Women’s History Month: The First Female Speaker of the House

Elanna Cahn — March 20, 2014 – 12:37 pm | Women's Leadership Network | Congress | Democrats | Domestic Policy | Health Care | Women's Issues Comments (0) Add a comment

As part of Women’s History Month, NJDC is highlighting a few of the “First Women” we are privileged to call friends. The first of these women is Democratic Leader, Nancy Pelosi.

On January 4, 2007, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi became the first female Speaker of the House in the history of the United States. Her term as Speaker was incredibly productive, resulting in the passage of Recovery and Reinvestment Act in early 2009, health insurance reform, strong Wall Street reforms, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, child nutrition and food safety legislation as well as repealing the discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

Speaker Pelosi

Under the leadership of Pelosi, the 111th Congress was heralded as “one of the most productive Congresses in history” by Congressional scholar Norman Ornstein. President Barack Obama called Speaker Pelosi “an extraordinary leader for the American people,” and the Christian Science Monitor wrote: “...make no mistake: Nancy Pelosi is the most powerful woman in American politics and the most powerful House Speaker since Sam Rayburn a half century ago.”

Working in partnership with President Obama, Pelosi led the House effort to pass the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in early 2009 to create and save millions of American jobs, provide relief for American families, and provide a tax cut to 95 percent of working Americans.

With the House Democratic Caucus, Pelosi continues to focus on the need to create jobs in America and prevent them from being shipped overseas.

Pelosi spearheaded passage of historic health insurance reform legislation in the House which establishes a Patients’ Bill of Rights and will provide insurance for 30 million more Americans while lowering health care costs over the long term. The new law provides patients with affordable insurance choices, curbs abuses by the insurance industry, strengthens Medicare, and will reduce the deficit by more than $100 billion over the next 10 years.

In the 111th Congress, Pelosi also led the Congress in passing strong Wall Street reforms to rein in big banks and protect consumers as well as the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, which expands educational opportunities and reforms the financial aid system to save billions of taxpayers’ dollars.

Additional key legislation passed into law included the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to restore the ability of women and all workers to access our judicial system to fight pay discrimination; legislation to provide health care for 11 million American children; national service legislation; and hate crimes legislation. In late 2010, Pelosi led the Congress in passing child nutrition and food safety legislation as well as repealing the discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which prohibited gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military.

Pelosi has made energy security her flagship issue, enacting comprehensive energy legislation in 2007 that raised vehicle fuel efficiency standards for the first time in 32 years and making an historic commitment to American home grown biofuels. In 2009, under her leadership, the

House passed the landmark American Clean Energy and Security Act - a comprehensive bill to create clean energy jobs, combat climate change, and transition America to a clean energy economy. The legislation was blocked by Republicans in the United States Senate, but sent a strong signal to the world about the United States’ commitment to fighting the climate crisis.

In continuing to push for accountability and transparency in government, under Speaker Pelosi, the House passed the toughest ethics reform legislation in the history of the Congress, including the creation of an independent ethics panel, and increased accountability and transparency in House operations, including earmark reforms. As Speaker, Pelosi led the fight to pass the DISCLOSE Act in the House, which fights a corporate takeover of U.S. elections and ensures additional disclosure.

Additional key accomplishments signed into law under the leadership of Speaker Pelosi include: an increase in the minimum wage for the first time in 10 years; the largest college aid expansion since the GI bill; and a new GI education bill for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars; and increased services for veterans, caregivers, and the Veterans Administration.

Personal Story

Pelosi hails from a strong family tradition of public service. Her father, Thomas D’Alesandro, Jr., served as Mayor of Baltimore for 12 years, after representing the city for five terms in Congress. Her brother, Thomas D’Alesandro III, also served as Mayor of Baltimore.

Pelosi graduated from Trinity College in Washington, D.C. in 1962. Pelosi and her husband, Paul Pelosi, a native of San Francisco, have five children and nine grandchildren.

For more on Leader Pelosi please click here

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