elected leadership of the democratic and republican caucuses in each chamber, and especially to speaker sharkey and majority leader aresimowicz as they take on their new roles. congratulations as well to the new members of the general assembly who were sworn in earlier today. i look forward to working with you in the months and years ahead. as we gather in this historic chamber, let us always keep in our thoughts the brave men and women of the great state of connecticut serving in our armed forces around the globe. we thank them and our veterans for their service and sacrifice, and we pray for their continued safety. i'd like to recognize my wonderful wife cathy and my sons daniel and sam who join us today. thank you. [applause] as i know is true for so many of you, i could not do my job without the tremendous love and support of my family. finally, we are joined by two of newtown's finest leaders -- first selectwoman pat llodra and school superintendent dr. janet robinson. it's an honor to have you with us today. [applause] you were tested by unimaginable tragedy, your compassion and leadershi

elected leadership of the democratic and republican caucuses in each chamber, and especially to speaker sharkey and majority leader aresimowicz as they take on their new roles. congratulations as well to the new members of the general assembly who were sworn in earlier today. i look forward to working with you in the months and years ahead. as we gather in this historic chamber, let us always keep in our thoughts the brave men and women of the great state of connecticut serving in our armed forces around the globe. we thank them and our veterans for their service and sacrifice, and we pray for their continued safety. i'd like to recognize my wonderful wife cathy and my sons daniel and sam who join us today. as i know is true for so many of you, i could not do my job without the tremendous love and support of my family. finally, we are joined by two of newtown's finest leaders -- first selectwoman pat llodra and school superintendent dr. janet robinson. it's an honor to have you with us today. [applause] tested by unimaginable tragedy, your compassion and leadership over the past month has been

let me congratulate all of the leaders of both chambers, speaker sharkey, majority leader, the presidentd the minority leaders. congratulations on being elected or reelected. i want to congratulate all of you for being elected or reelected. to those of you returning, welcome back. to those of you about to join your first session, you have joined a special body of government that can give you more opportunities and more experience and more fun than you have ever had. my time in the house was some of the best years of my life. for all of the wonderful friends i made on both sides of the aisle. i wish you the same. i want to address what is an important issue. that is my hope that we approach our work here every day with one thing in mind -- our first herpes here is not to represent democrats or republicans -- our first thought is not to represent democrats or republicans. it is to represent the families of our great state and do our best everyday to make their lives better now and in the future. i hope no matter what we do here over the next six months, we will never forget why we are real