A day after Republicans officially won control of US House and three weeks after a violent assault on her husband at their San Francisco home, Speaker Nancy Pelosi announces she will not seek reelection to the House Democratic Caucus Speaker.
Pelosi was the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House but Sen. Tom Carper says Pelosi did more than break a glass ceiling. He believes without her historic legislation like the Affordable Care Act, the American Rescue Plan, and the Inflation Reduction Act, would have never seen the light of day.
"From our first interaction nearly 40 years ago, I knew she was going places," Carper says in a statement. "And I feel privileged to say that from that day on we became not only great colleagues, but also great friends."
Sen. Chris Coons says Pelosi’s announcement brings an end to one of the most remarkable chapters in American politics – crediting her leadership for helping to expand health care, recover from economic crises and a pandemic, and pass monumental legislation to address the climate crisis.
“Today, we heard Nancy Pelosi take to the floor of the House and celebrate the legacy of Congress," Coons says in a statement. "‘In this room,’ she said, ‘our colleagues across history have abolished slavery, granted women the right to vote, established Social Security and Medicare, offered a hand to the weak, care to the sick, education to the young, and hope to the many.’ It is a centuries-long history, and she has authored one of its most important volumes."
Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester notes Pelosi served through four presidencies, producing some of what she says is the most transformational legislation in history.
“Speaker Pelosi remarked that as a member of this institution, we’re stitched together with our colleagues that have preceded us in history," Blunt Rochester says in a statement. "Those like Abraham Lincoln, Daniel Webster, Shirley Chisolm, and John Lewis. Speaker Pelosi will forever be among those names as a champion of our democracy. I’m proud to have served under her leadership.”
