** FILE ** Vice President Joseph R. Biden (right) administers the Senate oath to Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican, accompanied by his wife, Heidi Nelson, and daughters Caroline and Catherine (second from right) during a mock swearing-in ceremony on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013, as the 113th Congress officially began. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Vice President Joseph R. Biden speaks during a meeting at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in the White House complex on Dec. 20, 2012. (Associated Press)
Vice President Joseph R. Biden watches at left as Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., center, shakes hands with House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, right, in the House Chamber during the counting of Electoral College votes on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Jan. 4, 2013. Biden presided over a Joint Session of Congress Friday as four members of the House and Senate took turns announcing the votes that had been tallied in state capitals last month affirming the re-election of Barack Obama as President of the United States. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Vice President Joseph R. Biden watches at left as Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., center, shakes hands with House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, right, in the House Chamber during the counting of Electoral College votes on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Jan. 4, 2013. Biden presided over a Joint Session of Congress Friday as four members of the House and Senate took turns announcing the votes that had been tallied in state capitals last month affirming the re-election of Barack Obama as President of the United States. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Vice President Joseph R. Biden (left) watches as Sen. Mark Kirk (center), Illinois Republican, accompanied by Sen. Joe Manchin III, West Virginia Democrat, waves to applauding crowds as he walks up the steps to the Senate door at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. Mr. Kirk returned to Congress after suffering a stroke last January. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
Vice President Joseph R. Biden (left) watches as Sen. Mark Kirk (center), Illinois Republican, accompanied by Sen. Joe Manchin III, West Virginia Democrat, waves to applauding crowds as he walks up the steps to the Senate door at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. Mr. Kirk returned to Congress after suffering a stroke last January. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)
Vice President Joseph R. Biden watches at left as Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., second from left, accompanied by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., second form right, and Senate Majority whip Richard Durbin of Ill., right, walks the steps to the Senate door of the Capitol building on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
Vice President Joseph R. Biden watches at left as Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., second from left, accompanied by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., second form right, and Senate Majority whip Richard Durbin of Ill., right, walks the steps to the Senate door of the Capitol building on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
Vice President Joseph R. Biden arrives for a closed-door meeting with House Democrats, on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013, to discuss the fiscal cliff bill passed by the Senate last night that's waiting for a vote in the Republican-controlled House. At left is Rep. Xavier Becerra, California Democrat. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
