Watch online at cspan. Org or listen on the go with the free cspan radio app. Speakeresday, house nancy pelosi led a portrait unveiling honoring former Speaker John Boehner who announced he would step down in september, 2015 his resignation took place the following month, day after pope francis addressed congress. This is 40 minutes. Ladies and gentlemen, the , Speaker Nancy Pelosi of the United States house of representatives. Speaker pelosi good afternoon everyone. It is my official and personal honor to welcome friends of to thejohn boehner u. S. Capitol on this historic day. Members and friends from both sides of the idol ill and both sides of the capital both sides of the aisle is a signal of respect. It speaker gingrich and speaker ryan are both here. [applause] and we warmly walk and extend our gratitude to debbie, lindsay and tricia and the entire boehner family for sharing john with his congress and our country. With this congress and with our country. I now invite delivery of the invocation. I am surrounded by quad phonic speakers. Quadrophonic speakers. [laughter] god, we give you thanks for the proceedings of this day. Boehner andker john his place in history as the 53rd speaker of the peoples house. We thank you for his many years of faithful attention to the peoples house, as it speaker. Our nation will always be grateful for his leadership and aware of the important Speaker Boehner made boehner to the greatness of our nation. Bless our time here together on this joyous occasion. Ceremonies,e of the may all be reminded of our shared citizenship and the importance of Public Service in the advancement of our experiment of constitutional democracy. May all that is said and done here be for your greater honor and glory, amen. Gentlemen, please rise for the presentation of the colors of the United States by the u. S. Capitol Police Ceremonial Unit and the singing of our national anthem. And the retiring of the colors. Say can you see. Land of the free, and the home of the brave [color guard commands] ladies and gentlemen, the honorable kevin mccarthy, republican leader of the United States house of representatives. Good afternoon. It is an honor to be here. Of all the turmoil going in broughton, john boehner us all back together. [laughter] a special thanks to johns wife debbie and to his children and grandchildren. I spent many hours with your father and sometimes it was a smokefilled room. [laughter] but he always spoke of you. He always spoke of you. From the earliest days, the capital billing has showcased Americans Values through art. The Capital Building has showcased americas values through art. Few individuals embody these values more than john does. Think for a moment of the American Dream. A young boy growing up with 11 siblings and sweeping the floors of his dads bar. Nothing prepared him more for the job of being speaker. [laughter] in congress, john served in several leadership roles and as a committee chair. In modern history he was among the best prepared in history to be elected to become speaker. And this preparation served john well, and our country. History will be kind to this man. From the time don received that received that year when i this had to return at, the federal government was spending less in discretionary that it was when john was first handed the gavel. I do not know if they will ever happen again. It has already been broken. John secured new Educational Opportunities through Charter Schools for underprivileged children a d. C. And across the country. He showed his love for freedom by commissioning the freedom foyer in the capital include the bust of william churchill. Winston churchill. He did this while skillfully managing diverse views and personalities. [laughter] you know who they are. [laughter] weaw this firsthand when Work Together to earn the trust of the American People to lead congress. I saw a lot of john and will always be the grateful for the opportunity he gave me. I met john for the first time as a young staffer, when he was on the Oversight Committee in north carolina. In a contested election. We became friends. When i first got elected to congress as a freshman, i remember john calling me into his office, when he was minority leader. He wanted to offer me the job of being the Platform Committee to that year. I remember turning to him and asking him, did i do some thing wrong . [laughter] he gave me a day to think about it and i took the job. Our member calling him and he said were going to win the majority. Ira never calling him. I will i remember calling him. We want to make a pledge to america for what we promise to do and would carry out. John was right. America was hungry for that. I remember taking john to the First Tea Party rally. On aprils on tax day, 15. John heard something others were not hearing across this country. And he wanted to make a pledge that we would govern differently. He was right. We captured 63 seats that year. John became the speaker of the house. If you look at this career, there are a lot of trees and some stumbles. Our life is like a book, and there are times in the chapter when we stumble that it may be the end of that chapter. There are many that would have left a retired left or retired going through some of the struggles john endured. You never see him complain, he always had that smile on his face. And he endured. And he rose to the occasion that many did not think possible. To recapture the house. Not just for a party, but for a republic and a country. I applaud you for the work you have done. Learned, case, what i and all those days of being speaker, and some were tough. Job. Has the patience of for job that meant suffering and never losing faith in god or cursing him. John never lost his faith in god, his country or his party along the way, there have been a few tears. [laughter] but i will tell you this, whenever you saw the tears on his face, he was usually talking about children or freedom. Because he cared deeply about their future and about hours. John put his heart and soul into preserving the American Dream, particular through education. He wanted everyone to have the opportunities that a good education creates. Will add this portrait to the gallery of speakers. Many people will pass by it, but what will it tell us . A portrait last a long time, but a legacy of change last far longer. It grows from generation to generation, like compounding interest or a snowball rolling down a hill. John, your legacy is right here in the peoples house. This portrait is more than a tribute to one man. Is an internal reminder and each turn reminder of the values he stood for, freedom, hard work and never quitting. Those are the same qualities Theodore Roosevelt spoke of in the arena, and not lived up to them. To us asait speaks clearly as when john would speak to us from the floor of the house. It is the same message we would hear when he would comment about our cricket tie or our wrinkled suit jacket our crooked tie or rigell suit jacket. Is thenting the people most sacred response ability and american can have. John took pride in how he appeared before the American Public because he took pride in them. He was proud to be their representative and showed it in the responsibilities it entailed. This is what i will hear when i walk by this portrait, and i will take pride in knowing that the American People know what john stood for. I know that john does not put much stake in fanfare. If you asked him, he never wanted this day too, and never cared about a portrait. His approach was to get to the point quickly and emphasize it strongly. Like president lincoln at gettysburg. John to be brief, but make a big impact on peoples lives. For all johns greater compliments, great accomplishments, funding, opening and changing the v. A. , transform your country and listening to a voice others ofld not, there are couple things that still live on, like the boehner birthday song. [laughter] you may know that last sunday was his 70th birthday. I would like to end with you joining with me in singing to john, his birthday song, the boe hner way. Your birthday song, it does not now asked to long. Last too long. I know your portrait will last generations. The honorable charles e schumer, the aquatic leader of the United States senate. Democratic leader of the United States senate. When your chairman of the rules committee, as i wasnt 2012, he planned the president ial inauguration and associated festivities, including the congressional luncheon, and honor but a laborious task. Without naming any names, several dignitaries had preferences about where they liked to sit, when they would like to speak and how, exactly, they would like their food prepared. Boehner,ked speaker he replied, i am one of 12 children. It does not even need to be warm. [laughter] despite rising to one of the highest offices in our country, john boehner never forgot where he came from. He carried that modesty and a sense of perspective with him. Even the speaker of the house can sing to exhibit he do to at ang zippety doo dah press conference. As colleagues have noted, john wore his emotions on his sleeve. He sometimes got overwhelmed and not always when you would expect. A politico headline wondered, why does john boehner cry so a seriesfore listing of misty item moments. Listening to a song on st. Patricks day, before american the beautiful america to beta for, after it listening to america the beautiful, after a to golfter a tribute legend arnold palmer. If only he had stayed a few more years i never would have become crying chuck schumer. [laughter] me, andident labeled initially was parenthetical, as fake tears schumer, because i was weepy and tearyeyed when we had immigrants whose families were being split up on stage. And trump said, i know schumer, and he never cries. Actually it is well known in my family, when i took my children to see free willy, i started weeping when he escapes. My daughters ran out of the theater. Im not going to see speaker im not going to say Speaker Boehner and i agreed on most issues. But he always exercised humility and a sense of humor and understood the nature of compromise. He knew that in a divided government you do not get a hundred percent of what you want all the time. Sometimes he knew you do not even get what you want from your own side of the aisle. It is not hard to understand johns love of cigarettes, red wine, and the occasional serenity prayer. His interest in legalizing marijuana had started earlier, he might have enjoyed an even more relaxing speakership. [laughter] it is an easy subject, you know. In all seriousness, Speaker Boehner was always a good, a decent man. He worked to guide the house under the most gold of circumstances. We thank him for his service. Under the most difficult of circumstances. We thank him for his service. We are glad to see he is enjoying the next chapter in his life. [laughter] [applause] ladies and gentlemen, the honorable mitch mcconnell, majority leader of the United States senate. While it is great to be here today with all of you for this wonderful occasion, i have been hardpressed to think what words of tribute could possibly be meaningful to a stone cold stoic in john boehner. Situations like this you can imagine some on arrays may be may be some honorees getting emotional or choked up, but not john. Not somebody so unemotional, so completely unflappable. You could set aside all johns other compliments, and he would still deserve three deserve to be remembered forever as the best deal negotiator with the worst poker face in political history. Has alwaysr boehner worn his heart on his sleeve. It is one of the biggest reasons he earned so much respect and affection through his career. Even from those who strongly disagree with him. Inall remember john arrived 1991 as a hardcharging young conservative. He and six other freshmen decided to endear themselves to the old guard by immediately calling out the house banking scandal. John kept right on shaking things up and speaking his mind for a quarter of a century. He fought for reforms. He helped shape and lead his conference. And he served the American People as speaker of the house. Institution through a turbulent time with patriotism, principal, and graciousness. I will never forget how john asked lane to the job of speaker for the press. John explained the job of speaker for the press. I grew up in a bar, mopped floors, the dishes, tended bar. You had to learn to deal with every character that comes in the place. And trust me, i need all the lessons i learned growing up to do this job. [laughter] that is the john boehner magic. John, you had the red wine, trattoria, the smokes, the golf. Almost a caricature of a powerful leader come to life walked right off the page of some political cartoon. You also have this remarkably forthright, goodhearted and genuine person. One of the most down to earth individuals this town has ever seen. Many have observed john embodies the American Dream, as others have said, one of 12 kids living in a one bedroom house and wiping down a bar in a factory town grows up to walk the corridors of power and actually gets his portrait hung right here in the u. S. Capital. But that is not the whole story. The story is not just that john climbed from a hubble start to wield from a humble start to wield all this power. The real story of the American Dream is how he used that power, working to help other children write stories of their own. John knew in his bones that he was speaker of the house for a reason. He knew he was speaker because small factory towns do not fight for themselves and Innercity School children who need School Choice do not fight for themselves. Idea does notn fight for itself. Champions, andy a new, mr. Speaker, they all had one. Congratulations on this historic honor. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, the , Speaker Nancy Pelosi of the United States house of representatives. Speaker pelosi back here again. Boehner speaker is a great speakerho has boehner is a great patriot who dedicated his life. It is appropriate that we dedicate his portrait here in this pantheon where great americans are mortal immortalized in portraits and bronze. Now his portrait will be in the speaker slobbery and it inspiring, enduring monument to the contributions he made to this country. I was trying to thing a vocations when i saw john crying. And then of i was trying to think of occasions when i saw john crying. I think he was crying when he gave me the gavel of speaker of the house. [laughter] being the first woman speaker, it was emotional, wasnt it, john . In johns Farewell Speech on the house floor, he said, the peoples house is that great embodiment of the American Dream. All of the speakers have addressed that aspect of johns life, of a speakers life. How appropriate that john served as speaker of the house because john is the personification of the American Dream. In his story, we are reminded of the promise of america. That a hardworking son of an ohio bar man can rise to be speaker of the house. Was aaker, john formidable spokesperson for his party and his cause. He sought Common Ground where he could, held his ground where he could not. Understood the value of relationships and consensus building. About something i advise other members to be, he was always a person of his word. And friendship never left his voice and all of our negotiations. We will never forget how he worked with ted kennedy and , two liberal lions, under the leadership of president george w. Bush, to pass Landmark Education legislation. We had our differences but i remember i respected his commitment to america and to this institution. We all remember how john made the visit of pope francis such a meaningful and beautiful experience for all of us, dont we, allister . And how wonderful today to see young allister here with zachary. Allister was six weeks old when he was blessed by the pope that day, with clarity, beauty and moral urgency, pope francis called on us to be better stewards of gods creation and to be instruments of gods peace. Don had that clarity and everything he did. Thanks to johns leadership, the holy fathers message of hope, peace and dialogue will be a blessing and an inspiration to our congress and the country for many years to come. In his Farewell Speech, not quite farewell because we have but in thatow. Space, john often spoke of the namesake of his home city, the great roman general, cincin natus, who answer the call of his nation to lead and then surrendered his power to return to the home he loved. John, the congress and the country have been strengthened by your decision to answer the call of our nation when you did. And now we wish you all the best, as you enjoy your retirement i do not know if that is quite the word for it. Now i have the privilege of inviting up to the podium here, Speaker Boehners family to join in the unveiling of his portrait. Debbie, thank you so much. And alister and zachary will be joining us as well, the future, the future, headache,. Let us welcome the future, the future, here they,. Let us here they come. Let us welcome the family to the podium. [applause] alister. Hmm, hmm, hmm,[chuckling] oh, man ready . [applause] [applause] [indiscernible] thank you. [laughter] thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, the honorable john a. Boehner, 53rd speaker of the Un