Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan said he is "ready and eager" to be speaker of the House, and he believes the beleaguered Republican Conference is "ready to move forward as one, united team."

Ryan, the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, said Tuesday night that he would run for speaker if he could be a unifying figure. And over the past few days, he won the support of the majority of the House Freedom Caucus, the Republican Study Committee and the Tuesday Group, the three major House caucuses which all represent different corners of the GOP. 

The internal party vote is scheduled for Wednesday, followed by a full House vote Thursday. Ryan is widely expected to win the speakership. "This is just the beginning of our work," he said in a letter to his colleagues. "There is a long road ahead. So let’s get started."

In the letter confirming his candidacy Thursday evening, Ryan said the country is in "a very serious moment."

"Working families continue to fall behind, and they are losing faith in the American Idea: the belief that if you work hard and play by the rules, you can get ahead," he wrote in the letter. "At the same time, a weaker America has led to a more dangerous world. Our friends and rivals alike wonder whether we will pull ourselves out of this stupor."

He added, "Instead of rising to the occasion, Washington is falling short—including the House of Representatives. We are not solving the country’s problems; we are only adding to them."

Ryan, who has resisted entreaties to join the leadership for years, said he is "actually excited for this moment" because the party has an opportunity to "turn the page, to start with a clean slate, and to rebuild what has been lost."

"We can make the House a more open and inclusive body—one where every member can contribute to the legislative process," Ryan said, in a nod to complaints from some conservatives that they have been shut out of the process. "We can rally House Republicans around a bold agenda that will tackle the country’s problems head on. And we can show the country what a commonsense conservative agenda looks like."

"I’ve spoken with many of you over the past few days, and I can sense the hunger in our conference to get to work. I know many of you want to show the country how to fix our tax code, how to rebuild our military, how to strengthen the safety net, and how to lift people out of poverty," he said. "I know you’re willing to work hard and get it done, and I think this moment is ripe for real reform."