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ByEricaWerner TheAssociatedPress WASHINGTON Paul Ryan became the 54th speaker of the U.S. House on Thurs- day in a day of high polit- ical theater, a young new leader for a fractured Con- gress, charged with heal- ing Republican divides and quieting the chaos of Capi- tol Hill. "Let's prove ourselves worthy," Ryan urged from the House dais where he was sworn into the job, second in line to the pres- idency, after an extraordi- nary month of unrest for Congress. "Let's be frank: The House is broken," Ryan de- clared. "We are not settling scores. We are wiping the slate clean." As Ryan spoke, senators across the Capitol were pre- paring to cast votes on a broad two-year budget and debt deal that passed the House on Wednesday, en- gineered largely by outgo- ing Speaker John Boehner to allow Ryan a fresh start with the toughest issues re- solved. The measure was ex- pected to clear an initial legislative hurdle well af- ter midnight in a dead-of- night vote resulting from the Senate's convoluted leg- islative timetables and de- laying tactics by opponents. Many in the GOP majority planned to vote "no," in- cluding presidential candi- dates Marco Rubio, Rand Paul and Ted Cruz, who canceled campaign events to rush back to Washing- ton to oppose it. Ryan, 45, the Republi- cans' 2012 vice presiden- tial nominee, was elected speaker in a rare, live roll- call vote on the House floor, with each lawmaker stand- ing in turn to declare his choice. The mood mixed solemnity with levity, as Boehner, driven into resig- nation by GOP strife, bran- dished a box of tissues and repeatedly neared tears, while some lawmakers shouted their votes almost joyously. "California cheese-heads for Paul D. Ryan!" declared one Western lawmaker, Doug LaMalfa, getting be- hind the Wisconsin con- gressman. The final tally showed 236 votes for Ryan, 184 for Minority Leader Nancy Pe- losi of California, the Dem- ocrats' candidate, and nine for Republican Daniel Web- ster of Florida. Webster had been the choice of a group of hard- core conservatives who have repeatedly made trou- ble for GOP leaders. But in the end most Republicans swung behind Ryan, un- derscoring the strong de- sire of nearly all members for a fresh start after years of conflict and GOP infight- ing. With his wife and three kids from Janesville, Wis- consin, watching on from the gallery, along with pres- idential running mate Mitt Romney, Ryan accepted the gavel from Pelosi and pledged a new day for the Congress. And without di- rectly mentioning them or the troubles they've caused, he promised to bring the GOP's rebels back into the fold. "We need to let every member contribute — not once they have earned their stripes but right now," Ryan said. "Open up the process. Let people participate. And they might change their tune. A neglected minority will gum up the works. A re- spected minority will work in good faith." Boehner, who started life as an Ohio bartender's son with 11 siblings, delivered an emotional farewell ad- dress marveling, "This, too, can really happen to you." Boehner's parting gift to Ryan was the budget deal revealed Monday night af- ter secretive negotiations among congressional lead- ers and the White House. After years of brinkman- ship over the budget and the debt ceiling, the deal will raise the government's borrowing limit, averting a market-shattering default just days from now, as well as set budget levels for two years, though it will be up to congressional spending committees and Speaker Ryan to fill in the details with a package of detailed bills by early December. Ryan's swearing-in came almost exactly a month af- ter Boehner shocked the House by revealing his plans to resign from Con- gress at the end of October. He said he had no appetite for a floor vote on his speak- ership threatened by con- servatives, who contended he was yielding to President Barack Obama in a govern- ment shutdown fight over Planned Parenthood. WASHINGTON New day for House as Ryan becomes speaker CAROLYNKASTER—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., joined by, from le , House Majority Whip Steve Scalise R-La., Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., speaks to media on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday prior to being elected Speaker of the House. By Martin Crutsinger The Associated Press WASHINGTON The U.S. economy slowed sharply in the summer, reflecting a cutback in businesses' stockpiling of goods, which offset solid con- sumer spending. But most economists think growth has been strengthening since the July-September quarter ended. The Commerce De- partment said Thursday that the economy, as mea- sured by the gross domes- tic product, grew at a tepid annual rate of 1.5 percent in the July-September quarter, far below the 3.9 percent rate of the previ- ous quarter. The biggest reason was a push by businesses to shrink unwanted stock- piles, which slashed 1.4 percentage points from quarterly growth but is ex- pected to be only tempo- rary. Encouragingly for the economy, consumer spend- ing remained solid over the summer: It rose at a 3.2 percent annual rate, down only slightly from the pre- vious quarter. And most analysts have said they think businesses are stepping up their stockpiling this quarter in response to the continued gains in consumer spend- ing. Many predict that growth in the October- December quarter will re- bound to around a 2.5 per- cent annual rate. Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said that excluding the drag from scaled-back inventory re- building, Thursday's re- port was "solid." Noting the consistent strength in consumer spending, Shep- herdson said he thinks the current quarter's annual growth rate could reach 3 percent. For all of 2015, the economy is expected to expand around 2.3 per- cent, near last year's modest 2.4 percent, de- spite persistent eco- nomic weakness around the world. Still, last quarter's slump marked the lat- est slide for an econ- omy that began 2015 on a rocky note as a severe winter and West Coast port disruptions essen- tially stalled growth. The economy rebounded in the April-June quarter be- fore weakening again in the summer. 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