12:49 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you! (Applause.) Thank you, everybody. Please have a seat. Xavier, thank you for that very gracious introduction and your outstanding leadership.

Let me begin by saying that I could not be happier that one of my most important friends and partners is still leading our Democrats in the House of Representatives. I love Nancy Pelosi. Give her a big round of applause. (Applause.) Love Nancy Pelosi. (Applause.) Also, she just generates good-looking grandbabies. (Laughter.) They're all so handsome and sharp and beautiful.

To Steny Hoyer and Jim Clyburn, as well as Xavier and Joe Crowley, thank you so much for the great work that you guys are doing each and every day. And to Steve Israel, who worked tirelessly to bring on 49 new outstanding members of this caucus. (Applause.) I am looking forward to spending time with all 49 of you. And hopefully we'll be seeing you over at the White House and at various events, but obviously I know that you came here to get something done. And I am looking forward to working with you every single day to make sure that we're doing right by the people who sent us here.

Now, I actually just changed the format here. I called an audible — because originally the way this was scheduled was I was just going to talk and then I was going to shake some hands, and I thought, since this is not a shy bunch, it might make sense for me to take some questions and some advice I'm sure you guys have for me. (Laughter.) So what I'm going to do is I'm just going to make s few points at the top, and then what I'd like is maybe Xavier or Steve or somebody can come up here, you can call on folks, and we'll spend a little time with Q&A before I get a chance to say hello to everybody.

And part of the reason I want to keep my remarks short is because I just made a pretty long speech a couple of weeks ago, and I'm about to make another next week, and I don’t want you guys tired of me. (Laughter.)

But, obviously, I'm deeply grateful to have been reelected, and I'm humbled by the support that I received from all across the country. (Applause.) And I said at the National Prayer Breakfast this morning — and I was telling the truth — I genuinely am humbled. The fascinating thing about this job is the longer you're in it, the more humble you get, and the more you recognize your own imperfections. And you try to make up with effort and hard work those gaps in your personality or your intelligence that become …read more
Source: White House Press Office