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Friday, January 4, 2013

PHOTOS: Virginian Tim Kaine Sworn In to U.S. Senate

Kaine said he is "rested and ready."

Tim Kaine was sworn in Thursday as the newest Senator from Virginia. Vice President Joe Biden presided over the mock ceremony after the official one on the Senate floor, and Anne Holton, Kaine's wife, proudly held a bible as her husband took the oath to become Virginia's junior Senator. "I feel wonderful — rested and ready," Kaine said at a reception in his honor at the Hart Senate Office Building. "Life doesn't happen unless you are able to listen and compromise. With this beginning of the 113th Congress, the Senate has 15 newcomers...and I've watched group dynamics just as you have, and when you have that much change it opens the windows and rescrambles assumptions." Kaine then quoted from Abraham Lincoln's first inaugural addresss: "We …

PHOTO: Speaker Boehner Swears In Rep. Gerry Connolly for Third Term

Virginia's 11th District congressman surrounded by family and friends at ceremony on first day of 113th Congress.

Virginia Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-11th) was sworn in for a third term on Thursday by Speaker of the House John Boehner. Connolly was re-elected Nov. 6, beating out Republican Chris Perkins. Connolly was surrounded Thursday by family and friends at his swearing-in ceremony on Capitol Hill. The oath of office officiated by the speaker is ceremonial, conducted after an official swearing-in of the entire Congress at noon on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. The first day of the 113th Congress Thursday came on the heels of a tumultuous debate over the "fiscal cliff," voted on by the House on New Year's Day. Though he had reservations, Congressman Connolly was the only House member in Virginia to vote for the bill, siding with…

Thursday, January 3, 2013

It's Official—Tim Kaine Becomes Sen. Kaine Thursday at Swearing-In

Kaine takes oath of office Thursday afternoon at U.S. Capitol.

On the first day of the 113th Congress Thursday, Tim Kaine took the oath of office, officially taking the title of United States Senator. Kaine and his family participated in a re-enactment Thursday afternoon at the U.S. Capitol's Old Senate Chamber with Vice President Joe Biden officiating. Kaine's wife, Ann Holton, held a bible. The vice president swears in new Senators and re-elected Senators at the start of each Congress. The official swearing-in took place earlier on the Senate floor. Kaine, a Democrat, was elected Nov. 6 to the U.S. Senate representing Virginia, and will serve alongside Sen. Mark Warner (D). Both Kaine and Warner are former governors of Virginia. Kaine, 54, was Virginia's governor from 2006 to 2010. Prior to that, he…

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