FRESNO, California (KSEE) – Congressmembers representing the Central Valley congratulated President Joe Biden on the day of his inauguration.
“We’re turning the page for a new day in America,” said Fresno-area Congressman Jim Costa
Costa was among former presidents and Vice President Mike Pence for Wednesday’s ceremony, just two weeks after he witnessed first-hand the attack on the Capitol building. He says the mood at the inauguration was reflective.
“It reminds us how fragile our democracy can be, yet as President Biden indicated historically how resilient it has been.”
But one noticeable absence: President Trump. Costa believes he missed an opportunity to demonstrate a peaceful transfer of power.
“While he gave a speech yesterday that supported that, he failed to mention the new president by name, and sadly it’s still more of a pity party for himself,” said Costa.
Congressman David Valadao sent Biden a letter congratulating him on the day of his inauguration.
“This was a Republican letter from Republican freshman and it was just us reaching out and trying to show that we’re looking forward to working with him, and it wasn’t a group of moderate Republicans it was a group across the board and so I was proud to sign that letter,” Valadao said.
Biden’s inauguration speech pushed for unity: Valadao believes that was important.
“We’ve had a rough couple weeks here and we need to start from the very top all the way to the very bottom, everybody needs to start working together, what we’ve been seeing across the country right now is not helpful and is not how we move forward,” Valadao said.
