Welcome to the 60th presidential inauguration.

Today, President-elect Trump and Vice President-Elect Vance will take their oaths of office,

and we will witness the peaceful transfer of power at the heart of our democracy.

For the past year, I've chaired the inaugural ceremony committee, which includes the leadership of Congress from both parties.

We thank the committee and capital staff and law enforcement who worked so hard over the last year,

and especially the last three days.

You've done a beautiful job, and you have shown grace under pressure.

Our theme this year is our enduring democracy. The presence of so many presidents and vice

presidents here today is truly a testament to that endurance.

We welcome President Biden and Dr. Biden.

We welcome Vice President Harris and Doug Emahoff, President Obama, President Clinton and Secretary

Clinton, President Bush and Laura Bush, Vice President Pence, Vice President Quayle, and Marilyn Quayle.

The justices of the United States Supreme Court are with us, all nine of them, I counted.

And of course, the Trump and Vance families.

This ceremony marks what will soon be 250 years of our democracy.

It is the moment when leaders, elevated by the will of the people, promised to be faithful to our Constitution, to cherish and defend it.

It is the moment when they become, as we all

should be, the guardians of our country. Through war and peace, through adversity and prosperity,

we hold this inauguration every four years, and today it falls on Martin Luther King Day, a further reminder that we must strive

to uphold the values enshrined in our Constitution, the freedoms, the liberties, and, as is inscribed

on the entrance of the United States Supreme Court, equal justice under law.

But what makes this moment more than a passing ceremony is all who are watching it across the country,

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