Carson and Perry sworn in

by Nikita Vladimirov - 03/02/17 8:07 PM ET

JUST IN: VP Mike Pence swears in Rick Perry as energy secretary. https://t.co/n7TqA3VDnW pic.twitter.com/5JLmivk4Jj

— ABC News (@ABC) March 2, 2017

Ben Carson and Rick Perry have been sworn in to their positions as the heads of the Housing and Urban Development and Energy departments, respectively.

Vice President Pence swore in both nominees and lauded their abilities to serve the U.S. government in the coming years.

“President Trump called you to this role, to serve as the 14th secretary of Energy because of who you are, because of what you’ve done, and because of what both of us and the people who know you well, know you will do to lead the Department of Energy to even greater heights,” Pence told Perry, according to the press pool report.

{mosads}The former Texas governor, who was sworn in on the 181st anniversary of Texas’s independence, said that this is a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to deliver “extraordinary opportunities” for future generations.

“This is about our country. And we collectively understand that the opportunity that we have been given, this may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Mr. Vice President, to truly put America on a course that will deliver for future generations extraordinary opportunities,” Perry said, according to the report.

Pence also praised Carson, the new head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and said that he will “open doors of opportunity” for many vulnerable Americans.

“Born and raised in the inner city of Detroit, Dr. Carson, you saw firsthand how too many Americans can be trapped in poverty and in despair, in communities that are crumbling, families fracturing, and their hope for a brighter future fading.

“Your inspiring life story is known all across the country, if not the world.”

Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, compared the U.S. to a patient in need of care.

“Right now, our country is the patient. And it’s not a Democrat or a Republican patient. It’s a patient; it’s an American patient, and we have a duty to use the gifts that God has given all of us in order to heal that patient,” he said.

Tags Mike Pence