Michele Bachmann: “Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As always, it is a privilege to be able to come to the great well of the House of…”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As always, it is a privilege to be able to come to the great well of the House of Representatives, the greatest deliberative body in the history of the world, to be here and have an opportunity to bring a voice to the table and to speak to the American people as well as my constituents in the Sixth District of Minnesota. I want to join my colleagues in wishing a happy New Year to all the people in the United States. We look forward to a wonderful year in 2014. There are so many things that are good that we can look forward to this year, so many things that this body can get done, that we can agree on. We can agree on our veterans, standing for them, thanking them, first of all, that tonight, as we are here in this Chamber, we have men and women across the globe who are laying their lives on the line for us. Our prayers are with you, and our prayers are with your families. So, Mr. Speaker, I know that I speak for you and for all of our colleagues, that we want to let our troops know, there is nothing more important than the work that you do to secure our liberty and our freedom. We are for you, and we will be standing here for you this year, as we have in the past. We also stand together in recognition that the first and greatest obligation of all of us, as Members of Congress in this Chamber, is to secure the safety and security of the American people, the welfare of the American people, Mr. Speaker.…”