 I may say that the oath you're about to hear administered is not a mere ceremony, but is required by Article VI of the Constitution. The form of it isn't specified in the Constitution. And indeed, the very first piece of legislation enacted by the new Congress when it met was to establish a form of oath. The oath you will hear today is not that one. It was changed. The present oath is not quite that venerable. It's only about a century and a quarter old. It was enacted in its present form in 1862, several months before the Battle of Antietam. That's venerable enough, I would think. Madam Ambassador, are you ready to take the oath? I am. Place your left hand on the blackboard. Raise your right hand. I. Faith Ryan Whittlesey. I. Faith Ryan Whittlesey. Do solemnly swear. Do solemnly swear. That I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States. That I will support and defend the Constitution 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. The duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God. So help me God. Congratulations. Madam Ambassador, you have faithfully, forthrightly and articulately represented the policies of our administration to over 500 groups across America and to which you were responsible. And faith, when the history of the political alignment is now taking place across America, is written. There will be a special agenda for that. There will be a special agenda on public liaison. And yes, a special bouquet to Faith Whittlesey. You never stop working. You never stop striving. You never stop scrapping to help us build a new Republican majority. You reached out to every segment of America to build our coalition to blue collar and ethnic voters, to blacks, Hispanics, young people, the youth, and yuppies, and the elders. Union member of the veterans business, every conceivable religious tradition. And you didn't just speak to them about one issue that might have concerned them. You covered the waterfront from spending and taxes to the sanctity of human life, and especially to the defense of freedom and democracy here in our own hemisphere. And you will take with you a wealth and a depth of experience to your new post as ambassador to Switzerland. And the United States will be superbly represented. To the oldest continuous democracy in Europe, to the country that is the scene of so many important efforts of peace and democracy, we must send the best, and we are. Faith sometimes people lose sight of just how much others give up, how much lives are overturned, and how much they must endure to serve here as you have served. Sometimes serving the public causes creates a great deal of personal pain that you never complained. And I think I know how much you did, how much you gave, and I know that you are a person of great dignity and great determination. We'll always remember you here. And be resting comfortably with you there, knowing what you're doing, and God bless you. And people in America, because you have given me the opportunity to serve you first as ambassador to Switzerland then as assistant to the president, and now again as ambassador to Switzerland. I can think of no greater honor than to represent the country I love in the country which I have come from. I'm so grateful for these opportunities, because for me, as for millions of others, you are two electoral landslides, represented more than a temporary political route. They were a sign of a rejuvenated America, an America confident once again of its values, of its meaning, and of its freedom. We saw in you and continue to see in you a leader with the moral vision to see the right, and also a man with the energy, the courage, and the unflagging good cheer to convince others of the right, despite what seem to be insurmountable obstacles. At the present, you have spoken of my outreach to groups across the United States. It would not have been possible for us to reach those groups had you not showed the way, you interest group. 230 Americans, especially interested in freedom. I would like to express appreciation to my family, to my children, to my mother and my father, and my brother, Tom, and his wife, Joan, and their boys, and my sister-in-law, Mary Whittlesey Hogue, her husband, Jim, and their three children, and my niece, Sandy, and also to the ambassador of Switzerland who is here, Ambassador Yacoby, and Mrs. Yacoby. I would also like to publicly thank my predecessor, Elizabeth Dole, for her cooperation and assistance, and also extend best wishes to my successor, the extremely talented Linda Chavez. Judge Scalia, many thanks for being with us today, and to all of you who have come to join with me and my family in this very special celebration. Many thanks for your kindness and your friendship, and I look forward to happy days with all of you when I neglected to thank the vice president also for taking time from his schedule to be with us. Thank you all kindly.