(WIVT/WBGH) – Republican Congressman Marc Molinaro was appointed to the escort committee that welcomed the new Speaker of the House Mike Johnson to the floor on his first day on the job.

Molinaro describes the speaker with two words, common decency.

He says that although they do not share the same beliefs and agree on everything, the Speaker has assured him that upstate communities such as the 19th congressional district will have a voice at the table.

Molinaro says now that there is a speaker, members of congress need to be working harder than ever to compensate for the last three weeks without leadership.

U.S. Congressman Marc Molinaro says, “We have an aggressive timeline as the speaker has laid out his belief that not only do we need to be at work but we’re going to have to work harder and longer and deliver more and I agree with him. We’re going to have to have to work harder and longer and deliver more. And so we should be judged, not only by the last three weeks, which were distressing and disappointing, but how we rebuild from here.”

Molinaro says that the House of Representatives has adopted 80% of the federal budget but the Senate hasn’t acted on a single spending bill. He says the Senate needs to act, so that both branches can negotiate.

There was a rally hosted by Empire State Voices outside of Molinaro’s Binghamton office earlier today where protestors shared their concerns about Molinaro’s support of the new speaker.