Text of Rep. Bob Etheridge's statement

Text of Congressman Bob Etheridge's statement after vote recount:

Thank you all for coming here today. I want to thank all my supporters and staff, friends, neighbors, and especially my family. No man has ever been blessed with a finer family and for 45 years, the pillar of that family and the core of my world has been Faye.

My life has truly been the American Dream. I was raised on a Johnston County tenant farm where my mother and father owned neither the house nor the land we tended. Yet I've been able to serve my country in the Army, have a successful career in business and be elected to leadership positions at the county, state and federal levels. All that was made possible by education.

Public education is the key to the future because it provides for everyone who is willing to work hard the opportunity to make the most of his or her God-given abilities. That's why all my years of public life have been about creating a brighter future for our children.

Now, the election recount has concluded, and the numbers confirm that despite the incredible support we had - and neither candidate getting to 50% - in the end we came up just a little too short ...

http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2010/11/19/1049371?sac=Local

Fun times are a comin', full steam ahead.