 This is the big day. Mr. President. Shall we begin? If you will repeat the oath after me please. I, Elizabeth Hanford Dole, I, Elizabeth Hanford Dole, do solemnly swear, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend, that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic 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 and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office the duties of the office on which I am about to enter on which I am about to enter so help me God so help me God Mr. President, Justice O'Connor, Senator Dole, and my dear mother this is of course a very, very high moment for me in my career and I first want to thank Justice O'Connor for being here this afternoon to administer the oath of office to me she is widely admired and regarded across this country at a time when millions of women are experiencing new opportunities and their horizons are broadening each person who is here today with me whether a friend or colleague has played a very special part in my life I am especially happy of course to have family with me because they are the ones who have supported me giving me that moral support and encouragement through the years and Mr. President I don't dare give Bob a chance to say a few words because I think there may be a little humor left over from his confirmation hearing and I don't dare give him that chance I am happy to have my husband, to have Robin Dole, my brother and his wife and children with me today and I am especially pleased to have my mother Mary Hanford from Salisbury, North Carolina because she has been a real source of support and encouragement and inspiration to me through the years of my life and certainly from the time I was a small child it was she who imparted to me the spiritual values that I find so meaningful in my life at this point. Mr. President I want to thank you for the challenge, for the opportunities which you have given me to serve as a member of your cabinet and I want to pledge to you that I will give you my very best effort with the help of God and that I will strive to uphold the traditions of excellence which have been established at the Department of Transportation by my predecessors. I know that the desk has already stacked high with challenges so after this ceremony is finished I will proceed to the Department of Transportation to undertake those challenges and I look forward to my opportunity and thank you so very much. Let me just say something here, you know it would be very easy to say that of course we're going to miss her here in the White House but to tell you the truth she was doing such a wonderful job and working so hard that I didn't see as much of her as I'm going to see now that she's on the cabinet because the cabinet meets more frequently than we had opportunities to meet and I know what she can do when I'm very proud and happy that she will be a member of the cabinet but also want to say that she has performed magnificently here and I know that that will be carried on as well by her successor here so I'm just pleased and happy myself thank you for that very kind letter Robert now if she's late too often getting home just let me know so good seeing you again wish you much success thank you