On Thursday, Oct. 29, Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) was elected as the 54th Speaker of the House.
Nominated by the House the day before, he was elected by a majority vote of the House of Representatives.
Originally, many conservatives were not in favor of Ryan; however, they are now ready to unite the party and create a new legislative agenda.
At 45-years-old, Ryan is the youngest speaker of the House since 1869. A fifth generation Wisconsin native, he is a congressman from the first congressional district.
Prior to becoming Speaker, Ryan served as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, which is responsible for fixing the tax code, holding the IRS accountable, strengthening Medicare and Social Security and making healthcare more affordable.
During the 112th and 113th Congresses, Ryan was a chairman to the House Budget Committee.
In 2012, Mitt Romney chose Ryan as his running mate for the presidential election. Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker of the House and current House Minority whip, was there to present Ryan with the gavel.
In an emotional speech, Ryan thanked former Speaker John Boehner for his service to the House of Representatives as speaker and as a congressman. In his first speech as Speaker, Ryan spoke very clearly and made his motives known.
“We are not solving problems. We are adding to them. And I am not interested in laying blame. We are not settling scores. We are wiping the slate clean,” he said.
Ryan expressed wishes to move forward as Speaker and stop the conflicts in the House that end in monotonous, motionless standstills where nothing is accomplished.
Ryan said, “We will not always agree—not all of us, not all of the time. But we should not hide our disagreements. We should embrace them. We have nothing to fear from honest differences honestly stated. If you have ideas, let’s hear them.”
He is for bipartisanship, which is why some of the more conservative members of the Republican Party are weary of Ryan. However, they did vote for him and are looking toward progress.
Ryan, a congressman with great history in different committees, also wishes to have members of congress currently in committees have a greater say and imprint in legislation.
He wishes to give the committees the power to write bills, instead of bills just being sent out of the Speaker’s office. I believe that Paul Ryan was the only clear choice for the Republicans, who control the House.
Ryan has the experience and is willing to work toward bettering the nation as a whole. Ryan is willing to work with both parties, something that worries some Republicans. He was the clear choice because he has the experience in very important committees in the house.
He has seniority and the backing of the Republican Party to make him a very strong Speaker of the House.
Bipartisanship is crucial because it shows that the congressman and women are looking past their own personal benefits and more toward the benefits of the American people.
The party purists are also willing to compromise crucial party beliefs to make the country better for the American people they represent.
Bipartisanship is the only thing that will “Make America Great Again.”
