Chief of protocol to welcome you in to the swearingin ceremony of bill hagerty as the u. S. Ambassador to japan. The honorable mike pence will do the oath of office. It is my great pleasure to introduce the Vice President of the United States, mr. Mike pence. [applause] Vice President pence good afternoon. And on behalf of the first family, welcome to the white house. Its going to be my great honor today and in fact a privilege to administer the oath of office to the 42nd United States ambassador to japan, bill hagerty. [cheers and applause] were joined today by some very distinguished guests. Senator alexander and senator corker, both from bill hagertys home state of tennessee. Will you join me in welcoming both . [applause] see distinguished members of the military and other honored guests. I know the familys very grateful youre here. As is the president and myself. Were joined today also by the most distinguished guests who are here, and that is our incoming ambassadors wonderful family. His mother, ruth. [applause] and most especially, his wonderful wife, chrissy, and their four beautiful children. [applause] will you guys stand up . Go ahead and stand up. The hagerty family heads to japan and its a big crew. We also have many other honored guests with us today. Including the commander of the United States armed forces japan, general jerry martinez. And many distinguished members of congress from his home state. As well as the senators that i mentioned before. In fact, its important to note that senator corker is in fact the chairman of the Senate Foreign affairs committee. And were truly honored to have you and senator alexander here. Were also joined by members of congress from the house of representatives in tennessee, congressman john duncan, congresswoman diane black, congresswoman marsha blackburn, congressman scott dejar less, david cuss staff and congressman phil roe. Will you give them a round of applause . [applause] and i know its a particular honor to have with us bills counterpart, japans ambassador to the United States of america, ambassador sasei and his wife. [applause] as well as the special advisor to the Prime Minister and kawai. Ki [applause] as i had the privilege of expressing during my trip to japan on the president s behalf earlier this year, under president donald trump, the United States is firmly committed. Firmly committed to our treasured friend and ally, japan. One of the clearest signs of that commitment, i believe, today is the president s choice of bill hagerty as americas ambassador to japan. [applause] bill, throughout your life, youve helped to strengthen the ties between america and japan. It started early in your career when you actually lived in japan on a threeyear assignment as a consultant. You then served as an Economic Advisor under president George Herbert walker bush. In your time as commissioner of the Tennessee Department of economic and community development, you worked with japanese firms to make investments in your home state that created good paying jobs for the people of tennessee. Your commitment to japan reaches far beyond a professional level. Your service on the board of the far east council of the boy scouts of america has brought the people of our nations closer together and has deepened the friendship of our nations for generations to come. President trump has now called on you to represent the United States as our ambassador to japan. This is a momentous time in the life of our alliance. In this time of challenge and widening threats in the region, the u. S. Japan Alliance Remains the cornerstone of peace, prosperity, and freedom in the asiapacific. The United States and japan stand together resolutely to confront whatever threats are posed to us, especially those posed by the regime in north korea. [applause] and the president is also committed to expanding our bonds of commerce. As President Trump said when he met with Prime Minister abe earlier this year, in his words, the vibrant exchange between us is truly a blessing. And so it is. Through the u. S. Japan economic dialogue, which the president had me launch during my visit in april, our nations have been working tirelessly to deepen our bilateral economic ties even further. And we look forward to working with you to advance that effort. Bill, given your integrity, your record of leadership, and your distinguished history, the president and i are confident that will you compel in this new role excel in this new role. Youll help make the extraordinary friendship and alliance between the United States of america and japan even stronger. And now it is my great privilege to administer to you the oath of office. Raise your right hand. Repeat after me. I, Francis Hagerty iv do solemnly swear that i will support and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Mr. Hagerty against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Vice president pence that i will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. That i take this obligation freely. Without any mental reservation. Or purpose of evasion. And that i will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office. On which i am about to enter. So help me god. Mr. Hagerty so help me god. Congratulations. [cheers and applause] Vice President pence ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to introduce to you the United States ambassador to japan, william Francis Hagerty iv. [applause] mr. Hagerty mr. Vice president , thank you so much. It is truly an honor to be sworn in by you, sir. For a number of reasons. One, you are our incredible leader as chairman of the Transition Team and it was my privilege to serve under you there. Thank you very much, sir. [applause] second, on behalf of the United States, you lead our economic Bilateral Dialogue with japan. There could not be a more fitting person to introduce this relationship than you. Again, thank you. And third, its a very personal point to me. But the last time that i was in this room was when i was on the staff of another great Vice President who hailed from indiana. Vice president dan quail. It was an honor to work for him then and, sir, it is an honor to work for you now. Thank you. Id also like to thank our senators. Senator alexander, senator corker, both of you have been mentors, friends and guides to me. Its meant so much to me personally to have the benefit of your incredible knowledge, your leadership, and i look forward to continuing to work very closely with you both as we move forward. I know that i would not be here today were it not for you. Thank you. [applause] the rest of our tennessee delegation. Ive worked with all of you, from the tip of memphis to the top part of bristol, tennessee. Im so glad to have your support and have you here. I want to thank some great ambassadors that are here with us today. Id like to start with my great colleague, ambassador sasei from japan. I look forward toworking with you, sir. It will be a great honor. Youre one of the foremost ambassadors not only from your country, of course, but in the entire ambassadorial arena. I look forward to working and learning from you. As time goes on. Also, there are five ambassadors here today that id like to acknowledge and recognize. One of them has been a great friend and mentor to me for a number of years. Thank you very much for being here, sir. Ambassador tom shannon is here. I appreciate your leadership. As our undersecretary of state, you play a very Important Role and i feel very honored to serve with you. Ambassador stewart holiday from the United Nations is here. Also ambassador silverstein is here. Thank you for being here. [applause] and our soon to be ambassador from portugal is here with us today. I could not be more excited about your presence and the opportunities for our country with portugal. Thank you for being here as well. Id also like to ask those of you who can, who are on the Transition Team, to please stand. Those of you already standing, please raise your hand. Theres a wonderful brotherhood and bond here. That time in the trenches has meant so much to me. And to have you here today, it really touches my heart. So thank you so much. Im also very pleased to be here in the presence of my friend ray washburn who will soon be the head of opec. I look forward to working with you very soon. I also would like to thank my friends who traveled from far and near. Youve come from overseas, from all across the country. I cant thank you enough for being here. Its a true honor. So with that id like to say, i look forward to the challenge ahead of us. I couldnt be more honored. Nor more humbled, given the leads that are have gone before me. But please know that im going to approach this with the vigor and energy that you all know that i have and with the support of my wonderful family, were going to make a wonderful contribution to what is already a wonderful relationship even stronger. Thank you very much. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, this concludes our ceremony. On behalf of the ambassador, the Vice President and the ambassadors family, thank you very much for being here and sharing this special occasion. Congratulations. Mr. Hagerty thank you very much. [applause] Vice President pence and his wife are overseas this weekend as part of a visit to eastern europe. In estonia, the Vice President addressed the situation in north korea and the u. S. Commitment to nato while briefly speaking with reporters. Mr. Vice president , can you talk a bit about north korea and what you see as possible solutions are. They just test another missile. Their capabilities seem to be improving. What options does the United States . Vice president pence all options are on the table. The president has made that clear. Continued provocations by the rogue regime in north korea are unacceptable and the United States of america is going to continue to marshall this across the region and the world to further isolate north korea economically and diplomatically