Before I acknowledge some of our special guests who are here, I also want to thank those of you who are here and those across the state who sent me personal e-mails and telephone calls and letters about my health concerns in the past week. It was indeed touching, it was comforting. But now that the whole state knows my entire anatomy, we're going to get on to some public policy discussions. But I do appreciate it very much.

I want to first acknowledge my family for being here — my dad and step-mother, my uncle, my sister, my nephews, my cousins, and my families from Moloka'i and Maui as well.

I also want to thank the religious leaders who were a part of today's ceremony. I took a lot of teasing about the number of legislative leaders we had invited today. But when I sat here in the rotunda after the tragedy of 9/11, and many of you were here on that day, you saw religious leaders lining the stage, row upon row, speaking to us when we needed them. And I think it's important to include them, not just in those times of tragedy and sorry, but in times of great hope and anticipation and I'm happy that they're here today.

All of the people who spoke, all of our religious leaders, were people who have touched Duke and my life and we're very happy they could be with us.

I'd like to recognize Sen. Inouye, Sen. Akaka, Congressman Abercrombie, Congressman-elect Case, I saw him here today — there he is, Mayor Harris, Mayor Kusaka, Mayor-elect Arakawa from Maui. I'd like to thank Speaker Say, Senate President Bunda for being here. I'd like to thank our Republican Senate Leader Fred Hemmings, our Republican House Leader Galen Fox for being here with us. Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono and Leighton Oshima, thank you.

And to the line of governors who have made such an impression on our state in their own, individual way: Governor and Mrs. Quinn – Governor, thank you for being here – Governor and Mrs. Ariyoshi, Governor and Mrs. Waihee, and Governor and Mrs. Cayetano.

To the leaders of the United States military who are here with us today, thank you very much. You bring great honor to this gathering.

To all of you who are here who worked so hard throughout the campaign, Duke and I want to say a special thank you on this important day.

And one other person who we really wouldn't have been able to do today's event without. He's the state protocol officer who stayed on to help us, making sure that this ceremony was special, not just for Duke and for me, but for the people of Hawai'i – a special thank you to Francis Lum for his help today.

Besides the many people who are here today, there are many who are not here but they are also on my mind and in my heart. The thousands of public school teachers and their students around this state who give meaning to our challenge ahead, who are busy right now learning and teaching in those classrooms.

And I want to make some special mention of some pioneers in education — the leaders of the charter school movement in our state and the work that they're doing to bring choice to the parents and the students of Hawai'i.

We all know that the time has come that our public school system must deliver for the people of Hawai'i — for the parents, for the teachers, for the students and for the community.

A couple of weeks before the end of the campaign, I attended a religious public policy meeting not far from here put on by a group called F.A.C.E, Faith Action Community Equity. And at that meeting, some students from our public high schools stood up and they were asked to present to the candidates for office what could we do to make their schools better.

And instead of talking about computers or fixing the field at their school campus, or more art or drama classes, they spoke about the need for basic supplies in the school bathroom, they talked about lack of safety and their fear on school campuses. And we cannot let this go on in our state even one more day.

Our schools simply must deliver a safe environment for teachers and for students. Our schools must deliver adequate supplies and equipment so teachers can do their job.

But as parents in the community we have a right to express that every teacher teaching a subject is knowledgable in the subject that they're teaching.

Another large group of our community that's not here with us today and I want to make special mention of is the state workers, our government workers. Yes, they are very important to us. And now, all of us, as state workers we know what we must deliver to the people of Hawai'i — better service with a better attitude to our community. We must do that.

Throughout my campaign, I pledged to our state workers that there will be no layoffs of any current workers, and I will keep that pledge.

But I also pledged to the people of Hawai'i that our services would improve, that they would get better, that they would get done in a most respectful way. And we as state workers must now earn back the respect of the people of Hawai'i, and we will spend every day doing just that.

As a mayor for eight years, I used to marvel, and I used to share with our government workers, imagine what an amazing thing it is that the people of our state are paying us to help them every day. That's our whole reason for coming to work is to help other people and we're going to bring that spirit to our government work force.

You are going to get better service with a better attitude.

Another group who is not here today is on my mind all the time. They were on my mind every day of the campaign, and these were the tens of thousands of people who had to leave Hawai'i because they just couldn't make it anymore. And we want to bring them home to their families and to our state.

We want them to know that they are missed, that we want them to come home. And I will do my very best to make that happen.

I'll let you know that we're already getting resumes from so many young people who left, who see a new opportunity to come home, and we're looking forward to their return.

Our agenda for a new beginning is really a roadmap to accomplish bringing them home and much more. The success of our journey is going to depend on us accomplishing three things: First, restoring trust and integrity to government, second expanding and diversifying our economy, and third improving our public schools.

In the past, after the election, too often the activity became about rewarding friends and punishing enemies. And this has damaged our state's reputation. This must stop and this will stop.

A new beginning means a zero tolerance for rewarding friends and punishing enemies.

That kind of mentality has created a culture of mediocrity. Who you know became more important than what you know and we have tried to establish from the very earliest phase of our administration that what you know is going to matter most. And that's why we've set up a series of independent search committees to reach out to the community — not to ask the person what their party is, or who they supported in the campaign, or how long they've lived here, or who they went to school with, but simply to find out which of these candidates will supply the best leadership to the people of Hawai'i.

As of this moment, anyone who cares about the state of Hawai'i and who wants to contribute, is a friend of this administration.

A new beginning also means giving you the facts about the state's fiscal condition. It's your money and you have a right to know.

I've met with our state auditor, and we have already undertaken the budget review and we will report to you at the earliest possible moment.

These are tough times, not just for Hawai'i fiscally. These are tough times for the majority of states across the country. At a recent national governor's association meeting that I attended, there were over 40 governors there and they were talking about the tough fiscal conditions that all of the states face. In fact, the report was so grim, that one of the governors who had just won joked around that he was going to demand a recount of the election.

It won't be easy to balance the budget at the same time bringing about programs in our new beginning. But that's exactly what we're going to do. The greater the challenge we face, the greater our resolve must be.

One of the many ways that we will succeed is to make sure that the state and county government work together as never before.

I'm sure you've all heard enough about I'm the first Republican in so long, the first woman, the first Jewish governor, all of the firsts. But one of the things you never heard that is probably going to be most important to all of us: I'm the first mayor that has become a governor.

I have worked with a lot of the people who are mayors and I am looking forward to bringing about some of the changes that we've fought for as mayors. Of course, I'll check in with the Senate president and speaker.

A new beginning means it's time to make a commitment to Native Hawaiians. We have two major goals to achieve: one is to work hard and enlighten our national leaders about the importance of federal recognition. And we will achieve federal recognition.

The lieutenant governor is going to play a key role for me in an issue that has lingered for far, far too long. We will once and for all resolve the ceded lands question.

And it will be resolved in a way that honors, respects Native Hawaiians and takes into account all of us who are not Native Hawaiians. It will be approached in a way to make things pono once again in our state.

A new beginning also means honoring commitments made by our federal government, the Filipino war veterans who served us in World War II. Patience may be a virtue in some situations, but waiting over a half a century for the government to do the right thing is simply too long for these valiant men who have served our country.

A new beginning means honesty in the awarding of government contracts. It means awarding contracts openly and strictly based on merit of the proposal. It's not my money being spent. It's not the state workers' money being spent for making those decisions. It's your money and you have a right to expect it'll be spent fairly.

A new beginning means a new respect in the state of Hawai'i for the business community. State government too often has treated business like the bad guys who are trying to take advantage of the little guys. This kind of thinking is not only counterproductive, it is just plain wrong.

Businesses and their employees pay the bulk of the taxes in our state. Many are family-owned businesses steeped in tradition and pride as much as in the means to make a profit. But corporations also provide jobs and pay taxes and they should be respected as well. It's time that we recognize that making a profit is not a dirty word.

Successful businesses are essential if we are to provide a higher quality of life that we all want for our families. If we were to address the issues that Father Burke raised, about the homeless, the mentally ill, the evicted, the hopeless, the helpless, we have to have the revenue to do it, and that means successful businesses are essential to us making sure that those groups, those people, those human beings are cared for. Duke Aiona and I have a deep compassion for people, but our compassion without the resources to offer that compassion is simply that. We need to make sure that Hawai'i's economy is revived. Government for too long has been very heavy-handed in trying to control our economy. It has given us an anti-business reputation that scares away investors and entrepreneurs. And I am determined to change that image.

The open for business sign has now been turned on, and the welcome mat is out to anyone who is wiling to support our efforts to expand and diversify our economy while respecting our traditions and making sure our precious environment is protected.

A new beginning means it's time to end one-party politics in Hawai'i. Our state has a long history of one party having been in power and it ended badly, and the other party being in almost total control and that ended badly. Regardless of which party is in power, a one-party government is not in the best interests of the people. We need the checks and balances of a true democracy. And to my Democrat friends, I say today to all of you, people expect us to work together in the years ahead.

The people will not and should not accept petty bickering or excessive partisanship. I look forward to working with you and I look forward to sharing credit for the many great things that I know we're going to achieve together in the years ahead.

Talking about the future has taken up most of today, but I can't help thinking about Hawai'i's past and the last woman who led these islands. Queen Lili'uokalani gave us a model for leadership for our state today and indeed for the world. The most important commitment I can make to you is to embrace her lessons of courage, humility and aloha, embrace them as my inspiration as we work together to restore trust in government, expand the economy and improve our schools.

We can do this, we must do this, and we will do this. We must achieve these things. We owe it to those who have gone before us, we owe it to ourselves, and we owe it to future generations.

The challenges ahead are great, but the opportunities are even greater. Working together, our future is bright, and anything is possible. Please join Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona and me in this new beginning. For all the people of Hawai'i, let's do it together. Mahalo.