Governor Bryant offers message of Mississippians “Rising Together” in 
Inauguration Day speech


JACKSON – Phil Bryant was sworn in today inside the House Chamber at the State Capitol as the 64th Governor of Mississippi. The ceremony was moved indoors due to inclement weather.

In his Inaugural address he emphasized the message of Mississippians “rising together”.

“We must dedicate ourselves to the belief that we may fall separately, but we will surely rise together,” Bryant said in today’s speech. “And if we are to rise together, we must do so with the inherent characteristics of Mississippi. We are a people of character who value hard work and treasure loyalty to our families, state and country.” 
 


Governor Bryant defined four key objectives for his administration in today’s speech:

• Creating jobs through expanding Mississippi’s health care and energy sectors;
• Improving the state’s education system;
• Reducing the teenage pregnancy rate;
• Responsibly restructuring Mississippi’s budget system.




“Mississippi’s budget process is broken and must be fixed,” Bryant said. “We will work smarter than our sister states, make spending transparent and design budgets based on performance and not politics.”
 


The event was a joint session of the Legislature with the new Speaker, Philip Gunn,
calling to order and new Lieutenant Governor Tate Reeves presiding. The Inauguration
featured performances by the Mississippi Mass Choir, Mississippi Boychoir, Guy Hovis and the Mississippi National Guard Band.

Governor Bryant was joined at the Inauguration Ceremony by his wife, Deborah, and children, Patrick and Katie.