House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi visits Rice

By Tina Nazerian     3/25/14 8:06pm

Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi visited Rice University Tuesday, March 18 at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy.

Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi visited Rice University Tuesday, March 18 at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy. She spoke about a variety of domestic and foreign policy issues in a conversation with Baker Institute Founding Director Ambassador Edward Djerejian.

Former Secretary of State James A. Baker introduced Pelosi as not only a trailblazer for women but also as one of the most effective members of Congress of our time, with a host of legislative achievements to her credit.

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“She and I are living proof that you can be at opposite ends of the political spectrum and still like each other,” Baker said.

Baker said Pelosi, whose father and brother both served as mayors of Baltimore, followed the family tradition of political involvement when she moved to San Francisco and became an important part of the California democratic party, eventually being elected to the House of Representatives in 1987, where she has served ever since.

“Once in Washington, [Pelosi] not only made history, she made it again, and again. In 2001, she became the House Minority Whip, the first woman to ever hold that post. A year later, she rose to House Minority Leader, also the first woman to hold that post,” Baker said. “Then, in 2007, [Pelosi] became the 60th speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and the highest ranking woman in the history of the United States Congress, a position she held until 2011.”

Pelosi said she believes the biggest challenge facing American women today are the challenges that face America, mentioning a forum that congresswoman Sheila Jackson hosted, titled “When Women Succeed, America Succeeds.” 

“We believe there are some obstacles to women’s fulfillment,” Pelosi said. “Equal pay, paid sick leave, issues that relate to child care, early childhood education, [these] are issues that would give women a higher comfort level in the workplace, or whatever their pursuit is. We have, in talking to women and listening to women, really seen that whatever matters to their children is what matters to women, and its about their health, their education, their economic security. And some women are not moms but, nonetheless, what works for moms works for them as well.” 

McMurtry College senior Skye Kelty said she was unsatisfied with Pelosi’s statements about women’s rights, and that while Pelosi is definitely a leader of the women’s rights movement, she limited the scope of the movement by stating that what is best for moms is best for women.  

“She clearly was not implying that all women should be or want to be mothers, but she did neglect many sectors of the female population by focusing her attention on moms,” Kelty said. “What is best for moms is not always best for young girls or college students or single women or retirees, nor is there a universal mom that exists in this country. Moms in poverty are very different from moms managing national defense companies.” 

Pelosi also spoke about the Affordable Care Act, which she said is an innovation in wellness and prevention that will save about a trillion dollars over the course of 10 years, as well as giving Americans a healthier life to pursue their happiness, in accordance with the wishes of the founding fathers. 

“We put it there as a pillar of social security, medicare, affordable care, for all Americans,” Pelosi said. “We are honoring the vows of our founders, who sacrificed everything, in their words, for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. So it’s liberating in that respect, in that you have health insurance that is lower cost, higher quality and follows you.” 

When Djerejian asked Pelosi if she believes the passing of the first clean increase in the debt ceiling since 2009 is a sign of increasing bipartisanship in Washington since the government shutdown, rather than a temporary truce, Pelosi said he should be the judge. 

“The full faith and credit of the United States of America should never be in doubt,” Pelosi said. “That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be debated or discussed, but it should never be in doubt. And even if you want to vote against it, you want to make sure that you’re not impeding the lifting of the debt ceiling.”

According to Pelosi, Congress in on the right path to deficit reduction and can get the majority of the vote if it brings immigration reform to the floor. 

“You have to be optimistic,” Pelosi said. “You have to view every situation fresh and [assess] the opportunities it presents, the public understanding of it.”

Pelosi said she is hopeful for comprehensive immigration reform.

Baker Institute Student Forum Vice President of Outreach James Dargan said he thinks Pelosi’s optimism for future cooperation with the moderate Republicans is a sign that bipartisanship is not a hopeless cause among Democratic leaders. 

“However, the internal power struggle within the Republican party will prevent much cooperation from occurring on the policies Leader Pelosi discussed,” Dargan, a Wiess College junior, said. “If bipartisanship is really the goal, Congress needs to look at policies that are less politically divisive such as revenue-neutral tax reform.”

Pelosi is also optimistic about a framework and path for the Iranian nuclear talks, saying that one of the pillars of American national security is to stop the spread of weapons of mass destruction. 

Pelosi called the five permanent members of the United Nation’s Security Council agreeing to the sanctions on Iran an accomplishment. 

“It’s deadly serious,” Pelosi said. “The fact that Iran is a country that has proximity to Israel, and Israel has all this concern –– they consider the development of a nuclear weapon in Iran an existential threat to the state of Israel, and probably legitimately so. The fact is, and I consider the establishment of the state of Israel one of the greatest political achievements of the 20th century, even if Israel never existed, America should be very concerned and stop the development of [any] weapon of mass destruction by Iran or by anybody else.” 

In terms of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Pelosi mentioned that four weeks ago, if she were here, she would have said to remain calm. 

“After the actions of Putin the last few weeks, some of the same calm voices were saying, this is a different deal now,” Pelosi said. “We had a visit from the Prime Minister of Ukraine last week, and he [was] very calm, asking for diplomatic and economic support. He didn’t make a request for anything military.” 

Kelty said, in general, she agrees with many of Pelosi’s statements but could sense the pandering as she repeatedly referred to Reagan, both Bush administrations and contemporary Republican party leaders. 

“I was quite amused that everyone who asked her a question with any liberal lean felt the need to profess their Republican or conservative party association, including the doctor that stated his support for universal health care and preventative medicine to the retired physicist that stated his support for climate change legislation,” Kelty said. “Most of the people in the room were nervous to have a strictly issue-based discussion, which was probably due to the fact that Leader Pelosi is the face of the democratic party and this is Houston.” 

According to Kelty, because people seem to define Pelosi as a representative and role model for women, it seems that they end up asking her the same broad question about what the major challenges for women are in this country.

Dargan said he thinks while Pelosi demonstrated an awareness of the major issues requiring legislative action, she offered few concrete details.

“As is typical in these events,” Dargan said.

Dargan said he had hoped Pelosi would provide more specifics in her responses.

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