Why Nancy Pelosi Has Earned a Seat at the Table
For Immediate Release Contact: Glenn Rushing
November 21, 2018 (202) 615-7476
Press Statement
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee
Why Nancy Pelosi Has Earned a Seat at the Table
Jackson Lee: "To hit the ground running, House Democrats need at this critical hour its best political strategist, its most talented legislative tactician, its most seasoned and accomplished leader, and its most formidable negotiator at the table representing all of us. The change Americans are clamoring for has come again, in the form of a new Democratic House majority and to ensure that we are poised to make the policy and legislative changes that will improve the lives of all Americans, House Democrats should choose as Speaker the first woman ever to hold that office, the Honorable Nancy D. Pelosi."
Washington, DC - Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, a Senior Member of the House Committees on Judiciary, Homeland Security, and Budget, and the Ranking Member on the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations, issued the following statement today calling on House Democrats to unify in support of House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi for Speaker of the House in the 116th Congress:
"Starting next January, at the table in the rooms where negotiations take place and decisions are made affecting the fate of our nation, will be seated four men: the President, the Senate Majority Leader, the Senate Democratic Leader, and the House Republican Leader. And certainly women, who comprise more than half the population, deserve a seat at that table. Clearly, Nancy Pelosi has earned the opportunity to fill that seat and to represent all the people of the United States as Speaker of the House. Not just because she is an accomplished legislator and negotiator but because she brings to the table the perspective, understanding, and sensibility of a mother who understands first-hand the challenges women face in raising and educating children, caring for aging parents, dealing with health and medical emergencies, and paying for gas and food on incomes that are on average 79% of what the average man earns.
"Decisions about the federal budget, tax code, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, (and other components of the social safety net) are matters of profound importance to all Americans. Additionally, decisions about health policy fundamentally make it easier or harder for ordinary Americans, especially women, to provide brighter futures for their families. And that is why it is so important to have a woman at the table, and especially one who had the vision and foresight to understand and boldly proclaim that "When Women Succeed, America Succeeds" and who traveled the country co-hosting ‘Moms Summits' with House Democratic women members, like the one she did with me in my district to inform, engage, and support Houston area moms about the pressing challenges facing them and their families. It was a powerful moment and opportunity for the women who participated and they left feeling inspired and empowered.
"With Nancy Pelosi at the table, House Democrats give themselves the best chance to deliver on the promises we have made to all Americans to get the job done. With her negotiating skills in that room we are best positioned to succeed in lowering health care costs and prescription drug prices, raising incomes, end corruption, reforming the criminal justice system, preserving the environment, protecting voting rights, reducing gun violence, expanding educational and economic opportunity, passing comprehensive immigration reform, conducting meaningful oversight of the Executive Branch, and restoring the public's confidence that their government is on their side.
"Now is the time to make good on the promises we made. And to do that, to hit the ground running, House Democrats need at this critical hour its best political strategist, its most talented legislative tactician, its most seasoned and accomplished leader, and its most formidable negotiator at the table representing all of us.
"Nancy Pelosi has a documented record of delivering for the American people. Because of Nancy Pelosi's leadership the Affordable Health Care Act is the law of the land. Because Nancy Pelosi was at the helm, Congress passed the American Recovery and Renewal Act that rescued the economy from the deepest recession since the Great Depression and laid the foundation for the ensuing nine years of economic growth and the job creation that continues to this day.
"Nancy Pelosi provided the necessary leadership as President Obama and congressional Democrats worked to save the automobile industry from collapse and led the legislative agenda that delivered the GI Bill for the 21st Century and the Dodd-Frank Act that saved the banking system and created a consumer advocacy agency in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to guard the nation against future financial collapses. As Speaker in the 111th Congress, Nancy Pelosi shepherded into law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the last increase in the federal minimum wage. She also led the successful fight against the Bush Administration's attempt to privatize Social Security in 2005, which would have bankrupted millions of seniors and families when they were most vulnerable given the 2008 financial crisis.
"When I was first elected to Congress I was a member of the minority party in a House led by an inexperienced and overzealous Speaker who presided over a House that twice shut down the government, slashed investments in education and the environment, and wanted to let Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security ‘wither on the vine.' So as well as anyone, I understand the desire for change. But change came in the form of a Democratic House majority in 2006 after a successful campaign led by Nancy Pelosi.
"The change Americans are clamoring for has come again, in the form of a new Democratic House majority. And to ensure that we make history in substantive and substantial legislative victories that will improve the lives of all Americans, I urge my House Democratic colleagues to choose as Speaker one of the strongest legislative minds in American history – the Honorable Nancy D. Pelosi.
As the Honorable Shirley Chisolm, the first woman ever to run for the office of President, instructed there must be a ‘seat at the table' for all of us."
Sheila Jackson Lee, a Democrat representing the 18th Congressional District of Texas, is a senior member of the House Committees on Judiciary, Homeland Security and the Budget. She is a Ranking Member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.