Tommy Tuberville sworn in as Alabama’s junior U.S. senator — ‘I’m going to wake up every day with one mission – to speak for the people of Alabama’

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January 3, 2021

Coach Tuberville is now Senator Tuberville.

U.S. Senator Thomas H. “Tommy” Tuberville (R-AL) was sworn into office on Sunday by Vice President Mike Pence upon the start of the 117th Congress.

Tuberville, a resident of Lee County, won election on November 3 in a demolition of now-former Senator Doug Jones (D-AL).

The Republican is now Alabama’s junior senator, joining Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) in representing the Yellowhammer State in Congress’ upper chamber.

Shelby, as is customary, escorted Tuberville onto the Senate floor and joined him for the freshman’s swearing in.

Tuberville took the following oath of office:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) 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 the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.

In a statement, Tuberville said, “My father landed at Normandy on D-Day and drove a tank across Europe, receiving 5 bronze stars and a Purple Heart. He was my hero. It was my father who instilled in me the principles that make America exceptional – patriotism, work ethic, and grit – and now, I look forward to taking those lessons with me to Washington.”

“The opportunity to serve the state of Alabama is a blessing, and I plan to come to work every day with the guiding principle to fight for our conservative values and defend the freedoms that make America the greatest country on the face of the earth,” he concluded. “I’ve worked hard throughout my life to be an accessible, responsive, and vocal leader. The people of Alabama sent a football coach to Washington because they wanted a fighter who would uphold and protect the Constitution. They can rest assured that I’m going to wake up every day with one mission – to speak for the people of Alabama.”

Alabama House Majority Leader Nathaniel Ledbetter (R-Rainsville) released a statement celebrating Tuberville taking office.

“It was my honor to serve as Co-Chair of the Tuberville campaign. Seeing him sworn in today and knowing that we again have a conservative senator representing Alabama made all of our team’s hard work worth it. Congratulations Senator Tommy Tuberville!” Ledbetter said.

Tuberville’s likely first act as a senator will be voting to reject the certification of certain states’ electors on Wednesday. This comes after Tuberville on Saturday publicly called on Congress to appoint a commission to “conduct an emergency 10-day audit of the [presidential] election returns in the disputed states.”

Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn