Nancy Pelosi

Nancy Pelosi is the House Minority Leader of the 109th Congress of the United States and will be the Speaker of the House for the 110th Congress. Since 1987, she has been the Democratic Representative from the 8th district of California, which includes the city of San Francisco . Her district was numbered as the 5th District until 1993. In January 2007, Pelosi will become the highest-ranking woman in the history of the American federal government. Pelosi graduated from Baltimore's Institute of Notre Dame high school and from Trinity Washington University in Washington, D.C. in 1962, where she met Paul Pelosi. When the couple married, they moved to his hometown of San Francisco.

Pelosi has five children: Nancy Corinne, Christine, Jacqueline, Paul and Alexandra. Alexandra, a journalist, covered the Republican presidential campaigns in 2000 and made a movie about the experience, Journeys with George. She also covered the campaigns in 2004 and wrote a book on it. The Pelosi family has a net worth of over $25 million, mainly from Paul Pelosi's investments. Besides a large portfolio of jointly owned San Francisco Bay Area real estate, he also has millions of dollars worth of shares in publicly traded companies such as Microsoft, Amazon.com and AT&T 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 from 1967 to 1971

Phillip Burton died in 1984 and was succeeded by his wife, Sala. In late 1986, Sala became ill with cancer. She decided not to run for reelection in 1988, and suggested that Pelosi run in her place. Burton 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 left-wing San Francisco Supervisor Harry Britt, and took office on June 2, 1987. She was subsequently elected to a full term in 1988. Democrats have held the seat since 1949, 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. In her early years in the House, she served on the Appropriations and Intelligence Committees. She was the ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee for two years.

As a result of the Democrats winning a majority of seats in the recent 2006 midterm elections, Pelosi was nominated by the Democratic Party to be the next Speaker of the House when Congress reconvenes in January 2007 for the 110th Congress of the United States. While the Speaker is formally elected by the full House, this election is almost always a formality since the Speaker usually comes from the majority party in the chamber. Pelosi is the first woman to lead a major political party in either house of Congress, and once formally elected, she would be the first woman to serve as Speaker. She would also be the first Californian or Italian American to hold the post, and the second Speaker from west of the Rockies . As Speaker, she would rank second in the presidential line of succession (behind the Vice President). On November 16, 2006, Pelosi was unanimously chosen as the Democratic candidate for Speaker, effectively making her Speaker-elect.

As a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, Pelosi fought for America's families. She has been a leader in increasing educational opportunity, protecting workers, and promoting health care, including women's health and the creation of a nationwide health tracking network to examine the links between environmental pollutants and chronic disease. She has been a strong proponent of increased investments in health research, and has secured funding to double the budget for the National Institutes of Health. Pelosi also has successfully defeated repeated attempts to reduce funding for international family planning programs.

One of Pelosi's first legislative victories was the creation of the Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS program. She has also worked to accelerate development of an HIV vaccine, expand access to Medicaid for people living with HIV, and increase funding for the Ryan White CARE Act, the Minority HIV/AIDS Initiative and other programs vital to people living with or at risk for HIV/AIDS.

Pelosi also successfully increased access to health insurance for people with disabilities by ensuring continuation of their health care coverage. She was instrumental in passing legislation to assist nonprofit organizations in the creation of affordable housing.

As a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence for 10 years (the longest continuous period of service in the committee's history) including two years as the Ranking Democrat, Pelosi worked to ensure that policymakers and military commanders are provided with the timely and accurate intelligence necessary to guide diplomatic initiatives, succeed in combat, and protect U.S. military forces.

In meetings around the world with U.S. and foreign intelligence leaders, Pelosi has urged for greater attention to the threats to international security posed by the proliferation of technologies associated with the weapons of mass destruction and global terrorism.

Pelosi voted for the Unborn Victims of Violence Act in 2001, legislation that made 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 "yes" for both federal funding of abortion facilities and for financial aid to such organizations. Pelosi has a long record of voting for abortion rights. Since 1995, Pelosi has voted against challenges to the Supreme Court’s decision regarding the landmark abortion case of Roe vs. Wade

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.[ She has widely supported conservation programs and energy research appropriations. She has also voted against drilling for oil in Alaska.

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 and supports the enforcement of the Fourteenth Amendment barring discrimination based on race.

Pelosi supports federal funding of government programs with tax increases when necessary.[ She has supported many bills which would increase assistance to the poor and disadvantaged while increasing taxes on higher wage earners.

Pelosi has also voted against repealing the Estate Tax. She 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.