First U.S. House Speaker to Address UK Parliament: Johnson Commemorates 250th Anniversary of American Independence

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) will become the first sitting U.S. House speaker to address the United Kingdom Parliament this month, commemorating the 250th anniversary of the United States declaring independence from Great Britain.

Johnson’s scheduled speech on January 20th marks a historic occasion as he is the first U.S. House Speaker to speak before the UK Parliament. In accepting the invitation from Sir Lindsay Hoyle, speaker of the U.K. House of Commons, Johnson described himself as “honored and humbled.”

“The U.S. and the UK have stood together as pillars of peace and security across generations,” Johnson stated in a prepared message. “We forged this important friendship in the great wars of the 20th century, but the true source of our strength comes from our shared commitment to individual freedom, human dignity, and the rule of law, which together form the exceptional, joint heritage of the English-speaking world.”

“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,” Johnson added.

This follows a precedent set in 2004 when then-Speaker Carl Albert visited London to commemorate the United States’ bicentennial. Hoyle noted: “Our UK Parliament is sited just miles away from where the cross-Atlantic relationship began more than 400 years ago.”

“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,” Hoyle stated in his remarks.

Sam Barron, with nearly two decades of experience covering politics, crime, and business, reported on this development.