since 2002. democrat abigail will represent virginia's seventh district. she is a former postal inspector and cia officer. she later worked for a company that helps colleges and universities develop more diverse student bodies, and democrat jennifer wexton was elected to virginia's 10th congressional district. she has served as a public prosecutor and attorney in private practice. elected to the virginia senate in 2013. new congress, new leaders. watch it all on c-span. a look now at the arrival of the white house christmas tree in mid-november. following this, the holiday decorations inside the white house. then, the national christmas tree lighting ceremony with president trump and first lady by the trump followed capitol christmas tree lighting ceremony with house speaker paul

ryan and others. ♪

♪ ♪ [applause]

pres. trump: merry christmas, everybody. we have to say it all together. merry, merry christmas. is great to be with you. let's light the tree. first lady will do the honors. we will do it. 10 in reverse. ready? all together. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. [cheering] pres. trump: merry christmas, thank you. ♪

[instrumental "joy to the world"] ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the united states secretary of the interior, ryan zinke. [applause]

♪ mr. zinke: well, merry christmas, america. we are blessed to live in a country where christmas is celebrated and the spirit of our family and of charity is alive and well. where also blessed to live in a country where our national parks, america's best idea, tell the story of this great nation. from the iconic parks of the west like yellowstone and yosemite, to president trump's newest monument, camp nelson, where over 10,000 black americans joined the union army to fight for their freedom. [applause] thank you, mr. president. together these parks and public lands showcase a nation rich in diversity, heritage and national

, and natural wonder. this christmas i encourage every american to visit our celebrated national parks and, yes, find your park. i also ask this season you keep in your mind and your hearts the empty seats at the family dinner tables across this great land. whether it is a loved one currently deployed or one that has given the ultimate sacrifice to our country. our warmest thoughts and prayers go out to those members and their families who defend this great land. thank you for your sacrifice. [applause] lastly, it is my high honor to introduce a man who has made america strong and safe again. as a former navy seal commander, i know that this president and commander in chief loves our troops and will always have their back. ladies and gentlemen, may i

introduce the president of the united states, donald j. trump, and his lovely wife, first lady melania. [applause] ♪ mr. zinke: the man who brought christmas back to america. [applause] pres. trump: thank you very much. ryan, i want to thank you for doing such a beautiful job all throughout the season.

welcome, everyone. merry christmas. a special time of the year. melania and i are thrilled to be here today as we celebrate one of the nation's most cherished traditions, the lighting of the national christmas tree. tonight's ceremony is only possible because of the hard work of the many talented individuals that were working late at night, they were working early in the morning, they were working all the time. my sincere thanks to everyone at the national parks service and the national park foundation. thank you very much, appreciate it. let me also extend my deeper appreciation to all of tonight's wonderful entertainers. great talents, they are going on big things, many of them.

i have seen them, and they are something very special. thank you very much, that was a great job tonight. this includes one very special group that has topped billboard charts multiple times, the dominican sisters, who i met backstage, from ann arbor, michigan. a very special recognition to the students who designed stunning ornaments to decorate 56 different christmas trees here in president park. thank you, students. i hear you out there. thank you very much. when they were doing the 56 trees, there was one for each state and the territories in our magnificent country. we have truly a great country. we are proud of it and we love it deeply. for christians all across our nation, around the world, this is a sacred season that again begins 2000 years ago when jesus christ was born.

the angel declared the shepherds defending their flocks, behold, i bring you good tidings, great joy, which will be to all people, for unto you his born in this day in the city, a savior, which is christ the lord. there in bethlehem mary and joseph held in their hands the son of god, the light of the world, and through him, the promise of eternal salvation. no matter one's faith or beliefs, the christmas season reflects all that is best in the american spirit. this is a time of the year for rejoicing with our family and friends. for spreading charity and goodwill in our commitment all over this country and in all of our communities, and for giving thanks to all of the blessings in our lives. we are especially thankful to the countless americans who have given their time and passion to help those in need.

here in the audience today are a number of extraordinary foster families and guardians joined by the beautiful children they have welcomed into their homes, and beautiful children they are. your devotion inspires us all to every child in foster care. -. to every child in foster care, you are the precious loved one and the gift of god. thank you. thank you. very, very special. at this time of the year we renew the bonds of affection between our fellow citizens and we awaken the faith and our - in our hearts that calls each of us to action. as we gather loved ones, our thoughts turn to those who are rebuilding their lives after devastating wildfires, destructive hurricanes, and terrible tragedy. we are one american family. we hurt together, we heal together, and we will always

pull through together. this is the united states of america. we are the best in the world and there is nobody close. [applause] pres. trump: tonight, we honor the first responders who risked their lives to save the lives of others. and all of america sends our profound gratitude to the incredible men and women of the united states military. [applause] i am proud to say our military right now is stronger than ever before. [applause] their families are all our families, and we thank them so much for their greatness and the for incredible job they do.

thank you to the united states military. thank you very much. we ask god to watch over this nation's heroes as he shed his almighty grace upon our nation. we pray that america's light will shine more brightly than and stronger than ever, and it will. on behalf of melania and myself and the entire trump family, many of whom are with us tonight, i want to wish you all a very merry christmas. may this christmas season bring peace to your hearts, warmth to your homes, cheer to your spirit, and joy to the world. merry christmas, everyone. merry christmas and god bless you. thank you very much. thank you. thank you very much. [applause]

>> folks, it was 214 years ago that the explorers lewis and clark set out for the west coast of the united states of america. they were forging a trail, trail - a trail that sent them across the great plains, took them through the rockies, down the columbia river, and to the great old growth forests of the pacific northwest. those forests have been part of our culture and economy ever since. in fact, nearly 20% of our state are national forests, and we love those forests. everything that they bring us in commerce and pleasure and every possible feeding of the soul. well, now, we have a moment when that trail has been traveled in reverse.

so the people of oregon, this tree up on a large truck set out to retrace lewis and clark coming backwards, and stopping at key points they traveled on and different communities to celebrate america, to celebrate the trail. the folks in those communities did a variety of things. they signed a banner that was on the truck, they did postcards. they really reflected on that journey, that connection, under this theme of "find your trail." so they made it all the way back here. and isn't this the most beautiful people's christmas tree in the history of the united states of america? [applause] sen. merkley: if you were not cheering you are not from , oregon. this is one of the most grandest

varieties of fir. i have never seen one so extraordinarily symmetrical. it is like the national forest said, let's grow the most perfect tree ever to share with the entire united states of america. so in this season, this season of joy, season of reflection, let us join together in that spirit which unifies america, of lifting everyone up across our country together, and in so doing, let's each of us find our trail. take care, and merry christmas. [applause] >> thank you, senator merkley. please welcome congressman peter deblasio. this year's tree comes from the sweet home ranger district. it is the fourth congressional district, which he represents. congressman deblasio. [applause]

mr. deblasio: well, i am really proud to represent the fourth district. the sweet home district. the city of sweet home. we talked about a lot of anniversaries tonight area it is the 125th anniversary of the tonight. it is the 125th anniversary of the city of sweet home. someone finally had the good judgment to choose a noble as our christmas tree. i always have a noble at home. it is my favorite christmas tree. oregon is a little different place, for those of you not from oregon. that tree is 35 years old. we grow them quick and big and - in oregon. we have the most productive forest lands in united states of

the united states of america. as vicki knows, we are always having discussions over how we could better manage our forest. i am pleased to have her as the new chief. she is from washington state, our near neighbor. she understands the forest, our environment. "find your trail" i think was appropriate. jeff and others talked about the tree, tracing it in reverse. the nationaln trails system was established, 1968, it was a pretty tumultuous time in the united states. lyndon johnson was looking for something to perhaps unify people. he created the national trails system. we have five national trails in our state, and when he proposed this to congress, he said, but the beauty of the american outdoors must not be a holiday treat, but part of our daily life and a resource that ought to be available to every american.

with our five trails in the dalles and the magnificent willamette forest. that is the home of our tree here today. just like those trails, this tree allows everyone across the country to come together and enjoy oregon's beauty and bounty during the holiday season. i am proud to call oregon home. it is truly an honor to have our tree here as the national christmas tree to celebrate this special time of year. i hope this tree inspires all of you here to go out and find your own trail. again, as president johnson said 50 years ago, beauty belongs to all the people. and this is beauty. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you, congressman deblasio. i now have the great privilege to introduce the speaker of the house of representatives.

paul ryan has served the people of the first congressional district of wisconsin since 1999. he became speaker in 2015 and continues the tradition of lighting the capital christmas tree. ladies and gentlemen, the honorable paul ryan. [applause] mr. ryan: thank you, thank you. first, i want you oregonians to know your senator, ron wyden, long time friend of mine, led me into a pronunciation lecture. at the beginning of this ceremony. oregon, willamette, i could go on, but he did it with this baseball hat that reminded me of a rose bowl six years ago i was hoping to forget about. [laughter] but, i digress. what a beautiful tree. this is a beautiful occasion. i want to thank everyone who had

a hand in pulling this all of this together. thank you to the folks from willamette, oregon. brigette and everyone who made this possible. thank you so much for this wonderful journey. [applause] i know that is very much no small task, especially when a tree comes all the way from oregon. i want to thank my colleagues from the oregon delegation. i want to thank earl, susan, kirk, peter, and your two senators. one who has a better happen the -hat than the other one. this is my fourth and final time leading this event. each time, the tree is more stunning. i will say we have had some pretty nice trees in wisconsin, so maybe one of these days we get a wisconsin tree here, i have to say this noble fir is the best i have seen. it is a gorgeous tree. i also think it is a great time to come together.

i think we are reminded because of just what we did here this week in the capital, the fact that we lost a giant in our nation this week, and the loss of george h.w. bush was a great sorrow, but it also reminds us of a man who was a beacon of joy. a few days after one of his granddaughters was born, president bush wrote her a letter. he ends the letter by saying how you can do all these incredible things in life, but even with all of that, he writes, what counts his family and love. is family and love. he did not necessarily write about christmas, but is there anything which better captures the spirit, its light? we celebrate christmas year after year, and somehow it never becomes less special. it is a season dedicated to wonder and faith. we take our joy at the birth of a savior heralded by angels and

we spread that joy to all others in their lives. i think we could all say we could all use a little bit more of that. sometimes our best blessings are hidden. my favorite christmas movie is "it's a wonderful life." it captures this idea so well. i watch it every year. it's black and white. one of our traditions in my family is to try to convince my three teenagers to watch a black and white movie with their father. in this movie, george bailey despairs he has fallen short in life. he goes on so far to imagine the world would be better off without him. only when an angel comes to him and reveals how much he is loved, how much he is worth, how what kind of impact he has had on others, only then does he realize he truly has a wonderful life. we all have angels in our own

lives who remind us of our own blessings. there is so much good, so much joy, so much compassion all around us, but we often simply fail to see it. it is there, but it is hidden. all it needs is a few points to the light. light. in a moment, we will light this tree. we will bring in an expert to help us do this. this year, we have a brilliant young expert. this year, we have brigette harrington from hillsboro. brigette won a contest with her about oregon's outdoors and what oregon's outdoors mean to her. at this time, i would like to ask brigette to come up and read a few lines from her poem. [applause]

>> 'twas the month before christmas and all through my mind swirled thoughts of my oregon all intertwined the four seasons how extraordinary each one-of-a-kind plus memories galore for my mind to rewind the winter have beautiful the snow began to fall i quickly grabbed my mittens to make a chilly snowball the snowman we created sat proudly in my yard. he stayed there until he melted, a snowy, frosty guard. the raindrops have a pattern, the wind gusts how they blew in oregon this makes us special, through and through so don't be disappointed, for it can bring such joy

they are better than a toy in thinking of the springtime birds began to chime the tulips and the daffodils made for a colorful time. it was time to plant my garden, the seeds went in the ground, i watched each day as plants popped up and roots became earthbound onto summer, sunny days, the earth was in its glory, picking apples, berries and andrries, apples, peaches, more so sweet like a fairytale story. hiking in the green, lush forest evergreens abound watching wildlife and elk elk appear, animals all around. time for fall, it was really here, brilliant leaves ablaze leaves soon fell down, one by one,

my eyes just loved to gaze. finally to the pumpkin patch, what should i choose? a round one, a skinny one round, a skinny one it would amuse. it is time to cut our christmas tree. we have to find the right one. cannot wait to get it inside, all decorated and done. so as i close my eyes for sleep, my heart holds memories dear thinking of my home, our state, my oregon, how glad i am here. [applause] mr. ryan: beautiful. let's hear it for brigette. huh? wow. all right. we are going to do a count down. all right? you got the switch right here. i am really hoping this works. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. let her rip. yay! [applause]

♪ [instrumental "o christmas tree"] ms. merdon: thank you for coming to tonight's ceremony. joining speaker ryan, the oregon delegation, in the foresters the , united states navy band, and the young brigette in lighting the capitol christmas tree. ♪ >> tonight on c-span, president barack obama will secretary of state james baker, and presidential historian john meacham on leadership and public service. >> one of the things you

discover as president is that the post world war ii order that by fdr andcted truman and eisenhower and george , that that basic notion liberal in not partisan terms, but a pluralistic liberal market-based democracy andsed those sets of universal principles. democratic and republican leaders believed in those things. that is the running thread 1945 all the way

through reagan. ideaswere certain regardless how it was viewed, whether this was far right or yout, certain ideals assumed you had to follow. because that was part of american leadership in the world and it was part of what made us a great country. those are now being contested. in part because of the fact we don't have this common base of information, and i think that the biggest challenge we are going to have over the next 10, 15, 20 years is to return to a civic conversation in which if i say this is a chair, we agree this is a chair. >> the entire conversation with former president obama, james baker, and john region is on c-span tonight at

8:00 p.m. eastern. --sunday on q&a >> we are on the floor of the united states senate. that is unprecedented. and no one else has gotten an opportunity to do this. it is for a production on a documentary on the u.s. senate. on the floor one hour before they begin in a ring around the chamber. to get shots during the session and afterwards back down on the floor. truly special. >> c-span executive producer talks about his work on c-span's upcoming original production "the senate: conflict and compromise." >> if mitch mcconnell suggested this, how much control did he have over the content? >> zero. when we met with him for the first time, we had a couple conditions.one is that you have to becauseth the democrats we would like access to

republicans and got good access to the democrats. two, you don't have any editorial control over this. they said that is fine but we don't want you to focus on that. no, you can't ask us to do that because we are not going to concentrate on it. but again, we cannot shy away from it. with a productup that we feel both people on the journalism site and the people who watch the senate can say they did not give a big wet kiss of the senate but you have to watch it and say they did not do a hatchet job either. >> executive producer on c-span's original production "the senate: conflict and compromise," sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span's q&a. ryanuse speaker paul delivered his farewell address at the library of congress. he was introduced by congressman trey gowdy, who was also retiring from congress.