[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 2 (Wednesday, January 8, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E10]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  APPLES DON'T FALL FAR FROM THE TREE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, January 7, 2003

  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, I commend to your attention the following 
editorial, ``No interest like self-interest,'' written by Alexandra 
Pelosi.
  Ms. Pelosi is a television news producer who co-directed the 
documentary ``Journeys with George,'' a behind the scenes look at 
George W. Bush's 2000 presidential campaign. She is also the daughter 
of the House Democratic Leader, Representative Nancy Pelosi.
  It is clear that apples don't fall far from the tree. The values, 
commitment and leadership Nancy Pelosi exemplifies resound here in the 
eloquent words of her daughter. I commend Alexandra Pelosi for her 
straightforward insight. She is right to call on the President to put 
the common good ahead of self-interest and to challenge all Americans 
to the same.
  The following is a reprinted version of Ms. Pelosi's editorial that 
appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on December 3, 2002:

                     No interest like self-interest

       Watching President Bush on television this election cycle 
     at those staged, made-for-TV photo-ops as he stumped for the 
     congressional candidate du jour made me nostalgic.
       Back in 2000, when I was an NBC News producer covering his 
     campaign, then candidate Bush sat down with me and my 
     absentee ballot during the primaries. This is the pitch Bush 
     made to me, a declared Democrat, for why I should vote for 
     him: ``You're in a key position. You happen to know me, you 
     can read me like a book, you are able to share thoughts with 
     the people of NBC in such a way that no one else will. And if 
     I lose, you're out of work baby, you're off the plane, baby. 
     It's in your interests.'' He appealed to my ambition and my 
     pocketbook. He didn't push my country's interest--but rather, 
     my own.
       His pitch struck me as a cynical appeal to the personal 
     good over the public good. So I asked, ``But is that why 
     people are supposed to vote? Are they supposed to vote just 
     for themselves? What about the little people? I have a good 
     job, I have a good life. BUT what about the people who really 
     need my vote: the hungry, the unemployed, the homeless?'' He 
     didn't really have an answer for me, all he had to give me 
     was a kiss.
  A lot has changed since Bush became president. A new patriotic fervor 
and a spirit of sacrifice swept the nation after Sept. 11. Remember the 
endless lines of New Yorkers celebrating the rescue workers near Ground 
Zero, the generous donations coming in from across our country? America 
     showed the kind of selfless spirit that has defined some 
     of the best moments of our history. We were ``stronger, 
     more united.'' Remember?
       If the days after Sept. 11 taught us anything, it was that 
     the American way of ``me first, me only'' just isn't going to 
     make it in the new millennium. We were willing to admit that 
     ``what is good for you, may not be good for your country.'' 
     It felt like a new day was dawning.
       So when I saw Bush campaigning last month, I was surprised 
     to see him using his old line. Here is the pitch he made to 
     the people of New Hampshire for why they should vote for John 
     Sununu, the Republican senator-elect: ``It doesn't matter 
     whether you're a Republican or Democrat or independent, it's 
     in your interest, it's in your personal interest and it's in 
     your state interest that you have one of your own be the 
     chairman of one of the most vital committees in the United 
     States Senate.''
       These midterm elections made me wonder. Have we learned 
     nothing in the last two years? What happened to the Sept. 11 
     lesson of selflessness and sacrifice?
       The political commentators love to marvel at how President 
     Bush has grown up in office. And people who see ``Journeys 
     With George'' always ask me about how he has ``risen to the 
     occasion.'' For evidence of his evolution, they point to the 
     scene in my movie that takes place 60 days before the 2000 
     presidential election. I ask Bush how he changed during the 
     campaign. ``I started out as a cowboy,'' he says. ``And I'm 
     now a statesman.''
       ``Are you?'' I ask.
       For a second, he bristles at my impertinence, then says, 
     ``If you have to ask, I think we're in trouble.''
       There's a difference between a cowboy and a statesman. A 
     cowboy is a rodeo performer or a wild loner roaming the land 
     just looking out for himself. A statesman looks out for and 
     leads us all.
       As he did in 2000, Bush went state to state in 2002, 
     bringing the message to America that a vote for one of his 
     hand-picked candidates was ``in their interest.'' Apparently, 
     that tactic worked, for now he has a pliant Republican 
     Congress, ready to do the bidding of a population acting only 
     in its own self-interest.
       I thought we'd all grown a little since Sept. 11, that 
     we've embraced our inner statesman. But have we? And if I 
     have to ask, I think we're in trouble.




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