Remarks by Congresswoman Sara Jacobs During Virtual Swearing-In Ceremony
Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (D-CA-53) was officially sworn in as a Member of the House of Representatives for the 117th Congress during a ceremony Sunday in the House Chamber in the United States Capitol. That evening, Congresswoman Jacobs hosted a ceremonial and virtual swearing-in celebration, with the oath administered by retired Congresswoman Susan Davis. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Democratic Caucus Vice Chair Pete Aguilar spoke, along with San Diego community members Max Coston, Angela de Joseph, Guillermo Castillo, and JoAnn Fields.
Remarks from Congresswoman Jacobs thanking former Congresswoman Davis:
“Thank you, Congresswoman Davis. I can't even express how grateful I am for you being here today. As you said, your staff is one of the most important things and I thank you for hiring a great staff, many of which I got to keep. I'm really excited to continue your legacy of excellent and above and beyond constituent services and to make sure that we uphold that level of outreach and constituents that the 53rd District has come to expect.
“I also just want to thank you as a San Diegan and a young woman for your 20 years of service. It's been an honor getting to count you as a mentor and you've really been a leader and a bridge-builder on health care, education, civil rights, supporting veterans and military families and I'm so grateful. I was looking back at your very first bill in Congress twenty years ago, to expand and strengthen women's access to health care, and that fight continues and couldn't be more important. From then on you have consistently stood up for what's right while finding ways to build coalitions and get things done. So, thank you again for being here. Thank you for your acts large and small on behalf of San Diego and the 53rd District. I hope to make you proud and congratulations on your very well-deserved retirement.”
Remarks by Congresswoman Jacobs at the Conclusion of the Ceremony:
“It’s been a long journey and you all have been such amazing supporters and I'm so grateful. To everyone who has joined us on Zoom and social media from home, and from all across the country, to my parents Gary and Jerri-Ann who are here with me, to my brother Adam, my sibling Beth, my brother Dylan, all of their partners, all of my extended family: I wouldn't have been here without you.
“I'm just truly humbled and honored to be sworn in today as a member of Congress representing my hometown and the community that I love.
“I'm ready to do the hard work of getting us out of this pandemic, rebuilding the American people's trust in our government and institutions and bringing a new approach to governing. Because at a time when trust in government is lower than ever before, when we have an economic crisis and a pandemic that is ravaging communities, the work to rebuild is more important than ever.
“Today, I took an oath to support and defend the Constitution and now I want to take an oath and make a promise to all of you. I promise to never settle for the way things have always been done. I promise not to trust conventional wisdom without reason. I can't promise that we will all agree on everything, definitely not. But I can promise that I will always listen to you. I will always respect you and you will always know where I stand. I know my job will be more difficult by making these promises, by vowing to make the hard decisions, have the uncomfortable conversations and do things differently. But to be honest if we are really going to restore and rebuild trust, we don't have any other choice. We have to do that hard work and you deserve that from your representative. We have to move forward to build together the future that we all deserve and I'm so excited to do that work with all of you.
“I want to not only change the policies that affect our lives, but change how we make that policy too. It's about talking about things differently, thinking differently and actually doing things differently. Part of doing things differently is selecting different kinds of leaders. There aren't a lot of people in Congress who look like me. But today, there are more than ever before. Today, 122 women were sworn into Congress, the most in history. And today I became the youngest member from California and the third youngest member in all of Congress.
“I take that responsibility seriously -- to ensure that future generations have a world that's livable, an economy that's equitable, and that the United States rebuilds our institutions and our standing around the world.
“This is our moment to rebuild and restore trust in our institutions in our government and most importantly in each other. This is our moment to be bold and to take on big challenges and I aim and I promise to you that I will meet this moment. So, thank you for joining us and thank you from the bottom of my heart for the faith you've put in me. I'm honored to be entrusted with this responsibility and I’m looking forward to getting started. So, thank you all again, so so much.”