USA: Nancy Pelosi is elected the first woman speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, now in Democratic control

Nancy Pelosi, a California liberal who helped engineer the Democratic takeover of the U.S. Congress from President George W. Bush's Republicans, on Thursday (January 4, 2007) became the first woman to lead the U.S. House of Representatives. Pelosi was chosen on a party-line vote of 233-202. The clerk of the House announced her victory to sustained applause. Pelosi shortly after entered the chamber for the first time in her new role as Speaker to the ceremonious announcement by the Sergeant of Arms. The leader of the minority Democrats the past four years, she now is the highest ranking woman in the U.S. government, second in the line of succession behind only the vice president to Bush. "This is an historic moment for the Congress, and for the women of this country," a triumphant Pelosi declared after taking the gavel. "It is a moment for which we have waited more than 200 years." House Republican leader John Boehner gracefully turned over power to the Democrats, calling Pelosi's ascension "a new milestone in American history." After receiving the oath herself, Pelosi administered it to the 435 members of the House of Representatives, elected in November. Pelosi, 66, had been denounced during the 2006 congressional campaigns by Republicans who claimed she would increase taxes, oppose conservative efforts to ban gay marriage and roll back the war on terror. But the Nov. 7 elections put Pelosi and fellow Democrats in control of both the House and Senate for the first time in 12 years, largely because of public discontent with the Iraq war. Often ignored or even mocked by Bush, the president will now have to negotiate with Pelosi or face defeats on Capitol Hill during his final two years in office. Pelosi called upon the President to develop a plan on Iraq that would eventually allow U.S. troops to leave. "It is the responsibility of the President to articulate a new plan for Iraq that makes it clear to Iraqis that they must defend their own streets and their own security, a plan that promotes stability in the region and a plan that allows us to responsibly redeploy our troops." Pelosi said. Democrats campaigned on a vow to start a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops. Democrats rallied around an agenda that included measures to increase the minimum wage, cut the interest-rates on federal students loans and end a number of subsidies to big oil companies. Pelosi promises votes on these bills during the House's first 100 legislative hours, beginning on Tuesday, after it adopts new rules to clean up how Congress does business. For her part, Pelosi has rejected calls to try to impeach Bush over the Iraq war. But she and fellow Democrats promise congressional investigations into the buildup and prosecution of the increasingly unpopular conflict. On the House floor, Pelosi recalled growing up Catholic and Italian in Baltimore, Maryland, where she learned politics from her big-city mayor father, that began with help for constituents who knocked at their door. She was first elected to Congress in 1987 from her adopted hometown of San Francisco where she raised five children with her husband and earlier served as state party chairwoman. Among those attending Pelosi's inaugural session as Speaker was Tony Bennett, famous for singing "I left my heart in San Francisco." Bennett headlines a Democrat fundraiser at the National Building Museum in Washington D.C. tonight. "We're just thrilled about the fact that she has taken over. She's a beautiful lady and I know she's going to do great things for America," Bennett said outside the Capitol building.

ITN Source | January 5, 2007

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