| Issue #33, November 10, 2006 |
Who’s Here
Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the House
By Jan Silver
Nancy Pelosi visits the East End occasionally to raise funds for the Democratic Party. I spoke with her briefly in June, 2003, before she gave an informal talk here on the state of the federal government. I found her to be a very intelligent and well-informed Congresswoman. She is a longtime member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and is also actively involved in promoting new legislation on health care, the economy, the environment, education and homeland security. Her approach to all these issues is pragmatic, moderate, and thoughtful.
Representative Pelosi has been a member of Congress for 18 years and specifically said in 2003 she wanted to bring back the consultation and collegiality between the majority and minority parties which existed before Newt Gingrich became Speaker of the House in 1994. She is a skillful and savvy politician who has survived political maneuverings in Washington, D.C. Poised to become the first woman Speaker of the House of Representatives, most voters hope she will lead a hard-working, cooperative House. Her 2003 talk at the Jewish Center of the Hamptons was open to the public. Here is the resulting Dan’s Papers “Who’s Here” from 2003.
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A slender, attractive, dynamic brunette, Nancy D’Alesandro Pelosi was born into a family with a strong tradition of public service. Her father, Thomas D’Alesandro Jr., served as Baltimore’s mayor for twelve years and then its five-term congressman. Her brother, Thomas D’Alesandro III, also served as mayor of Baltimore.
Nancy D’Alesandro graduated from Trinity College, Washington, D.C., in 1962 and, shortly thereafter, met and married Paul Pelosi, an investment banker. His work took the couple to California, where they settled and raised five children. (They now have six grandchildren.) She began her political career as a Democratic Party volunteer.
For all her years in Congress, Nancy Pelosi has been a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and taken a leading role in environmental issues, health care, the economy, education and homeland security. She was elected Democratic Whip of the House in 2001, and elevated by her peers to House Democratic leader on November 14, 2002. She is considered a coalition-builder by many House members.
An impressive and knowledgeable speaker, Rep. Pelosi offered some prepared remarks and then took many questions from the audience about the Democratic Party, Iraq, the Middle East, and other issues. The first question asked? As the Democratic House leader, does she have any input over what comes before the House? “No — but I do have a good social rapport with Dennis Hastert [Speaker of the House].” Then she added, with a gleam in her eye, “When I am Speaker, there will be more bipartisan input.
“Since 1994, when Republican Newt Gingrich became Speaker, almost every opportunity for ‘other voices’ to be heard in the House was closed… Democrats will have to find a way to leapfrog over” the Congressional and media control exerted by the Bush Administration.
When another audience member asked “Where are the Democrats?” in the current national political debate (this is 2003–ed.) Pelosi replied: “Almost 100 percent of House Democrats voted against Bush’s budget, but we are not heard. It is our fault because we did not have a better message in the 2000 elections.”
Speaking about the Israeli-Palestinian situation, she said: “It is a challenge. No one said it would be easy and no one expected Hamas [the Palestinian terrorist organization] to join in easily… I am committed to a secure Israel, and it is in our national interest…I do support President Bush’s leadership in the Middle East, but I feel the road map should not be about chronology but about performance and the cessation of violence.”
Then she talked about U.S. security, noting “Never have we been so dependent on other countries for our support and security… The way to our security is through multi-lateralism: integrating other nation’s economies and politics with ours… We will have to be bold, creative and imaginative to make a better future.”
Speaking to President Bush after the U.S. military invasion of Iraq, Pelosi says she told him: “We have shown our strength — now we must show our greatness” by stopping the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, promoting democracy in the Middle East and elevating the standard of living in the U.S.
She stated that Iran has been developing WMD for years and also supporting and exporting terrorism. Russia and China supplied Iran with many of these weapons and she salutes President Bush for putting pressure on them to stop.
When questioned about our loss of civil liberties since 9/11, Pelosi replied: “The Bush administration has over-reached on curbing civil liberties.” The Democrats defended against this by having a “sunset” [expiration] clause in the first post-9/11 security bill [called Patriot One], “but if we don’t speak up about these civil liberties issues, shame on us!”
Pelosi believes the private sector is very important to the success of the U.S. economy, but with that success comes “a social compact of community responsibility” whereby the private sector has some obligation to help the public sector. For example, “nothing does more to grow our economy than education, from pre-school to continuing education for adults. Education is fundamental to our democracy.”
When asked what happened to President Bush’s “leave-no-child-behind” policy, she said, “There is a credibility gap with this administration. The policy was a photo-op announcement in the Rose Garden and then was underfunded in the budget. Even the $400-per-child tax credit to be given to all families with children was somehow left out of the current budget for poor families.” She then stated that two-thirds of African-American children in the U.S. are raised in homes with a net worth of less than $1000.
Regarding the Bush Administration’s judicial nominees: “The way to overcome ultra-conservative appointees is to elect a [more centrist] President, Senate and House.” She then thanked East End residents for sending “a Congressman the caliber of Tim Bishop to the House.”
Pelosi’s comment on the need for national health insurance: “Imagine if people were not locked into jobs they dislike just to keep their health insurance.” It could have a positive effect on the economy. And her outlook on the Bush Administration’s environmental policy —“Thirty years of progress on the environment is being slowly eroded.”
Then she spoke about diversity. “We must appreciate the different groups in our society. We are constantly re-invigorated by our newest immigrants…”. Of the four Congressional leaders (Senate majority and minority, House Speaker and minority leader), she feels she “represents the most diversified constituency because Democrats elected to the House represent the most diverse populations in the U.S.”
When questioned about the possibility of electoral reform after the 2000 Presidential election debacle, Pelosi feels a majority vote to elect the President might be workable but it would require “a big public relations campaign and experience with this type of election” before it could be introduced nationally.
She paused and then said, “If you are a Republican, take back your party. It has been hijacked by the right wing.”
Pelosi seemed to relish the Q & A session and would have stayed on to answer more questions, but had to return to Washington. She concluded her talk by reminding the audience, “We have to do a better job of attracting good people to politics.”
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