit. it was intended to stop the same old smoke and mirrors game of federal fending. -- federal spending. as the first act of their majority, i find it incredible that republicans would pursue a job killing proposal like this, one that not only threatens jobs but could lead to cuts in spending for worthy jobs throughout the nation. americans understand and support paying motor fuel taxes at the pump as long as they are guaranteed those will be spent on transportation. the republican package smears that dwarne tee and will have a devastating effect on vital highway and transit programs. after measure a decade of effort by the committee on c&i, the house adopted the current rule in 1998. the rule is simple, the funds

collected for transportation must be used for that person. it has served our house and nation well for the past 12 years. that'd house republican majority breaks that trust and are returning to the ways of old, no hearings or debate or any discussion on the effects of the proposele rule on transportation and investment. these are steeped in arcane budget rules and many members are not aware of what they're voting on and its consequences. i urge my colleagues to oppose this rules change as do so many contractors. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: madam speaker, at this time, i'd like to yield two minutes to the very distinguished chairman of our transition committee, my friend from hood river, oregon, where walden. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes.

mr. walden: i wanted to talk briefly about the transition itself and about the -- thank the members of both parties who participated in meaningful ways in our transition. four members of our team were incoming freshmen, we offered depps the opportunity participate both formally and informly, an act of bipartisanship that's been missing, frankly from prior organizations going back over both parties tenure in leadershipism asked speaker pelosi to designate two democratic participants, we distributed surveys to every member on both sides of the aisle to get as many ideas as possible to reform the people's house. let us always remember this is the people's house, it is their business and the taxpayers' money and the public has the right to observe and participate in this process. the outcome is the rules package before us today. the transition team received more than 2,000 suggestions from the general public submitted through our website and what did

we accomplish? bills will be post-ed online in a searchable format at least three days before receiving a vote on the house floor. no longer will bills be dropped in the middle of the night and voted on the next day. we require that all bills include a citation of constitutional authority so congress respects the limits imposed on it by the founding documents. to begin to control the explosion in spending, we're clamping down on budgetary slights of hand that hide spending behind the first 10-year window of a bill. any legislation projected to increase the deficit by $5 billion in any single tenure window out 10 years will be subject to a point of order. a new cut-go rule that increases authorizations or creates now programs to make equal or greater cuts else where a legislative calendar to make sure members are back home listening to people who sent us here at least a week every month. ending the practice of passing

omnibus bill in an effort to to the avoid public scrutiny and will require every committee to webcast their hearings and markups and make them available online. transparent, open, accountable,s the rules package to change the house. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york. ms. slaughter: i'm pleased to yield one minute to the gentleman from vermont, mr. welch. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. welch: i thank the gentlelady from new york. let me acknowledge two things, one, the republican majority won the election and has the right to bring the rules package to the floor. number two there are some good provisions in this, mr. walden described several. but three there is a major time bomb in this. the major responsibility we have in congress is to debate taxes and spending. taxes and spending. and the provision that basically will protect privileged tax breaks so we cannot have a debate about whether or not a

hedge fund billionaire should pay at least the same rate of income tax as his or her chauffeur or cook, the fact that we cannot have a debate as to whether mature and profitable industries should continue to get taxpayer subsidies like the oil tri-instead of being able to divert them to emerging technologies, the fact that these are off the table so that the only outcome will be cuts in spending that affect every single person without any debate, that's the problem and when mr. mccarthy says that the rules dictate behavior, he left out that the rules dictate outcome as well. i yield back. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: thank you very much, madam speaker. may i inquire how much time remains on each side? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california has 4 1/4 minutes remain, the gentlewoman from new york has 11 1/2 minutes remaining. mr. dreier: i reserve the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york. ms. slaughter: i yield one minute to the gentlewoman from texas, ms. jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from texas is recognized for one minute. ms. jackson lee: madam speaker, i ask to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. jackson lee: madam speaker, today was a glorious day but as we begin to discuss the rumes that are now taking place -- the rules that are now taking place, i raise questions. i'd like to understand if we're going to go forward in a fiscally responsible way, and i've heard so much about the tea party and i welcome certainly the expressions of those who have been elected as republicans of those views, but we stand in this house, republican and democrat and some independents to work on issues for the american people. how do you in fact then

eliminate in some sense the pay as you go rule which we've all been committed to which allows us to pay for what we want to encourage the american people to have. but now we have a rule that says you cannot raise revenue so if your soldiers on the battlefield nees need more resources, you can only get it by cutting spending of some other vulnerable population. what sense does that make? when we speak of open rules, what sense does it make to have a rule tomorrow that indicates that we're repealing the health care bill under a closed rule? we'll be saving only $143 billion other 10 year bus that rule would not allow that. this is a rules package that needs fixing, and i hope we can go back to the drawing board. i yield back. mr. dreier: i yield two minutes to the distinguished chair of the committee on the budget, the gentleman from jamesville, wisconsin, mr. ryan. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. ryan: i thank the gentleman from los angeles, california,

for yielding. madam speaker, it's a good day because we're bringing some fiscal sanity back to this institution. what governeded this place with the rules in the last two congresses was a rule called pay-gofmente let me walk you through what pay-go accomplished. before we had the democrat's pay-go rule, the deficit was $161 billion. now it's $1.4 trillion. its report card wasn't so good. over the last two congresses, pay-go was waived 32 times for a net total of $932 billion in extra deficit spending. but when pay-go was used, when it was invoked, it was more often used to raise taxes. madam speaker, we do not have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem. that is why this brings cut-go. cut-as-you-go. if you want new spending, cut spending somewhere else to pay for it. this does a couple of other things, it gets rid of a gimmick

used artfully in the last congress to use reconciliation procedures to grow more government and crow ate -- create new spending programs. it also adds a new rule that says, we need to look at the fiscal consequences in the future of what we're doing, not just in five years or 10 year bus in the out years because the debt crisis is coming, mark my words. it also gets rid of the automatic debt increase. we used to call this the gephardt rule. congress has to vote clear up or down as to whether or not to extend the debt limit. what also happed last session for the firstcy time since the 1974 budget act passed, the house didn't propose, let alone pass, a budget. this gives us an interim authority to put a budget in place so we can have a mechanism to police the budget. we have no budget. we have no limits. no restraints. no priorities whatsoever.

because of the fail dwhroifer leadership in the last congress and that is why this interim authority occurs so that we can put some numbers in from the c.b.o. to police and actually have budget enforcement until the new budget arrives. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york. ms. slaughter: madam speaker, i'm pleased to yield one minute to the gentleman from new york, mr. rangel. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized for one minute. mr. rangel: thank you, madam ranking member. i come to the floor opposing the rule only because there's a provision in it that indicates that delegates from all over the globe will not be allowed to exercise any of their voting privileges that they had earlier. and when my friend mr. dreier the chairman -- the distinguished chairman of the committee indicated it was all symbolic, i just would hope that if we do get a chance to pull this out of the package and

perhaps vote on this in a separate way, that you might see your way clear to understand that these americans and citizens who volunteer and fight for this great country and support our flag and in many cases have per capita more of their young people killed in action and wounded in action than those of us on the mainland, that i think it deserves a better classification than to say that it's respecting their friends and hard working and it's symbolic. mr. dreier: would the gentleman yield for one second? i will simply say i was quote mr. faleomavaega and mr. hoyer when they used that term. i thank the gentleman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: i said i was simply quoting the gentleman, mr.

faleomavaega, and mr. hoyer, using the term symbol. symbolic. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california reserves his time. the gentlewoman from new york. ms. slaughter spm i'm -- ms. slaughter: i'm pleased to yield one minute to mr. ellison. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. ellison: i thank the gentlelady for the time. i rise in opposition to this rule but in one way i'm thankful for it because it does help to go right to the heart of the matter, right to the thing that divides us most, on the one hand, republicans want to give tax cuts to the wealthiest americans and shrink government services, on the other hand, democrats want to have adequate funds to fund services that are necessary for the american people. and this rule, which i ask all members to oppose, the republican rule, tax cuts will

no longer have to be paid for. they will -- don't have to be budget neutral. so tax cuts passed by the house can increase the deficit. also in the republican rule, increases to mandatory spending must be paid for by reducing spending somewhere else. therefore, if the house wanted to extend the child tax credit to minimum wage families, then the republican new rules would not allow this to be paid for by closing a corporate loophole. instead, they would have to be paid for by taking away from some other group of people. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. ellison: this is wrong and it speaks to the heart of what divides us. i'm glad we're doing this today. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: madam speaker, i will continue to reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california reserves the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from new york. ms. slaughter: let me yield one minute to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. pallone. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for one minute. mr. pallone: thank you, madam

speaker. today is rules package -- today's rules package reveals one thing and it is hi pack rassy. the republicans' first act in the majority will be to allow a legislative process that goes back to exploding our national debt. it will replace a strict pay-as-you-go policy to cut-as-you-go in which mandatory spending that needs to be paid for but tax cuts do not. that means republicans can tut taxes for the rich and increasing the deficit as they do it. but, madam speaker, it gets worse. the republicans know the new health care reform bill reduces the deficit by over $1 trillion over the next two decades. and they put an exemption in their rule, as long as we're repealing the health care reform we can -- they're failing to live up to the standard they have set for themselves.

the speaker pro tempore: the chair will receive a message. the messenger: mr. speaker, a message from the president of the united states. the secretary: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: mr. secretary. the secretary: i am directed by the president of the united states to deliver to the house of representatives a message in writing. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i am going to reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlewoman from new york. ms. slaughter: i'm pleased to yield another minute to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. andrews. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for one minute. mr. andrews: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. andrews: the question that will be before the ladies and gentlemen of the house on this rules package is, do you want to honor the commitment to reduce the deficit or abandon it. the rules plan permits an abandonment of the promise to reduce the deficit because it ignores the fiscal consequences

of the repeal of the health care bill which the congressional budget office says it will reduce the deficit by more than $1 trillion over the next 20 years. and it ignores the fiscal consequences of permanently extending the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 for the wealthiest americans. this is not a question of liberal or conservative, republican or democrat. it's a question of honoring a promise or abandoning it. for those who wish to honor the promise of deficit reduction, the right vote on this rules package is no. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i'll continue to reserve the balance of my time. actually, may i inquire of my good friend, the distinguished former chairman of the rules committee, the distinguished ranking member, how many speakers she has remaining? ms. slaughter: yes, indeed. i believe three or four. mr. dreier: three or four. in light of that, mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time and look forward to those remarks.

ms. slaughter: i'm pleased to yield to the gentleman from texas, mr. daugherty, one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for one minute. mr. doggett: these republicans take a giant step backwards. they profess such great concern about their ability to cut wasteful spending, but first off, they abandon pay-as-you-go budgeting returning to the bush-cheney approach of endless borrowing. they claim they could cut so much but they reject a rule that requires them to cut spending as one way to offset revenue losses for each new tax break they approve. they're misleading cut-go just cuts fiscal discipline and say, go borrow from the chinese. these republicans are like the fellow who bellies up to the bar and says, just one more round of tax breaks for my buddies, put it on my tab. except it's our tab, all americans will pay for their endless borrowing for endless tax breaks. they are indifferent to our national debt except when it

comes to cutting vital initiatives that they wanted to weaken or eliminate in the first place. we need pay-as-you-go budgeting just like a family that faces a high credit card debt and knows it can't balance its budget by cutting off its income and simply cutting school lunch or other necessary its. neither can america, -- necessities. neither can america. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentlewoman from new york. ms. slaughter: i am pleased to yield one minute to the gentleman from virginia, mr. scott. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia is recognized for one minute. mr. scott: thank you, mr. speaker. deficit reduction requires tough choices and pay-go helped make those tough choices because if you increased spending you had to pay for it, either raise the money or cut spending somewhere else. if you cut taxes you have to raise someone else's taxes or cut some programs. you have to pay for it. in 1993 under pay-go in a tough democratic budget we eliminated the deficit and we were on our way to paying off the national debt.

we created millions of jobs and, unfortunately, 15 democrats lost their seats in a budget that the democrats voted for, not a single republican voted for. these are tough choices. unfortunately, this package fails to make those tough choices because it exempts trillions of dollars from pay-go. mr. speaker, you simply are not having a serious discussion about deficit reduction when the discussion begins with massive tax cuts which will add trillions of dollars to the national debt without beginning to pay for them at all. we need to get serious about deficit reduction. this package does not do it. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentlewoman from new york. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i have two more speakers and i'd like to ask my colleague, mr. dreier, if he'd be prepared to close at that time. if he has any more speakers. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, let me say to my good friend that i think under this new arrangement that i will be the final speaker after -- ms. slaughter: absolutely. mr. dreier: after my friend has

exhausted all of her speakers and her closing remarks. ms. slaughter: but the question i need to know -- mr. dreier: i am the final speaker, mr. speaker. there are no other speakers. ms. slaughter: thank you. appreciate that. so i am going to yield a minute to the lady from pennsylvania, ms. schwartz. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from pennsylvania is recognized for one minute. ms. schwartz: as i listen to this debate, i want to say that many of my colleagues agree that we must take the deficit seriously but to do so we have to not only examine spending cuts but we have to look at tax expenditures. this new rule that is being presented, literally less than three hours since the republicans took control, says simply that they will look at spending cuts as really costing -- cost savers or cost of the government but tax expenditures, tax cuts maybe for the wealthiest americans,

maybe for certain companies, maybe some good, maybe some we'll even agree with but will not count them as part of a cost to government, as a reduction in the amount of revenue that we get into the government. they will simple lie ignore it and -- simply ignore it and get added to the deficit. for weeks and weeks before that they said deficit reduction was at the top of their agenda. it took them three hours to make that an untrue statement. they simply already set up a situation where they can add trillions and trillions of dollars to the national deficit, and we can do nothing about it. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i am pleased to yield 2 1/2 minutes to the gentleman from maryland, mr. van hollen. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from maryland is recognized for 2 1/2 minutes. mr. van hollen: thank you, mr. speaker. the american people did not bargain for a plan in the first

24 hours of the new congress that would blow a hole in the deficit and expand the debt. the chairman of the rules committee mentioned the recent bipartisan tax agreement. we also recently had a bipartisan commission on the deficit and debt reduction, and they looked at both sides of the equation. spending and the fact that we created lots of tax loopholes that have lost revenue to special interests. and what this plan does, what this rule does is say that doesn't matter, that doesn't count against the deficit. in fact, the existing rules under the house say that you cannot use the budget reconciliation process to add to the deficit. your rule specifically eliminates that restriction. your rule says, go ahead and use the budget reconciliation process to add to the deficit and debt. you strike it. you have a green light.

this -- not at this moment. this rule also contains on page 28 a little notice provision that opens the door to politically motivated enron-style accounting as the means to do an end run around the pay-as-you-go law signed by president obama. the current practice of this congress has been that we will use the budget estimates of the nonpartisan congressional budget office to determine the deficit impact on the laws that we pass here in this body for the purpose of pay-as-you-go. that is while we should have a vigorous debate over policy we don't want politicians inventing self-serving budget numbers. now, the congressional budget office serves as our empire. they call the balls and the strikes, as you know. sometimes we don't like the calls they make. sometimes we do. but what this rule does is says we are going to take the umpire off the field when it comes to statutory pay-go. we're going to substitute our

accounting for the folks whose professional job it is to determine the deficit impact of different legislation that we pass. and i think when the american people find out that this opens the doors to those kind of fun and games they are going to ask themselves, is this something i really bargained for. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, will the gentleman yield on that point? mr. van hollen: i yield briefly. mr. dreier: let me say to the commission, i think it's very important to note that they argue that there is a reduction to 26% as the top corporate rate and 23% as the top -- mr. van hollen: reclaiming my time. they did that as part of a whole tax reform package that closed the tax loopholes that your proposal would open. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentlewoman from new york. ms. slaughter: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask members on both sides of the aisle to vote no on the

previous question so that we can take serious action described by mr. van hollen to decrease the deficit rather than simply make it easier to give tax breaks to billionaires. and, mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to insert the text of the amendment in the record immediately prior to the vote on the previous question. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i urge a no vote on the previous question and on the rule and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, i yield myself the balance of the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for as much time as he may consume. mr. dreier: mr. speaker, everyone is enthused about today. we have 96 new members of this institution. 87 republicans and nine democrats. nearly 100 new members. and they are here having carried a very strong and powerful message from the american people and that is we've got to create jobs, get our economy growing, reduce the size and scope and reach of

government and do it in a more transparent, open and accountable way and, mr. speaker, that's exactly what we're doing. that's exactly what we're doing with this rules package. there seems to be a little disagreement on the notion of dealing with spending and taxes. and the fact of the matter is we all know, several of us have said it through the debate, we don't have a revenue problem. we have a spending problem. what we need to do is we need to focus on reducing spending, and we are absolutely committed with a laser-like approach to doing that. it's going to be tough. it's going to be painful, and i hope that as we reached out and had bipartisan input on this rules package for the first time ever that we'll be able to do the exact same thing, mr. speaker, when we deal with the question -- when we deal with the question of getting our economy growing and the other challenges that lie ahead of us.

we never before have had the opportunity that we're going to have in just a few minutes. the rules committee is going to meet after we are seated. and when i came to the rules committee two decades ago i was told by the dean of the washington press corps, david broder, that the rules committee hearing rule was small by design. why? to keep us out, mr. broder said to me. mr. speaker, during this quest for transparency, we are going to have online streaming of our rules committee meeting that will take place after we are seated here. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous con sent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on this measure and it is with a great deal of zeal, enthusiasm and gratitude

the house moved on to approve the rules package. giving the appropriations committee authority to limit spending by the highway trust fund, and a 72-hour period with those must be made public before they can be voted on. the house rules committee meets today at 10:00 a.m. eastern to consider a repeal to the health care law. we will have live coverage on c- span2. the house gaveled in yesterday for the beginning of the 112th congress. this year, republicans took the house majority for the first time in four years. nancy pelosi handed over the speaker's gavel to ohio republican john boehner.

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[cheers and applause] [applause] [cheers and applause] >> it is a high honor to welcome

all members of congress and their families to the house of representatives. to the members -- new members and their families, it is a special welcome and congratulations. we all wish you great success. [applause] 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 as a student, i was there in the freezing cold. for some of you, you have read about it in history books.

to us, it was our youth, right, bob? i heard a stirring address that inspires generations of americans. the public service. in his 1962 state of the union address, right from this dais, president kennedy said to the congress, "constitution makes us all trustees of the american people, custodians of the american heritage." we take the oath of office to support and defend our constitution, we do so as trustees of america's best hopes and as custodians of america's highest values. however we may differ, let us never lose sight of our common laws -- love for this

exceptional nation and are shared obligation to the way forward. [applause] i started off by an acknowledgement, welcoming, and congratulating the members and their families. our families have always felt like the way forward -- helped light the way forward to all -- for all of us. i want to thank my family, my husband of 47 years, paul pelosi. [applause] my children, nancy, corinne, christine, and my grandchildren. i am pro to be from a large family, the youngest of seven.

i want to acknowledge my brother, the former mayor of baltimore, md.. [applause] let me thank my constituents in san francisco who i am proud to represent in the spirit of the anthem of our city, the song of st. francis. i am so pleased that was recited by all of us at the interdenominational service this morning. i am 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]

and now more doors are wide open for all of america's daughters and granddaughters. [applause] i am also honored is to be the first italian-american speaker. [applause] like many americans, our heritage is a source of great pride and a deeply ingrained patriotism summons us to build a stronger nation. we recognize that the proudest titles we will ever hold are not supported on this floor. it is the simple dignity of the title "ameran." part of our great democracy that continues to be the greatest hope of liberty and progress for the entire world. [applause] when i was first elected as

speaker, i called the house to order on behalf of america's children. now, as i prepared to hand the gavel over to speaker boehner, i know one thing above all else. thanks to you we have stood with those children, for their families, for their health, for their education, the safety of the air they breathe, the water they drink, and the food they eat. [applause] 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 the history, and passed a strong patient bill of rights. [applause] that means that children with pre-existing conditions can get care. young people can stay on their parents' policy until they are 26. pregnant women or cancer patients can no longer be thrown

off of their insurance. our seniors are paying less for their medical prescriptions. taken altogether, it will save taxpayers $1.30 trillion. [applause] thanks to you, to all of us, we advanced at defining the american cause of equality for all. from the first day of 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. 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] 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.

[alause] to honor them, we must build a future worthy of their sacrifice, which includes a good-paying jobs when they come home. it is not enough that we staved off a depression. much more needs to be done to open up the american dream and looked up the american economy -- lift up the american economy. the only acceptable outcome is to restore prosperity and good- paying jobs. our most important job is to fight for american jobs, to make itn america. 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 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 ua 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 rightor 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 reelected, but especially the new majority and the new speaker of the house, jo boehner. now the house will be led by a proud son of ohio, a man of convicti, 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 ith in his family. it is very important for us in acknowledging that, for us to a knowledge his family, his wife -- mrs. boehner is -- there. [applause] >> as we congratulate them, we congratulate and thank debbie for sharing him with us and lindsey and trisha and 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 thisavel, which is larger than most gavels here that the gavel of choice by mr. speaker owner -- 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. [cheers and applause] god bless you, congress, and god

bless america. [cheers and applause] [bangs gavel] [applause] thank you. >> it is still just me. [laughter] speaker, thank you for your kind words, and thank you to your

service to this institution. secondly, i 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 we served here. think any of us can tell you that you will never forget today. my own family is here as well. i think you have just met debbie. next to debbie r. lindsey and trisha -- next to debbie are lindsay and trisha, our two daughters. thank you, and i am glad that you are here. [applause] 10 of my 11 brothers and sisters and a sister-in-law and brother-in-law are here as well. my brother who runs a restaurant in georgia was unable to be here, but i wanted to a

knowledge him. i also wanted to let knowledge some of my close friends that are here from the other side of the capital. mitch mcconnell, the senate republican leader is here. two of my best but, richard burt from north carolina, and my friend from georgia, along with my bdy lathem, thank you for being here, gentlemen. i appreciate it. [applause] i am honored and humbled to represent a great, hard-working community in congress. the peoples of ohio's eighth congressional district continue to afford me the privilege to serve, for wch as deeply grateful. we gather here today at a time of great challenges. nearly one of 10 of our neighbors are out of work, health care costs are still rising for american families. our spending has caught up with us, and our dead soon will

eclipse the entire size of our national economy -- and our debt will soon eclse the entire si of our national economy. 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. [cheers and applause] in the catholic faith, we enter into a season of service by having ashes markdown our head. it reminds us that life in all its forms is very fgi. 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. that refresh our memories just out temporary the privilege of serving as. they reminded us that everything here is on loan from them. that includes the 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 is about them, not about us. what they want is a government that is honest, accountable, and responsive to their needs, a

government of respect to individual liberties, honors our heritage, and valves before the public that it serves. let's start with the release 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 sking 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 the bill before it comes to a vote. legislation will be more focused, properly scrutinized, and constitutionally sound. committees, once bloated, will be smaller, with iranian mission, including oversight. old " -- with a renewed mission, including over said. old rules will be replaced by new reforms that make it easier to cut spending. we will start by cutting congress' 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, in truth. to my colleagues in the majority, my message is this. we will honor our pledge to america, built on the process of listening to the american peop. we will stand firm on our constitutional principles that built our party and built a great nation. we willo these things, however, in a manner that restores and rpects the time- honored right of the minority to an honest debate, a fair and open process. 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 and no open rules in the house in the last congress. in this one, there will be many. and with the restored openness, however, comes a restored responsibity. you will not have the right to willfully disrupt the proceedings of the people's house, but you always have the right to a robust debate and an open proce 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,ebuild

trust amongst us an 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 know that your constituents have placed much trust in you. as speaker, i feel part of my job is to help each of you d your job well, regardless of your political party. my hope is that every new member, and indeed every member, will be comfortable with approaching me in regard to matters of the house. we will not always get it right, and we will not always agree on what is right. there is a great deal of scar tissue that has been built up on both sides of the aisle. we cannot ignore that, nor should we. my belief has always been that

can disagree without being disagreeable. that is why it is critical that this institution operate in a matter that permits a free exchange of ideas and results our honest differences through a fair debate and vote. we may have different, sometimes a very different, ideas about how to go about achievinghe common good. it is why we serve. let's now move forward, humble in our demeanor, said 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 do what we say we're going to do, i do not think that there is anything we cannot accomplish together, again on behalf of the people we serve. more than the country, america

is an idea. it is our job to pass that austerity of the blessings that have been bestowed on us to those generations that follow. -- it is our job to pass that prosperity and the blessin that have been bestowed on us to the generations that follow. i want to wish you the very best. welcome to the people's house. welcome to the 112 congrs. [cheers and applause] [applaus >> 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 a minister the other office. >> i thank you. is 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 are about to enter, so help you god? >> i do. >> congratulations, mr. speaker. [cheers and applause]

>> thank you,hank you. thank u. >> according to precedent, the chair will swear in a members- elect in mass bit of the members-elect will rise, and the chair will now administer the oath of office if all members could raise their right hands. 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 each nation, that

you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of your office of which were about to enter, so help you god? >> [all] i do. >> congratulations. [applause] >> on c-span today, "washington journal" is next," following by -- following your phone calls. the constitution will be read on the house floor. in about 45 minutes, chairman of the house republican transition team congressman greg walden. democratic congressman barbara lee on the legislative agenda -- agenda. national journal reporter