speakerboehner on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free
 |
| Vintage Boehner Flyer |
WASHINGTON, DC – Following are excerpts from Congressman John Boehner’s (R-West Chester) remarks to the opening session of the 112th Congress which will convene today at 12:00 p.m. ET:Release from Americans for Limited Government:
* * * * * * * * * * * *
“We gather here today at a time of great challenges. Nearly one in ten of our neighbors are looking for work. Health care costs are still rising for families and small businesses. Our spending has caught up with us, and our debt will soon eclipse the size of our entire economy. Hard work and tough decisions will be required of the 112th Congress. 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 carrying out their instructions.”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"The American people have humbled us. They have refreshed our memories as to just how temporary the privilege to serve is. They have reminded us that everything here is on loan from them. That includes this gavel, which I accept cheerfully and gratefully, knowing I am but its caretaker. After all, this is the people’s House. This is their Congress. It’s about them, not us. What they want is a government that is honest, accountable and responsive to their needs. A government that respects individual liberty, honors our heritage, and bows before the public it serves.”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
“Our aim will be to give government back to the people. In seeking this goal, we will part with some of the rituals that have come to characterize this institution under majorities Republican and Democratic alike. We will dispense with the conventional wisdom that bigger bills are always better; that fast legislating is good legislating; that allowing additional amendments and open debate makes the legislative process ‘less efficient’ than our forefathers intended. These misconceptions have been the basis for the rituals of modern Washington. The American people have not been well served by them.”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
“We will not always get it right. We will not always agree on what is right. A great deal of scar tissue has built up on both sides of the aisle. We cannot ignore that, nor should we. My belief has always been, we can disagree without being disagreeable to each other. That’s why it is critical this institution operate in a manner that permits a free exchange of ideas, and resolves our honest differences through a fair debate and a fair vote. We may have different – sometimes, very different – ideas for how to go about achieving the common good, but it is our shared goal. It is why we serve.”
Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement in reaction to the speech given by Rep. John Boehner upon being elected the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the 112th Congress:
"Speaker Boehner understands that to serve as a representative is a trust with the American people based on the consent of the governed, not an entitlement for the powerful. In his words, it is the 'People's House' that he will be leading, merely as its caretaker, mindful that if the House Republican majority does not act on the express wishes of the people, that it will indeed be a temporary majority.
"The challenges are great. Washington now has its claws in health care via ObamaCare, the financial sector via Dodd-Frank and the takeovers of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and energy via the Environmental Protection Agency's carbon endangerment finding. These must be undone and repealed, and we praise Speaker Boehner's commitment to these issues.
"John Boehner is one leader in Washington who did get the message of November's elections, and Americans for Limited Government congratulates his elevation to the House Speaker's chair. His leadership in the minority against the Obama agenda in 2009 and 2010, against the 'stimulus', ObamaCare, carbon caps and taxes, and Washington's unsustainable spending, is one of the major reasons why Republicans regained a majority in November.
"Americans for Limited Government looks forward to working with the new Republican majority in the House and responsible Democrats to bring the nation's fiscal house into order, begin to pay off the national debt, and roll back an ever-expansive government.
"It will be up to Mr. Boehner to lead the charge to return the government to its limited constitutional functions, to the states, and most importantly, to the people."
