Congress confirms Bush electoral victory

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Vice President Al Gore, the Democratic candidate for president of the United States, declared George W. Bush the next president on Saturday after the formal count of the Electoral College vote.

"May God bless our new president and vice president, and may God bless the United States of America," a stoic Gore declared after the votes were tallied.

Bush and Republican vice president nominee Dick Cheney received 271 electoral votes. Gore and Democratic vice president nominee Sen. Joe Lieberman received 266 electoral votes.

Gore and Lieberman received more of the popular vote in the general election but lost in the electoral vote count.

The verification of the electoral vote cleared the way for Bush to be sworn in on January 20 as the nation's 43rd president.

VIDEO CNN's Major Garrett reports Bush is planning out the goals of his administration Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN's Chris Black reports that members of the Congressional Black Caucus are unhappy with the decision Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) Vice President Gore overrules the objections Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     ALSO Bush tells governors that states' rights, education will be priorities

"I'm honored," said Bush, speaking with reporters at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. "I guess I better go and write an inaugural speech."

Bush said, "I want to be the president of everybody, whether they supported me or not."

Republicans struck a conciliatory note in speeches before the vote count, calling on Democrats to accept the presidential election results.

"We are ready to lead and govern in a bipartisan way," said Rep. Asa Hutchinson, R-Arkansas. "We should work together in a positive way."

But Rep. Corrine Brown, a Florida Democrat and member of the Congressional Black Caucus, said, "We keep hearing, 'Get over this.' We will never get over this. The Supreme Court selected George W. Bush as president -- he was not elected."

Gore denies objections

Saturday's formalization of the vote came only after members of the Black Caucus and several House colleagues objected and walked out in protest.

Reps. Peter Deutsch and Alcee Hastings, both Florida Democrats, made the first objections to the session based on parliamentary procedure, a symbolic protest over allegations of voting irregularities in the Sunshine State.

The objections were denied because rules require a signature from both a member of the House and a member of the Senate. No senator was willing to join the objections.

"I don't care that it is not signed by a senator," said Rep. Maxine Waters, a California Democrat.

"The chair would advise that the rules do care," Gore replied, triggering applause by Republicans.

Afterwards, Hastings said he objected to the vote count "because of the overwhelming evidence of official misconduct, deliberate fraud, and an attempt to suppress voter turnout by unlawful means. I felt the necessity, as do my colleagues from the Congressional Black Caucus and other members of the House of Representatives, to object to the kinds of errors against democracy ... that were permitted in the state of Florida."

Speaking later at a news conference, Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, vice chairman of the black caucus, echoed words from the U.S. civil rights movement: "How long will we suffer injustice in America? How long will we have to fight to perfect the 15th Amendment? How long will we have to struggle for something that should be every American's birthright?"

Johnson, a Democrat from Texas, said, "On election day, 100 million Americans went to the polls to make their voices heard. Those voices want to be heard still. No hyper-technical interpretation of election law should derail the intent of the voter."

Hastings calls for reform

For more than a month after Election Day, Florida's ultra-close ballot count to win its essential 25 electoral votes was undecided, as Bush and Gore engaged in a legal battle over disputed ballot recounts in several counties.

"Al Gore needs to understand that what happened in Florida is not necessarily about him," Hastings said. African-American voters "suffered serious infractions and irregularities and disparities. And the fact is that -- if nothing more -- the residual from this should be election reform."

Emotion shows through

Gore, who serves as president of the Senate until Bush's inauguration on January 20, presided over the joint session of Congress, and he denied each objection as it was voiced. To the objection raised by Rep. Jesse Jackson, D.-Illinois, Gore replied, "The chair thanks the gentleman from Illinois, but, hey."

The Congressional Black Caucus holds a news conference following the walkout

When Hastings called out, "We did all we could," Gore replied, "The chair thanks the gentleman from Florida."

Gore pumped a fist in the air when California's 54 votes, the biggest electoral prize, were read aloud. The show of emotion drew applause from Democrats.

Gore conceded the presidential election on December 13, a day after a divided U.S. Supreme Court refused to permit a hand count of thousands of disputed ballots in Florida, where Bush was certified as the winner by 537 votes out of 6 million cast.

The razor-thin margin gave Bush the state's 25 electoral votes, which put him over the necessary 270 to claim victory.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.