ATLANTA — Senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff were officially sworn into the U.S. Senate today after a long and bruising race with their opponents.
Warnock is the first Black senator to serve from Georgia and the 11th Black senator in U.S. history.
Meanwhile Ossoff is Georgia’s first Jewish senator and he will also be the youngest senator.
Minutes before the swearing-in ceremony, Channel 2′s Richard Elliot spoke exclusively with Ossoff about the occasion and moving forward.
He said this election represents a real transformational change.
“I’m the first senator born in the 1980s, and it marks a generational transition as my generation asserts itself in our national political conversation and helps move the country forward,” Ossoff said.
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“I’m the first senator born in the 1980s, and it marks a generational transition as my generation asserts itself in our national political conversation and helps move the country forward,” Ossoff said.
The 33-year-old is one of the youngest people ever elected to the Senate.
He said he’s ready to work with both sides to get this country past the pandemic ravaging our country and expects the first 100-days of the Biden administration to be a busy time.
“I think that this is much more about the work that we need to do and less about the pomp and circumstance of today. This country is reeling right now under the weight of the pandemic,” Ossoff told Elliot.
Elliot also planned to talk with Warnock after the ceremony, but his staff had to cancel the interview because the senator had to be on the Senate floor to cast a vote. Channel 2 Action News is working to reschedule.
Channel 2′s Tom Jones spoke with members of Warnock’s congregation at Ebenezer Baptist Church, who were elated.
“I am just I’m thrilled. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am,” Kathryn Stanley said. Stanley is a teacher and said her students were excited when he won the election.
“One of my little boys was so excited. I teach teenagers. I teach middle schoolers. They were thrilled,” she said.
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Jones also spoke with the widow of the late legendary Rabbi Jacob Rothschild, who led The Temple, Atlanta’s historic synagogue where Ossoff grew up.
Ossoff was sworn in with a book of Hebrew scripture once owned by Rothschild. Janice Rothschild Blumberg said her husband fought for civil rights and inclusion and she believes Ossoff wanted to pay homage to that.
“I think he has a great sense of symbolism and he wanted to go in Rabbi Rothschild’s footsteps,” she told Jones.
Cox Media Group
