and no live event coverage here on c-span. >> i'm so happy to be here today

and so thrilled to swear in our new secretary and we are honored to have him. i would like to say a few words of appreciation first of course to the president of the united states for nominating a person who is respected and adored by war fighters. the secretary of defense -- i think a lot of them feel they haven't had someone that has had their back. that will change because the president of the united states nominated this guy and we are grateful to president trump for doing so. [applause] i also want to say thank you to my senate colleagues. it turns out we can spare one and all of you did an incredible job. in particular my dear friend, roger whittaker. thank you for shepherding this through the committee. you did a great job. and in addition to all of the

members of the senate armed services committee who i know gave pete the vetting and the hearing he deserved and i'm glad we all ultimately decided that the president's nominee for secretary of defense ought to be our actual secretary of defense. i want to say one final thing -- if you look at what has separated president trump from so many that came before him is the view that number one we should be sparing in how we deploy our most precious resource which is the men and women willing to put on the uniform and put their life on the line for this country. we should send them everywhere. and when we do send them anywhere we ought to empower them with the tools necessary to fight and win quickly and come home afterwards. and that is what sets this administration apart. [applause] finally, i have to thank the

domine himself, pete, you i for being willing to put yourself out there. i think you showed yourself to be a man of deep character and resolve. in of her, thank you for standing by our new secretary of defense. and your beautiful family from your kids to your extended family, you guys did a hell of a job. we are proud of you and happy to have you. so with that, let me serve you the oath of office. kids, come on. all right, put your hand on the bible and raise your right hand and repeat after me. i, pete hegseth do solemnly swear that i will support and defend the constitution of the united states. against all enemies, foreign and domestic. that i will bear true faith and

allegiance to the same. that i take this obligation freely. without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion. and that i will well and faithfully discharge. the duties of the office upon which i'm about to enter. so help me god? >> so help me god. host: congratulations, mr. secretary. [cheers and applause] sec. hegseth: all praise and

glory to god. his will be done and we are grateful to be here. as i said in my hearing, it is jesus and jenny. i would not be here without you, sweetheart. thank you so much. i want to thank the president of the united states, our commander in chief, donald trump. we could not have a better commander-in-chief to -- then him. it is an honorable lifetime, sir , to serve under you and i look forward to having the backs of our troops in executing peace through strength and putting america first and in rebuilding our military. mr. vice president, thank you for breaking the tie. [laughter] it is not the last time or the first time the headline reads -- junior enlisted marine bails out junior army officer. [laughter] some people were saying, 50-50, that is too tight.

and the senator was nice enough to take my wife and kids up to the gallery to watch the actual moment that the vice president sealed the deal. and they came running in and said, dad, instead of being sad about 51--- 51-50, it was -- dad, you won in overtime and that is the perspective that i like. thank you throughout this process is to rise president for being incredible. i want to thank the chairman of the senate armed services committee and many of the members. we keep -- we became fast friends through this process. the advice and wisdom and guidance -- i look forward to working with all of you and other senators to make sure the defense department has would it needs and our nation has would it needs and is prepared to defend. to my amazing staff who has been with us this entire process, i see so many of you drew thick and thin -- we should look at the betting odds every once in a while.

we defied the odds and there were so many folks on the inside and allies on the outside and we are eternally grateful. i want to thank the war fighters. i want to thank men and women that wear the uniform. and i've said this before when i speak and i mean it -- every time i stand at a podium under the bright lights and cameras, the first thing that goes through my head are the guys that i served with on the battlefield. the men and women who i locked shields with and put my life on the line with. they will never get the spotlight, they have never had the cameras and people don't know what they did in dark and dangerous places. but i know. and at the pentagon we will remember them and think about those warriors with every single decision that we make your we will put america first and we will bring peace through strength. and the three principles that i

talked about, restore the warrior in thousand everything that we do, rebuild our military and reestablish deterrence. we want to end wars responsibly but if we need to fight them, we will bring overwhelming and decisive force to close them down and bring home our warriors. [applause] and to my other family that is here, as well as my love, it is the honor of a lifetime. and i would be remiss if i did not highlight one person in the room that does not expect to be highlighted. the captain is here and he was my company commander on my first deployment in guantánamo bay. he was there on june 3, 2003, when i first swore in as a

second lieutenant at princeton university. he swore me in and i wanted to make sure that he was here with me today as well. [applause] mr. president, thank you very much and to the american people, we have your back and we will get to work right away. god bless. thank you. [applause] host: i guess that is it. any questions? reporter: [indiscernible] host: let me answer that for the new secretary. all people in our armed services should trust him because he will look out for them, fight for them and make sure that we have a military that we can proud of and that again, when we send them to do a job we do it well, quickly and then get the hell out and that is what the

secretary will bring to the department of defense. anything else? reporter: [indiscernible] host: i was with the buckeyes -- vice president vance: i was with the buck aids got buckeyes to week ago.