Nancy Pelosi became the first woman to lead the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday, and in so doing moved closer to the presidency than any woman in history – second in line of succession after the vice president. We congratulate her and wish her the wisdom and fortitude to do right by the American people.
Pelosi’s rise to speaker of the House comes as Democrats take control of Congress for the first time in 14 years, setting up a duel with President Bush on a host of issues from taxes to the environment, from student loans to Iraq. Pelosi, a 66-year-old mother of five and grandmother of six, ascended to her new office promising “partnership, not partisanship. … In this House, we may belong to different parties, but we serve one country,” she said. We hope Republicans will respond in kind.
Democrats got it right in setting congressional ethics reform as their very first priority. Pelosi pledged to make the 110th Congress the “most honest and open in history,” a determination made necessary by the sordid record of the 109th. But there is much more to be done, and Pelosi acknowledged such issues as the war in Iraq, rebuilding the nation’s military and strengthening national security, as well as ensuring that college is affordable, that health care is accessible to all and that the nation makes progress toward energy independence. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid declared that “No issue in our country is more important than finding an end to this intractable war.”
There are also the challenges of immigration reform and ensuring the long-term viability of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
A poll conducted by The Associated Press and AOL this week showed that Democrats have strong support for the measures they want to pass in their first “100 hours,” including raising the minimum wage and expanding federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research. The poll also found that most Americans want Washington to make it easier for them to buy prescription drugs from other countries where the prices are often far less than in the United States.
Pelosi, first elected to Congress from San Francisco in 1987, must keep in mind that the country remains sharply divided. Democrats dominate the House 233-202, but the Senate is divided 51-49. Any successful legislation must have at least some GOP support as well as the signature of President Bush.
We don’t delude ourselves into thinking that congressional leaders will be able to work in a bipartisan fashion on all matters. Indeed, Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., was appropriately skeptical. “What’s going to be the test is when some of us get together on the tough issues and see if we can work something out,” he said. But we can hope that Pelosi’s closing words to Congress yesterday will ring true in some small fashion.
“Let us all stand together to move our country forward, seeking common ground for the common good,” she said. “We have made history; now let us make progress for our new America.”
