User:Jasper23/lipsum

Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi (born March 26, 1940) is the 60th and current Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, following the 2006 Congressional elections, and is the first woman, first Californian, and first Italian American in U.S. history to hold that office. As No. 2 in the Presidential line of succession (following Dick Cheney), she is the highest-ranked Democrat in line for the Oval Office. No woman has been closer to the Presidency.

Pelosi was the House Minority Leader of the 107th, 108th, and 109th Congresses of the United States. Since 1987, she has been the representative from the 8th district of California (numbered as 5th until 1993), which falls entirely within and includes most of the city and county of San Francisco.

Early life and career
Pelosi was born Nancy D'Alesandro to Italian-American parents in Baltimore, Maryland. The youngest of six children, she was involved with politics from an early age. Her father, Thomas D'Alesandro, Jr., was a U.S. Congressman from Maryland and a Mayor of Baltimore. Thomas L. J. D'Alesandro III, one of her five brothers, also served as Mayor of Baltimore from 1967 to 1971.

Pelosi graduated from Baltimore's Institute of Notre Dame high school and from Trinity College (now Trinity Washington University) in Washington, D.C. in 1962, where she met her future husband Paul Pelosi. When the couple married, they moved to his hometown of San Francisco, where his brother Ron Pelosi was a member of the city's board of supervisors (San Francisco city and county council).

After her youngest child became a high school senior, Pelosi worked her way up in Democratic politics to become party chairwoman for Northern California, and joined forces with one of the leaders of the California Democratic Party, 5th District Congressman Phillip Burton.

Pelosi is an honorary board member of the National Organization of Italian American Women.

Family
Pelosi has five children: Nancy Corinne, Christine, Jacqueline, Paul, and Alexandra. Alexandra, a journalist, covered the Republican presidential campaigns in 2000 and made a film about the experience, Journeys with George. She also wrote a book on coverage of the 2004 campaigns.

The Pelosi family has a net worth of over US$25 million, primarily from Paul Pelosi's investments. In addition to their large portfolio of jointly owned San Francisco Bay Area real estate, he also has millions of dollars in stock from publicly traded companies such as Microsoft, Amazon.com and AT&T. In 2003, the Pelosi family sold their eight-acre (three hectare) Rutherford vineyard. Pelosi continues to be among the richest members of Congress.

Congressional career
Representative Phillip Burton died in 1983 and was succeeded by his wife, Sala. In late 1986, Sala became ill with cancer and decided not to run for reelection in 1988, and suggested that Pelosi run for the seat. Sala died on February 1, 1987, just a month after being sworn in for a second full term. Pelosi won a special election to succeed her, narrowly defeating San Francisco Supervisor Harry Britt, and took office on June 2, 1987. She was elected to a full term in 1988 and re-elected ten times, receiving 76-86% of the vote each time.

Pelosi represents one of the safest Democratic districts in the country. Democrats have held the seat since 1949, and Republicans, who currently make up only 13 percent of registered voters in the district, have not made a serious bid for the seat since the early 1960s. Pelosi has kept this tradition going. Since her initial victory in 1987, she has received at least 75% of the vote and has declined to participate in candidates' debates. Nevertheless, Pelosi's politics are more conservative than many San Francisco voters, which has led to some conflicts with her constituents.

In the House, she served on the Appropriations and Intelligence Committees, and was the ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee for two years.

Democratic Party leadership
In 2001, Pelosi was elected the House Minority Whip, second-in-command to Minority Leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri. She was the first woman in U.S. history to reach that position. Since then, she has campaigned for candidates in 30 states and in 90 Congressional districts. In 2002, after Gephardt resigned as minority leader to seek the Democratic nomination in the 2004 presidential election, Pelosi was elected to replace him, becoming the first woman to lead a major party in the House.

Democratic nomination and election to Speaker of the House
On November 16, 2006, Pelosi was unanimously chosen as the Democratic candidate for Speaker, effectively making her Speaker-elect. Pelosi supported her longtime friend, John Murtha of Pennsylvania for the position of House Majority Leader, the second-ranking post in the House Democratic caucus, over House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland, who had been her second-in-command since 2003. Pelosi and Hoyer had a somewhat frosty relationship dating back to 2001, when they ran against each other for minority whip. However, Hoyer was elected as House Majority Leader over Murtha by a margin of 149-86 within the caucus. Pelosi won the vote for Speaker of the House 233-202. With her victory, she became the first female Speaker of the House in American history.

Abortion
Pelosi voted for the Unborn Victims of Violence Act in 2001, making it a federal crime to commit violence against a pregnant woman that results in the death of her unborn child. In 2004, Pelosi voted against the measure when it was reintroduced with a new definition of a violent attack on a pregnant woman as two distinct crimes: one against the woman herself, and the other against her unborn child.

Pelosi has voted for federal funding of abortion facilities and for financial aid to such organizations. Pelosi has a long record of voting for access to abortion and for other women's rights. Since 1995, Pelosi has voted against challenges to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision regarding the landmark abortion case of Roe v. Wade.

Agriculture
Pelosi has a reputation of being generally supportive of the small agriculture sector in her district.

Budget and taxes
Pelosi has been an advocate for a balanced budget, though she voted against the 1995 Balanced Budget Proposed Constitutional Amendment, which was passed by the House almost strictly along party lines, but was twice rejected by the Senate.

Civil liberties
Pelosi has voted for protection of civil liberties and First Amendment rights. She voted against laws banning flag-burning. She has voted for and been a strong supporter of the separation of church and state. She has also been an opponent of the Federal Marriage Amendment, a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution which would define marriage in the United States as a union of one man and one woman.

Education
Pelosi voted for the No Child Left Behind Act in May of 2001, which instituted testing to track students' progress and authorized an increase in overall education spending.

Environment and energy
Pelosi has supported the development of new technologies to reduce U.S. dependence upon foreign oil and ameliorate the adverse environmental effects of burning fossil fuels. Pelosi has widely supported conservation programs and energy research appropriations. Pelosi has also voted to remove an amendment which would allow for oil and gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Health care
Pelosi has voted to increase Medicare and Medicaid benefits.

Immigration
Pelosi has been a supporter of immigrant rights. She voted against the Secure Fence Act of 2006.

Lobbyist guidelines and ethics issues
Pelosi introduced the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act to Congress.

Minimum wage
Pelosi has voted for increasing the federal minimum wage.

Military draft
In regards to Representative Charles Rangel's(D-NY) plan to introduce legislation that would reinstate the draft, Pelosi stated that she did not support such legislation.

Cuba
Pelosi voted in favor of keeping the travel restrictions on American citizens to Cuba, until the president has certified that Cuba has released all political prisoners, and extradited all individuals sought by the US on charges of air piracy, drug trafficking and murder.

Israel and the Middle East conflict
Pelosi reaffirms that "America and Israel share an unbreakable bond: in peace and war; and in prosperity and in hardship." Pelosi emphasized that "a strong relationship between the United States and Israel has long been supported by both Democrats and Republicans. America's commitment to the safety and security of the State of Israel is unwavering, regardless of which party is in power. However, the war in Iraq has made both America and Israel less safe." Pelosi's voting record shows she has consistently supported Israel. Prior to 2006 elections in the Palestinian Authority, she voted in favor of a Congress initiative to disapprove of Hamas and other organizations', defined as terrorist by the legislation, participation in the elections. She agrees with the current U.S. stance in support of a land-for-peace arrangement. She has applauded Israeli "hopeful signs" of offering land, while criticizing Palestinian "threats" of not demonstrating peace in turn. She states, "If the Palestinians agree to coordinate with Israel on the evacuation, establish the rule of law, and demonstrate a capacity to govern, the world may be convinced that finally there is a real partner for peace."

Pelosi supports the Syria Accountability Act and Iran Freedom and Support Act. In a speech given at the AIPAC 2005 annual conference, Pelosi said that "for too long, leaders from both parties haven't done enough" to put pressure on Russia and China who are providing Iran with technological information on nuclear issues and missiles. "If evidence of participation by other nations in Iran's nuclear program is discovered, I will insist that the Administration use, rather than ignore, the evidence in determining how the US deals with that nation or nations on other issues."

During the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, Pelosi voted in favor of Resolution 921 on the count that "the seizure of Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah terrorists was an unprovoked attack and Israel has the right, and indeed the obligation, to respond." She argues organizations and political bodies in the Mideast like Hamas and Hezbollah "have a greater interest in maintaining a state of hostility with Israel than in improving the lives of the people they claim to represent." Pelosi asserts that civilians on both sides of the border "have been put at risk by the aggression of Hamas and Hezbollah" in part for their use of "civilians as shields by concealing weapons in civilian areas."

North Korea
Pelosi strongly condemns North Korea's missile launches. "North Korea is moving outside the circle of acceptable behavior and is threatening the region, the United States, and the world," she says. "We must use every possible tool to stop North Korea’s unacceptable, provocative actions including six party, multilateral, and bilateral diplomatic negotiations."

The War on Terrorism
In 1998, Pelosi stated that Saddam Hussein "has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology."

After 2001, Pelosi has generally supported spending for national defense in areas of the War on Terrorism.

Pelosi voted for the USA Patriot Act, but has since opposed the extension of provisions that would further curtail individual liberties.

In 2002, Pelosi opposed the Iraq Resolution authorizing President Bush to use military force against Iraq, while stating that Iraq, like "other countries of concern" had WMD.

Speaker of the House
Nancy Pelosi defeated Rep. John Boehner with 233 votes compared to his 202 votes in the election for Speaker of the House. In her speech to Congress she stated:

"'I accept this gavel in the spirit of partnership, not partisanship, and look forward to working with you on behalf of the American people. In this House, we may belong to different parties, but we serve one country.'"

During her speech, she discussed the historical importance of being the first female to hold the Speaker's position:

"'This is a historic moment - for the Congress, and for the women of this country. It is a moment for which we have waited more than 200 years. Never losing faith, we waited through the many years of struggle to achieve our rights. But women weren't just waiting; women were working. Never losing faith, we worked to redeem the promise of America, that all men and women are created equal. For our daughters and granddaughters, today, we have broken the marble ceiling.'"

She also spoke on Iraq as the major issue facing the 110th Congress while incorporating some Democratic Party beliefs:

"'The election of 2006 was a call to change - not merely to change the control of Congress, but for a new direction for our country. Nowhere were the American people more clear about the need for a new direction than in Iraq. The American people rejected an open-ended obligation to a war without end.'"

The "Hundred Hours"
Prior to the U.S. 2006 midterm elections, Pelosi announced a plan for action: If elected, she and the newly-empowered Democratic caucus would push through most of its program during the first hundred hours of the 110th Congress' term. This refers to business hours and not actual time, and begins on the Tuesday (January 9, 2007) after the swearing-in ceremony on January 4th.

The origin for the name "first hundred hours" is a play-on-words from former Democratic President Franklin Roosevelt who promised quick action on the part of government (to combat the Great Depression) during his "first hundred days" in office. Newt Gingrich, the former Republican Speaker, had a similar 100-day agenda to implement the Contract with America.

Electoral History

 * 2006 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - California 8th District
 * Nancy Pelosi (D) (inc.), 80%
 * Mike DeNunzio (R), 10%
 * Krissy Keefer (G), 8%
 * Philip Z. Berg (L), 1.5%


 * 2004 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - California 8th District
 * Nancy Pelosi (D) (inc.), 83%
 * Jennifer Depalma (R), 12%
 * Leilani Dowell (PF), 3.5%
 * Terry Baum (G) (write-in) 2%


 * 2002 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - California 8th District
 * Nancy Pelosi (D) (inc.), 80%
 * G. Michael Geman (R), 13%
 * Jay Pond (G), 6%
 * Ira Spivack (L), 2%


 * 2000 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - California 8th District
 * Nancy Pelosi (D) (inc.), 85%
 * Adam Sparks (R), 12%
 * Erik Bauman (L), 3%
 * David Smithstein (NL), 1.2%


 * 1998 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - California 8th District
 * Nancy Pelosi (D) (inc.), 86%
 * David Martz (R), 12%
 * David Smithstein (NL), 2%


 * 1996 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - California 8th District
 * Nancy Pelosi (D) (inc.), 84%
 * Justin Raimondo (R), 12%
 * David Smithstein (NL), 3%


 * 1994 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - California 8th District
 * Nancy Pelosi (D) (inc.), 82%
 * Elsa C. Cheung (R), 18%


 * 1992 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - California 8th District
 * Nancy Pelosi (D) (inc.), 82%
 * Marc Wolin (R), 11%
 * James R. Elwood (L), 3%
 * Cesar G. Cadabes, (PF), 3%


 * 1990 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - California 5th District
 * Nancy Pelosi (D) (inc.), 77%
 * Alan Nichols (R), 23%


 * 1988 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - California 5th District
 * Nancy Pelosi (D), 76%
 * Bruce Michael O'Neill (R), 19%
 * Sam Grove (L), 2%
 * Theodore "Ted" Zuur (PF), 2%