become law. massive tax cuts and cost of repealing the health reformagre. we voted on that over 30 times in this house and the american people had an opportunity to vote on that. we ought to be focused on making the act as good as it can be and saving as much money as it can and providing access to affordable quality health tear. .

>> but to vote in the committee, they can vote in the our committees in the house we ought to give them that right here as a show of respect to honor their service to american citizens in territories and the district of columbia. as this new congress begins, we have an opportunity to commit ourselves to the spirit of compromise which our constituents so desperately seek. our nation continues to face a number of challenges that can only be addressed by working together and giving every family the opportunity as leaders said when she spoke so eloquently to make it in america. let's take advantage of this session to start off on the right foot and show americans that we are ready to come together to tackle our greatest

challenges. i thank the lady for the time and i yield back the balance of my time. >> gentleman from texas >> i want to address the minority leader the gentleman from maryland. he is a very dear and fine friend of mine. . i've enjoyed the opportunities to work with him and in fact what he said is true, i have offered myself to him in a way that would be fair and good not just for every member of this body but also for those that he represents. i will try and do my very best within the limits and constraints that i have and my attitude always to be stellar and i hope that he knows that he can count on that also. >> thank you gentleman. >> i would extend that other members that are here madam

speaker who have come down to press their idea -- express their ideas. ideas about how to make this a better place is always important. yesterday the republican conference, the majority had a vigorous time yesterday afternoon as we debated the house rules, we offered our ideas and we debated how we can make this a better place. really work to the efficiency of the people who sent us here. i'm fresh from that and wonderful invigorating time. we defended what we did and changed the things that needed to be done. our members were recorded equal time but a chance to bring their ideas forth perhaps from back home of a season of election perhaps from their experiences that they had back home. it was a really good time for not just me as a member but i think all of us in our body and

today we enjoyed that same opportunity as we come together, democrats and republicans to talk about the rules in the house. >> gentleman from new york. >> the gentleman from south carolina, mr. clyburn. >> gentleman recognized for three minutes. >> thank you very much. madam speaker, today is a day of great pride for every member just sworn in. particularly our newly elected members. it's great honor to be elected and serve in this body. on election day our constituents went to their polling places and voted for us. we should be thankful for that. particularly so, far too many of our constituents regardless of their political leanings, voted on election day with

unnecessarily burdensome, time consuming and unpleasant experience. in a home county in south carolina, voters reported waiting in line for over four hours. one young voter thought ahead of time, brought an ipad and watched the entire hunger games movie while in line. others understandably didn't have three hours to spare on a work day. in detroit, michigan, gina waited in lines for more than three hours before giving up. danielle wilkins voted after waiting four hours. in the county of florida -- she went to the polling place in the morning with her infant son. she decided to come back later. after finding babysitter, she returned in the afternoon at

which point the line had grown to 5.5 hours. unable to be away from her infant son, she left without voting. as president obama said on election night, we have to fix that. as we take our place within this congress that we earned on election day, now is the time to fix it. this motion to commit will ensure no voter has to wait longer than an hour to cast a ballot. we have a long history of struggle with right to vote in this country. yet time and again, we are reaffirmed the principle that every eligible american has an equal right to cast a ballot without facing discrimination a three hour wait is discrimination against those who have to work. those who have to take care of their kids and those who's

health prevents them from waiting in line for such a long time. long lines of the 21st century version of poll taxes and literacy test. disenfranchise the least advantage and the most vulnerable citizens. we have an obligation to ensure every american has an equal opportunity to exercise their constitutional right to vote. my good friend and lifelong colleague, john lewis, has called the right to vote precious, almost sacred. >> 30 seconds. >> thank you the powerful nonviolent tool to create a more

perfect union. john could not be here to speak on this motion today. but i'm proud to stand with mr. miller. it is a small but important step to fulfilling our obligation to protect the right to vote. i urge the patz -- passage of this commitment. >> gentleman yields back, gentleman from texas. >> i appreciate the gentleman coming down and with his words today. by the way, the gentleman mentioned motion to commit. we have yet to see that. if there is one, i would appreciate the gentlewoman from new york or the clerk could provide that to me. the chance for us today -- >> if i can just address that if i may. mr.i would yield to the gentleman. >> madam speaker, the motion be committed at the proper time. we will give the motion.

we're not yet -- >> reclaiming my time when that is available, we would appreciate that opportunity. that's been spoken about on the floor. today, what we're talking about madam speaker, is how we're going to make sure this rules committee, rules of the house work very effectively. virginia foxx will become the vice chair of the rules committee. the gentlewoman from rochester, new york would have a chance to bring her team up and we'll begin that process of working together and many of the ideas which have been brought forth here, are very good ideas. the rules of the house are how we're going to proceed. i think lot of what's been talked about is legislation. that we really need to work on and look at and analyze. i think every single election, we learn things from around the country. not one election have i not learned something that we need to make better. i would say that i think that john boehner a great young

speaker is energized to look at legislation to make sure we look at these. the integrity who serves in this house and the ability that people have back home to go vote is important. i'm reminded on a regular basis by the gentlewoman virginia foxx from north carolina and the vice chair of the committee, how important people are back home that we serve. that when we serve, we serve at the pleasure of others and that our election through this republic and the votes we make are very important. it's always good to come down the floor and be reminded of that as we remember our duty as we move forward. i enjoyed the opportunities to debate these issues and talk about them. i reserve my time.

>> reserve. gentle lady from new york. >> madam speaker i'm delighted to yield two minutes from the gentleman of massachusetts. >> the gentleman is recognized. diplo >> i want to thanked member for her time and extraordinary leadership. i am hopeful that the 113th congress will be more productive, collaborative and civil than 112. i'm not particularly optimistic but i'm hopeful. hopeful we can return to some regular order with committees doing their work, bills coming to the floor up open amendment process and members having opportunity to reflect the will of the constituents. at the very least, i hope that the outrages, partisan and close process we saw during the fiscal cliff crisis is not repeated. that is no way to legislate. it's no wonder after that bitter theater, that the american people have so little regard for

congress. one of the best ways that we can help the country is to improve the way we country our elections. bad elections lead to bad law making. if 2012 taught us anything, we desperately need campaign finance reform. democrats will amend the resolution to give the house a vote on the constitutional amendment to control the corrupting of money in politics. the supreme court's terrible decision in the citizen's united case open the floodgates and our election system is now awash in sea of mill of dollars unregulated money, drowning out the voices of individual citizens. politicians are beholden to wealthy special interest, a multinational oil country can now simply write a big check to americans for apple pie and puppies and watch the negative advertising work their magic. there are a variety of ways to tackle this problem.

in the last congress, i introduced the people's rights amendment which will overturn citizen's united and put a stop to person hood nonsense that it represents. despite what governor romney said on the campaign trail, corporations are not people. other members would have other ideas but very least we need to have this debate and i urge my colleague to defeat the previous question. >> the gentleman from texas is recognized. >> thank you very much madam speaker. once again, we've got a lot of political dogma that's taking place here. i was a worker in a corporation for a number of years and i felt like i was a vital part of success not only that company and the things that i did i felt like in my 16 years never missed a day, work that i contributed to the success of customers and other people. just like here in this body,

there may be some organizations somebody doesn't like of that serves this house of representatives. but everybody is here. they show up at work and they get their work done. i would say that corporations and employers are very important to this country. the ability that all people have just as -- there's a lot of attacking that gets done in this house of representatives against employers, against people who go to work and provide honest services. there are a lot of people who spend a lot of time demeaning others. i like to see that stopped. it not going to. people like myself will stand up and hopefully talk about the rights and responsibilities that we all in an open society to make our country even stronger, better once again part of what the rules package -- >> gentle lady from new york is

recognized. >> the gentleman from colorado. >> thank you madam speaker. house republicans and this rules are seeking to authorize lawyer fees that outlaw marriage. i'm so disappointed in our economic crisis, house republicans want to continue to waste millions of dollars of taxpayer money defending a law that the obama administration already said they won't spend a penny on. typical tax and spend republican policies. last congress finished with majority of republicans voting for the biggest tax increase in the history of our country by opposing the fiscal cliff tax relief bill. now we are in this congress sticking taxpayers of millions of dollars of unnecessary cost. at least when democrats spend money, we women roads and bridges, this republican spending goes into the pocket of

lawyers. big spending republicans spending millions of dollars on taxpayer money on a federal take over of marriage and a lawyer stimulus. wrong foot to start off on. vote no i yield back. >> time is expired. gentleman from texas is recognized. >> i reserve my time. >> gently lady from new york is recognized. >> i yesterday two minute -- yield two minutes from california. >> the gentleman is recognized. >> thank you for the recognition. i rise in favor of the motion to commit that i will be offering with the clyburn and mr. lewis later today so we can take a important step to protect the right of every american to vote. i was appalled in this last election day by widespread reports by voters forced wait in hours long lines. even with some states early

voting, voters were forced to choose waiting or taking care of their children and to vote. in some precincts in miami, hundreds of voters stood in line for more than four hours even president obama declared the winner. they could not afford to wait in lines for several hours. the motion to commit in the house will make two important changes. first it will require federal elections that every state provides for at least 15 days, early voting and two, it would require the state provide adequate resources, staff and machines at polling places to ensure voters are not forced

wait in line more than an hour. i support comprehensive approach of voter protection has developed by mr. lewis and mr. clyburn. today we have a chance to take a very simple step to make sure voting is simple so for americans so they can exercise their right how we exercise our democracy. that right and democracy is now being thwarted by efforts at the local and state level to make voting more difficult to prohibit people from voting. i would urge my colleagues to support that and i want to thank mr. clyburn and mr. lewis for their leadership. i'm very sorry mr. lewis is unable to be here today. >> gentle lady reserves. gentleman from texas is recognized. >> thank you very much madam speaker. i'm very disappointed that the minority even upon me asking

just a few minutes ago, not to share the text of the motion. there's a lot of discussion about wanting people to come and vote back home and see things and there's a lot of debate here about what we're hoping a lot of republicans vote with us but, we aren't providing the text of that where our members would have an opportunity taunts -- understand that. it's clearly, gentleman from south carolina and gentleman from california and as a member of the minority leadership, he should know that while he discusses it with great passion and perhaps wants us to vote for it, we still have not seen a copy of that. first edition of the rules package today has been online for nearly a week. the republican package that we would want people to vote on has been online available. >> yield?

>> i will in a second. in a conference last night as soon as we knew what the final revisions are, we put that out. in contrast we have not seen that. i would ask the gentlewoman for a copy of that motion. >> madam speaker, would you like to yield -- >> i would yield to the gentle lady. >> thank you very much proper time madam speaker, offer motion recommit and question has been approved. when the motion is offered we will be happy to provide a copy. >> i'm reclaiming my time. thank you very much i think it's pretty obvious that what the gentlewoman is saying is that they want to stand up and make a point and they want to have a vote here and they probably want to end up complaining if they didn't pass something but they're not willing to share their ideas. i think it's amazing that we're talking about transparency,

accountability, trying to share information where we can work closer together, gleam ideas from each other, come together with an opportunity yet at the appropriate time, we'll get a copy of that. i'm sure that will happen about a minute before we're asked to vote on it. that's not a way to be transparent, that's not a way that we should move forward. but it is consistent. we'll have a consistent outcome i reserve my time. >> the gentle lady is recognized. >> let me take a second to say that i would be happy to share anything that we can at the proper time. we will do that and we will follow the rules. i yield two minutes gentlewoman from the district of columbia. >> the gently lady is recognized for two minutes. >> the thank the gentlewoman from new york for yielding.

madam speaker the first vote on the 113th congress was a vote whether or not i was entitled to vote for the 600,000 tax paying residents of the district of columbia i represent. the motion to table my motion, prevailed 224-187. my motion simply would have required a study of delegate voting as to whether there was any reason that such vote should be denied. this would not have been a difficult study because the federal courts have already done our work for us. two federal courts have found the delegate voting in the committee of the whole is constitutional. what is more painful not having the final vote, what is more painful and arbitrary than not even getting the vote in the committee of the whole which we have exercised before and has been approved by the court, is

being denied, is having a vote that you have exercised withdrawn as this vote was today. three congresses, we exercised that vote in the committee of the whole. no vote should be dependent on which party is in power. the vote in the committee of the whole was not a vote on final legislation. it was a symbol of our american citizenship. you cannot take away our citizenship in this country. you should never be able to take away a vote once it has been granted. i yield back the balance of my time. >> lady yields back. gentleman from texas is recognized. >> thank you very much madam speaker. i think it's well understood that the offices of the residents commissioner from

puerto rico are created by statute and not by the constitution. they represent territories and associated jurisdictions not states. they are not members of congress and they do not possess the same rights afforded to members under the constitution. they are here in this body. we represent them to each other as important and we listen to them and we do things but, as it refers to voting, on the floor in the committee of the whole, that is an issue that i believe is well understood. i reserve my time. >> gentle lady from new york is recognized. >> let me give 30 seconds. >> gentle lady is recognized.

>> i grant the gentleman the delegates are here by statute but the gentleman should also recognize that the vote we had in three congresses was a vote that the federal courts have said is constitutional. once we get a constitutional vote, it seems to be arbitrary to withdraw that vote. particularly for the district of columbia. as long as you take our taxes, the very least i think the people i represent are entitled to, is vote of the committee of the whole. >> the gentleman from texas is recognized. >> i reserve my time. >> the gentle lady from new york is recognized. >> madam speak, gentleman from new york. >> gentleman is recognized for two minutes. >> thank you madam speaker. i rise in opposition to this rules package in particular

specific provision that place house on the wrong side of history and misrepresent the position of this house. section four of the resolution continues to authorize expenditure taxpayer's money to defend in court the unconstitutional and discriminatory so called defense of marriage act. it goes further, speaks for and articulates institutional positions of the house. that is not true. the original decision to doma was taking by a bipartisan legal advisory group. so far the republican leadership is authorizing expenditure $2 million of taxpayer money to defend this discriminatory law. this defense is not supported by the entire house. 145 members of the house arguing the doma should be struck down.

we have repeatedly asked speaker from a briefing from the lawyers obtained by the republican majority. if these high priced lawyers really represent the house, they should have at least have the courtesy to meet with the clients. the time is come to call a hault to this. the rules should reflect the reality of the house. i urge my colleagues to vote against this rules package and i yield back the balance of my time. >> gentleman yields back. gentleman from texas is recognized. >> i reserve my time. >> the gentle lady from new york. >> i'm pleased to yield a minute in a half from california. >> i rise for two purposes. first to oppose the rule which

institutes the folly of spending taxpayer dollar to defend unconstitutional that is doma. this is a poor waste of our resource. in the last congress, it would be a worse utilization of taxpayer dollar. second i rise, debated fiercely that is campaign finance reform. clearly our democracy is broken with billions of dollars of campaign spending by special interest, much of it anonymous flooding the airwaves this fall. i don't support a constitutional amendment lightly and have found few that i would even entertain

in my 12 years in congress. unmistakable corruption it takes demand action. but the power to reasonably regulate both contributions and expenditures should follow. that will require a constitutional amendment. mr.speaker, i urge the house to defeat the previous question and doing so set the stage for debate of a constitutional amendment to restore transparency and accountability towards campaign finance reform. >> gentleman from texas. >> thank you very much madam speaker. once again i appreciate and respect the opportunity that's supported in this time for members of congress like the gentleman from california and others to come forth and give their ideas. i reserve my time. >> the gentle lady from new york is recognized. >> madam speaker, i yield one minute to the gentleman from florida. >> thank you, madam speaker, i

urge no vote on previous question. the 113th congress convene as we embark on a new year as we embark on new politics. as full of good will and common purpose as we are today, we must acknowledge why so many americans are fed up with our politics. whether it the attack ads, the rampant misinformation or bitter partnership, so much the frustration rises from the big money in our democracy. why the frustration? elderly americans don't have super pacs madam speaker. children in poverty don't have corporate lobbyist. the american people count on us to ensure their voices are heard. that's what they expect from us. americans outraged over inability to govern in public interest is quickly unaccepted frustration but it shouldn't be that way. in america, we don't have to accept the status quo. we the people make the rules.

it's time for the 28th amendment to the constitution throughout american history republicans and democrats alike have suspended our right to decide as a destiny as a people. we must restore our democracy. i yield back balance of my time. >> gentleman from texas is recognized. >> thank you madam speaker, i yield my time. >> the gentle lady from new york is recognized. >> it yield one minute from gentlewoman from maryland. >> thank you madam speaker. although i do support the changes to our ethics rules contained in the package, i cannot support the overall package and i rise in opposition to previous question. for the purposes allowing the house to consider a constitutional amendment to address the supreme court's decision in citizen's united. the 2012 election was the most expensive in our nation's history. outside groups including over 1200 super pacs spent

$970 million, $123 million of anonymous cash was spent in our campaigns. all told the price tag for last year's election of $6 billion. this is only the beginning in the years to come, spending will expand at the federal, state and local levels. money interest is drowning out the voices of ordinary americans. it's time for us to do something about it. i don't take amending our constitution our founding document lightly. here in this day when we're celebrating all commemorating this year 150th anniversary of the signing of the emancipation proclamation. it's time to amend the constitution so that congress can protect the integrity of our elections. with that i yield. >> the gentleman continues to reserve. the gentle lady is recognized. >> of no further request for time. i'm prepared to close.

>> the gentle lady yield back -- >> thank you for advising me that. >> i will reserve my time. >> madam speaker, it's become glaringly obvious that our democrat process is broken due to large part overwhelming influence of money. our election with widespread discriminatory laws seek to suppress the vote and electoral process on the brink of disfunction. my democratic colleagues and i are committed to fixing our election system and have a chance to return the democracy to the hands of voters. madam speaker, if we repeat the previous question, i will offer the amendment to the resolution to make sure the house unconstitutional amendment to overturn court decisions including citizen's united that prohibit congress limiting the corrupting influence of money in split and the unlimited political spending in elections and proliferation of super

paced. i ask unanimous consent to text of the amendment in the record. after i vote on the previous question, we will offer motion to commit and ask the chamber to consider the simple voting act passing it will ensure no american would have to wait longer than an hour to vote. nothing is more important than expediting the vote and making sure that right is attended to. madam speaker, i urge my colleagues to vote no and repeat the previous question i urge a no vote. i neild back the balance of my time. >> the gentle lady yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from texas is recognized. >> thank you, madam speaker today, we've had a really good time where we've had a number of members have come down to the floor in the house of representatives as i suggested in the beginning, this was done yesterday in the republican congress. i'm sure it was done in the

democratic caucus. we brought those ideas to the floor in the house of representatives. we've been able to ascertain more about not only what we stand for and perhaps what people are asking for, i also want to thank our staff not just the majority side but the minority side. obviously every one of these people have spent a lot of time trying to prepare us as we go into this new congress. i really do appreciate the hard work by our staff, the speaker staff, the leader staff and i'm very pleased we've been able to begin this process today. the american people are watching us. they are interested in what we do. they're interested in how open and prepared we are, how we present ourself with ideas. how we present things they talk about around the table and talk about educational institutions, likewise they talk about in the field of play that is fair and

good and makes this country even stronger. i'm delighted that we've done that today. i appreciate the gentlewoman from rochester for her vigorous analysis today what we need to do looking forward. i'll continue to listen to that and i know the gentle lady will be on the rules committee and i look forward to that service that she will be making. with great enthusiasm, we will move forward in this new congress. madam i yield back the balance of my time. >> the 113th congress convened yesterday. on today's "washington journal," we'll talk about two senators will the legislative agenda for the new congress. republican senator john hoeven of north dakota and then maine senator angus king. also today, the government releases the unemployment report for november. we'll talk about the unemployment numbers and what

they mean for the economy with marilyn geewax of npr. >> it's quite true that a people history is the result of how our synthesizing the work of great many other historians. what had happened in the 1960s with the culture was that a whole new generation of young historians had come up and they were in essence reevaluating all aspects of our past. >> martin duberman on c-span two. like us on facebook. >> they put us in a field. i don't know someone took a shot and seems like shots were fired. i went down and i think there

were something like 96 tanks and each one would fire into the group. anyone that was moaning, they shot. just put it simply, the 150 were made captive and about 84 of them were shot down by ssr forces that captured them. the survivors including ted played dead in the field after they were massed, they are fired on by machine guns in close range from the distance from myself at the podium to you sitting in the audience. machine guns were fired at these men. they didn't run. >> december 17th, 1944 and american convoy traveling through belgium is spotted and captured by german troops. sunday night at 9:00 eastern and pacific. part of american history tv this weekend on c-span 3.

>> one of the first orders of business after the house gaveled in yesterday was to elect speaker of the house. republican john boehner got 220 votes and will continue as speaker. nancy pelosi will remain the democratic leader with 192 votes. after the vote, leader pelosi and speaker boehner spoke to the assemble of the house. >> colleagues. to my fellow members of the house of representatives, it is a high honor to welcome you to the 113th congress.

[applause]. to our newest members of congress, it is a special privilege and honor to welcome you and your families and extend congratulations to the newest members of congress, welcome. [applause]. to reach this day, each of us has been strengthened by our faith and our families. with a full and grateful heart i want to thank my family, my husband of 49 years, paul pelosi. [applause].

our children nancy, corrine, christine, and alexandra. our grandchildren who represented here today by our daughter madeleine. i have to include the family of baltimore in that gratitude as well. i must thank my constituents in san francisco for giving me the privilege of representing that beautiful and diverse city in the congress of the united states. each of us here today is truly a representative. a representative in the truest sense of the word. to represent the highest hope and aspirations of the american people. on new year's eve, some of you a large number of members of congress joined hundreds of people at the national archives building where we observed at midnight the 150th anniversary of the signing of the

emancipation proclamation. [applause]. at midnight, there was an enactment of harriett tubman ringing the bell. as she rang the bill, she -- bell she said now we are free. it was an incredible moment it was one that ushered what president lincoln called a new birth of freedom for his era and for generations to come. that transformative moment in our history is a reminder of the best tradition we have as a people. the ability and obligation of each generation of americans to renew the promise of our founders, to carry forward the torch of progress, are reignite

the american dream. this is who we are as americans. this is the character of our country. this is the strength of our democracy. the strength of our democracy rest with strong and thriving middle class, the back grown of our democracy, that middle class is. so we have a moral imperative to invest in good paying jobs here at home and in the prosperity of our people as we build our infrastructure and we reduce the deficit. we must ensure that innovation rests at the heart of our success. that we remain first in science, technology engineering and energy. that we educate and prepare our young people for the opportunities of tomorrow. when we make it in america, all of america's families can make it in america.

[applause]. the strength of our democracy also demands that we restore the confidence of the american people in our political process. we must empower the voters. we must remove obstacles of participation in our democracy for all americans. we must increase the level of civility and reduce the role of money in our elections. when we do, we will elect more women, more minorities, more young people to public office and that's a good thing. [applause]. the american people are what make our country great. by in large the united states is a nation of immigrants. built and strengthened by men, women and children who share our patriotism and seek the american

dream. the strength of our democracy will be advanced by bold actions for comprehensive immigration reform. [applause]. today, we take an oath to protect and defend our constitution, our people and our freedom. to protect and defend that is our first responsibility. and our democracy requires that we each uphold the duty of keeping americans safe in their homes and in their schools and in their neighborhoods. as we mourn the families of newtown, we know ensuring the safety of all americans will be

a truly meaningful tribute to the children and teachers of sandy hook elementary school. for the strength of our democracy and sake of our children, let us work together to protect and defend all of our people. [applause]. in the same year that president lincoln issues emancipation proclamation, the statute of freedom was unveiled. it continues that dome, continues to be a beacon of freedom of the world and source of inspiration for all two had the honor -- all who had the honor of serving in congress. let us renew the promise of freedom. let us work in friendship and partnership to live up to the legacy of our founders and the

aspirations of our constituents. let us renew the strength of our democracy by reigniting the american dream. as we celebrate this moment, let us honor and thank those americans who protect our democracy and to secure our freedom. our veterans and our men and women in uniform where their family and wherever they go. [applause]. god bless them, god bless america, thank you all. [applause]. >> now the house will continue to be led by a proud son of ohio. a man of conviction and a public servant of resolve. speaker boehner is a leader who has earned the confidence of his conference and the respect of his colleagues on both sides of

the aisle. [applause]. he is a man of faith, faith in god, faith in our country and faith in his family. when we congratulate him, we also congratulate and thank his wife debbie and their two daughters lindsey and trisha and the entire boehner family. speaker boehner, i know all too well that we will not always agree, but i hope with all my heart that we will find common ground that is higher better place for our country. surely we can be touched by the

better angels of our nature. surely we can be touched by the better angels of our nature. so beautifully expressed by president lincoln. this is the people's house. this is the people's gavel, it represents a sacred trust. may we all fulfill that trust and make the real the ideals of democratic government. with respect for our constitution, with faith in the american people, with hope for the future of our country, i present the people's gavel to the speaker of the house, john boehner. [applause]. may god bless you.

may god bless you speaker boehner, may god bless this congress, may god always bless the united states of america. my colleagues the speaker of the house, john boehner. >> leader pelosi thank you for your kind words. members of the house and the senate, my wife debbie who is with us today, thankfully the girls are working. and all of you and our fellow countrymen.

when we meet today democracy's great call. every two years, at this hour, the constitution brings a new order to this house. it's interlude for reflection a glimpse of old true. to our new member and our families, i say welcome. [applause]. i know you're feeling a bit awe struck at this moment. our history runs through this building. now, you're among a select few to share in this privilege. for those of you who are returning, who have walked these aisles before, may be it's time we get a little awe struck again.

our founders envisioned it, the republic will be led by citizens who recognize that the blessings that we receive by governing ourselves and it requires that we give something of ourselves. everything dependent on this. in a few moments, i'll take that oath for the 12th time as the representative from the 8th district of ohio. it is word for word the same oath that we all take. note that it makes no mention of party or faction or title. contains no reference or genders or platforms. only to the constitution. one addition we dare make at george washington did at the first inaugral is to vote

instance of our heavenly father. this covenant makes us serve in prosateurty. it calls us to fixed a more perfect union. put simply, we're sent here not to be something but to do something. [applause]. or as i like to call it, doing the right thing. it's a big job and it comes with big challenges. our government has built up too much debt. our economy is not producing enough jobs. these are not separate problems. at $16 trillion and rising our national debt is draining free enterprise and weakening the ship of state. the american dream is in peril

so long as its name sake is weighed down by this anchor of debt. we begin to set our economy free, jobs will come home and confidence will come back. we do this not just to boost gdp or reduce unemployment, but to secure for our children a future of freedom and opportunity and frankly nothing is more important. as washington wrote in his farewell address -- [applause] as washington wrote, we should not throw upon prosperity the burden that we ourselves ought to bare. that burden is ours and so is the opportunity. there's no substitute for the wisdom of the people.

we here are their servants. as speaker, i pledge to listen and do all i can to help all of you carry out your oath of office that we are all about to take. because in our hearts, we know it's wrong to pass that debt on to our kids and grand kids. now we have to be willing, truly willing to make this problem right. public service was never meant to be an easy living. extraordinary challenges, demand extraordinary leadership. if you've come here to see your name in the lights or pass off political victory of some accomplishment, you've come to the wrong place. the door is right behind you. you come here humbled by the opportunity to serve. if you've come here to be the determined voice of the people,

if you've come here to carry the standard of leadership demanded not by our constituents but by the time, then you've come to the right place. [applause]. there is a time for every purpose under heaven and for the 113th congress, it is a time to rise. when the day is over and the verdict is read, maybe it's said that we did our duty to ensure freedom in that freedom will endure and prevail so help us god.

i am now ready to take the oath of office i would at dean of house of representatives to administer the oath of office. >> gentleman from ohio, 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 bare true faith and allegiance, 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. [applause]. >> according to president, the chair will swear in the members in mass. all members-elect will rise and the chair will now administer the oath of office. if all members-elect raise your right hand. do you solemnly swear and will protect the constitution and you bare true faith, that you take that obligation freely without any mental reservation or

purpose of evasion and that you will faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which you are about into enter so help you god? >> i do. >> congratulations your now members of the 113th congress. [applause]. >> up next this morning, we'll review the legislative agenda for the new congress on "washington journal" and to hear calls, e-mails and tweets. the house will commend 10:00 a.m. eastern to consider the $9.7 billion bill for flood insurance program and helping those affected hurricane sandy. later in the day, the house and senate will meet in a joint session to count electoral vote and certify the presidential election. that will be live on c-span. coming up in 45 minutes, two senators republican john hoeven of north dakota and independent angus king of maine