WASHINGTON — Speaker Mike Johnson will travel to London to address the United Kingdom Parliament on Tuesday, Jan. 20 as part of events marking the 250th anniversary of American independence, his office said.
Johnson will be the first U.S. Speaker of the House to deliver remarks before Parliament.
“As our nation commemorates the 250th anniversary of American Independence, I am honored and humbled by Speaker Hoyle’s invitation to address Parliament,” Johnson said. He added that the United States and the United Kingdom “have stood together as pillars of peace and security across generations” and credited the shared “commitment to individual freedom, human dignity, and the rule of law” as the foundation of the relationship.
“As America begins its Semiquincentennial celebration, I will be happy to visit one of the great shrines of democracy itself, where the principles that launched the long struggle for American liberty were debated and refined,” he said.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the UK House of Commons, said he was “honoured in this 250th anniversary year of American Independence to welcome Speaker Johnson to Parliament.”
Hoyle referenced the 1976 bicentennial visit of Speaker Carl Albert, saying he was “pleased to continue to mark this important occasion and acknowledge the enduring close relationship between our parliaments and people.” He noted that Parliament sits near the area where early transatlantic ties began more than 400 years ago and said “the courage of the Founding Fathers, who set sail on the Mayflower for the New World, built a bridge and connections across the Atlantic, which continues until today.”