[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 7 (Tuesday, February 5, 2002)]
[House]
[Page H131]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO NANCY PELOSI

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Roybal-Allard) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues today in 
celebration of the official swearing-in of the Democratic whip, my 
colleague and friend, Nancy Pelosi.
  Today, we celebrate a historic event. Nancy Pelosi is the highest-
ranking woman ever to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. Her 
success is also a tribute to the women who came before her. From the 
election of Representative Jeanette Rankin to the House in 1916, to 
today, when a record number of 75 women serve in the 107th Congress, 
women Members of Congress have made significant contributions to the 
legislative accomplishments of the House and Senate. They have served 
with distinction as chairs of committees and subcommittees, members of 
our most powerful committees, and in leadership positions within the 
Democratic caucus and the Republican conference.
  But, today is notable because Nancy has been elevated by her peers to 
one of the top two positions that the history books recognize as the 
key party leadership posts. So it is fitting that we gather today to 
recognize the leadership exemplified by our new Democratic whip, Nancy 
Pelosi, and to celebrate the accomplishments that have earned this 
great distinction.
  Nancy was a leader in California and in the California Democratic 
party for many years before her election to Congress in 1987. In may 
ways, her political experience provided a model for me in becoming the 
first Mexican-American woman to be elected to Congress, and I have 
appreciated the many ways she has supported me both before and after I 
joined her here in the House in 1993.
  She has also provided additional leadership to me as I have followed 
her to the House Appropriations Committee. I believe it is Nancy's 
service on that committee that demonstrated her leadership abilities to 
the members of our caucus. First, Nancy serves on the Labor, Health and 
Human Services, and Education Subcommittee, which may recognize as the 
most problematic appropriations bill passed by Congress each year. The 
bill's long list of worthy programs necessitate hard work and numerous, 
bipartisan compromises in order to produce the final version that is 
enacted into law. Nancy's contribution to that process each year has 
been essential in protecting health and education programs that benefit 
millions of Americans.
  In addition, as ranking Democrat on the Foreign Operations 
Subcommittee, Nancy has been the Democratic floor manager for that bill 
since 1995. From that position, she has been instrumental in advocating 
our caucus's position with regard to programs that address global 
poverty, international family planning, and global environmental issues 
while working with her Republic chairman to fashion a compromise bill 
that can withstand scrutiny by the House. She has worked 
uncomplainingly in the spirit of compromise each year to produce 
legislation the House can support.
  Nancy's race for whip pitted her against one of the Democratic 
Caucus' most active and distinguished members, our colleague Steny 
Hoyer, who has been one of my mentors on the Appropriations Committee. 
Steny's outstanding credentials as our former caucus chair, as a 
chairman and now ranking member of the Treasury-Postal Appropriations 
Subcommittee, and as chief recruiter for our party of congressional 
challengers, made the race for whip a difficult decision for everyone 
in our caucus. But we all recognized that with choices such as Nancy 
and Steny for this coveted leadership position, the Democratic Caucus, 
as well as the entire House, would be well-served by the victor. 
Nancy's tough but successful race against Steny represented another 
example of leadership--not just of her ability to mobilize the diverse 
elements of our caucus, but also her ability to organize in the 
systematic manner essential to the success of any party's whip.
  As Californians and as members of the Appropriations Committee, Nancy 
and I share many experiences. But we also share a distinction enjoyed 
by only a handful of women Members of Congress over the history of 
Congress because each of our fathers served in the House before us. 
Nancy's father, Representative Thomas D'Alesandro, served in the House 
from Maryland from 1939 to 1947. My father, Representative Edward 
Roybal, served an area of Los Angeles near my current district from 
1963 to 1993. I know that the model of public service provided by our 
fathers was essential to each of us as we decided upon the course of 
our careers.
  I congratulate Nancy Pelosi as she officially assumes her leadership 
duties today. She takes her place today among a long line of 
outstanding Democratic whips that go before her in the House's history, 
including Representative David Bonior, whom she succeeds. I pledge to 
work with her and our other Democratic leaders, indeed all the leaders 
of the House, in going forward with our work in a manner that best 
reflects the American people and that always strives to make the House 
of Representatives truly ``the people's House.''

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