All hail new House Speaker Paul Ryan. And all say, “There, there, now, now” to outgoing Speaker John Boehner, who not only shed a tear (as is his wont) during his farewell speech but walked off into the sunset with a box tissues in hand, which he waved to his fellow congressmen as he took his leave:
.@SpeakerBoehner waves tissue box as he concludes his farewell speech to Congress https://t.co/dnIiksluB9 pic.twitter.com/ffqKFOQ9Oj
— CNN (@CNN) October 29, 2015
Ryan won with 234 votes. Nancy Pelosi came next with 182, followed by Daniel Webster with 9, and “other” with 3. Although Pelosi did not win the speakership, which is no surprise considering that Republicans still control the House, she was gracious (or at least affected grace) in her introduction to Ryan’s acceptance speech.
In the speech, a video clip of which follows, Ryan…
…called for a renewed effort to make the House function as a great deliberative body again. He underscored the need for a larger vision behind the House’s day-to-day work and called for all members to rise to the occasion.
“The House is broken. We are not solving problems We are adding to them,” Ryan said adding that a new way of doing things is in order. “We are not settling scores. We are wiping the slate clean.”
“Only a truly functioning House can represent the people,” Ryan said.
Ryan acknowledged that debate and differences are a necessary part of the legislative process and called for a greater degree of respect in listening to opposing views.
https://youtu.be/5r9u9Z88ojY