U.S. house elects Paul Ryan as speaker

Nov 04, 2015 U.S. Representative Paul Ryan recently took the oath of office after being elected speaker of the House.

Ryan, who won 236 votes among the 247 Republicans in the chamber, promised a more inclusiveness and entreating House.

While addressing the house, Ryan said:

“To me the House of Representatives represents what’s best of America, the boundless opportunity to do what’s good. But let’s be frank, the House is broken. We’re not solving problems, we’re adding to them. And I am not interested in laying blame. We are not settling scores, we are wiping the slate clean,”

As the 54th speaker, Ryan’s first challenge will be to avoid a government shutdown on Dec. 11 when funds for several federal agencies expire.

During his speech, Ryan also described the flinching confidence of the American people in government.

“They look at Washington, and all they see is chaos. What a relief to them it would be if we finally got our acts together. What a weight off of their shoulders. How reassuring it would be if we actually fixed the tax code, put patients in charge of their healthcare, grew our economy, strengthened our military, lifted people out of poverty, and paid down our debt,”