Nancy Pelosi: “Thank you very much. So what's this, a Democrat in the Speaker's chair? This is a very friendly group. Good morning to…”

“Thank you very much. So what's this, a Democrat in the Speaker's chair? This is a very friendly group. Good morning to all of you. Jack, thank you for your leadership and the good work of the Former Members Association. Jim, it is wonderful to see you there. It is wonderful to see all of you here. Thank you for coming. Thank you for your ongoing interest. You know that we consider you on both sides of the aisle intellectual resources to us in the Congress. We also quote you. We build upon your good work. It is just really a source of great encouragement to us that you continue to have the interest to come back to this place. All of us who have ever served here who have had the privilege of stepping onto this floor and represent the American people, what a great privilege. It is a banner of honor for life. I come here on behalf of the House Democrats to bring you greetings, to welcome you here, to thank you for being an ongoing source of inspiration to us, and also to say that, as I have said before, all of us who serve here consider ourselves colleagues of people that we never even served with before because we have all shared this great honor. On their behalf, I am privileged to say what a privilege it is for us to call you colleague. I am glad that we are also joined by our distinguished minority whip, Democratic whip, I always use the name Democratic, Democratic whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland. I see so many friends here again on both sides of the aisle.…”