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MLive: Rep. Huizenga invokes Bill Clinton, MLK in congratulating President Obama
Washington,
January 22, 2013
Inauguration Day: Rep. Huizenga invokes Bill Clinton, MLK in congratulating President Obama
MLive - Zane McMillin - January 21, 2013 GRAND RAPIDS, MI — U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, invoked former President Bill Clinton and Martin Luther King Jr. in congratulating President Barack Obama on his second inauguration. Obama took his oath of office at Monday's ceremonial inauguration, in front of tens of thousands who packed the National Mall for the event. The president already had been sworn in for a second term during a private ceremony Sunday, meaning the Monday event was his second swearing-in. In a statement issued several hours after, Huizenga referenced a quote by Martin Luther King Jr., the civil rights icon celebrated with a holiday Monday. The quote is used by Huizenga to call for bipartisan efforts between Obama and Congress as the president's second term progresses. "As the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, 'a genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus,'" Huizenga said "President Obama's second term offers a unique opportunity to mold consensus and forge the bipartisan solutions necessary to address the many difficult problems our nation faces," Huizenga added. The statement then calls on Obama to follow the lead of Clinton, who stumped heavily for the president during election season and who attended Monday's inauguration. "It is my hope that President Obama will take an approach similar to former President Bill Clinton and reach out to Republicans to provide common-sense solutions for America," Huizenga said. |