Congressman-elect Charles Djou was introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives this morning and told members of the body he was "eager to start work and do good."

Djou, who won the special election for the 1st District seat vacated by 10-term Congressman Neil Abercrombie, was welcomed to the House by Speaker Nancy Pelosi shortly after 9 a.m., Hawaii time.

"Aloooha!" Djou said, his 7-year-old daughter Victoria standing at his side.

Djou said that while he was thrilled to be a member of the House, he understood that the job came with great responsibility. He said he was ready to help "restore America to greatness."

Djou was introduced to the House by Rep. Mazie Hirono, who noted that Djou and President Obama graduated from the same high school.

Minority Leader John Boehner referred to Djou's life history as the son of immigrants and said, "Charles understands the American Dream because he's lived it."

Djou repeated the point in his brief remarks, saying that had he been raised in either of his parents' homelands — his father is from China and his mother from Thailand — "the idea that I would someday be able to call myself a maker of laws would have been laughable."

In a statement released by his office after he was sworn in, Djou said his victory was a message to Congress that "we need our government to focus on creating jobs and making life better for all of us.

"I will work to restore fiscal responsibility, government accountability and always put Hawaii's interests first."

Djou is only the third Republican since statehood to represent Hawaii in Congress.

In the winner-take-all special election on Saturday, he received 39.4 percent of the votes.

State Senate President Colleen Hanabusa won 30.8 percent of the votes and former U.S. Rep. Ed Case got 27.6 percent.

Djou will finish Abercrombie's term, which expires in January. He will have to run again for the seat in November.

To see a C-SPAN video of Djou's swearing-in, go to http://www.c-spanarchives.org/program/ID/224890&start=11322&end=11932