"Thank you all very much for being here today. I am truly very honored by your presence. But thank you also for being there for me over the years. Over and over again. We have fought together, many of us in this room, for issues of concern to our country that relate to its greatness in terms of the strength of our people. Their health. Their education. Their security. A sense of economic and social justice that is important to us...
One only need look to all of you -- this magnificent District that I represent. to the creativity in your thinking and the originality of your ideas to make life better for people. And to always act in a values-based way that recognizes the dignity and worth of every single person..."
"It's about all of you. Your hopes and prayers. Your good work. Your great ideas. You make whoever represents this district a very important person. You lifted me up on your shoulders so that I can say "We know how to win. We know how to develop an agenda that respects every person.
When they ask me: how can you be the leader of the party when you're not down the center. I say because I will be the leader of the party who will build coalitions, who will build consensus, and we will do so in a way that will make the future better for Americas working families and for our children.
Just briefly I want to say why it's important for the Democrats to prevail. I say to people "you can take any issue or you can take any day of the week, and there is a case to be made against the Republicans." But let's just take yesterday.
Yesterday, Congress adjourned without passing unemployment benefits for Americas workers -- who worked hard, played by the rules, lost their jobs through no fault of their own but because of the downturn in the economy.
On December 28, 800,000 hard working Americans will no longer have their benefits because the Republicans refused to pass that. There was even a compromise from the Senate, which we still controlled up until yesterday, that said: 'Let's extend the benefits until February at least to give people a chance past the holidays and the rest.' They absolutely refused.
The Democrats said 'We're going to hold up the adjournment of Congress so that we cannot leave until you pass these benefits.' They said 'you can bring the Congress back here every single day from now on. We're never going to pass those benefits.' That's who the Republicans in Congress are. They're not like the Republicans we know around here, (laughter from audience) These are extreme right wing people, insensitive to the concerns of working families in America."
"Right now it feels a lot like the Thanksgiving Turkey. They carry you out. Everybody says 'isn't that wonderful.' They ooh and they ahh, and then they begin to carve you up." -- Nancy Pelosi, 11/23/02.
"So now they have both houses. They have a Republican House. They have a Republican Senate. They have the White House. They have to be accountable. They said they were for prescription drug benefits, let's see it. We're going to hold their feet to the fire on prescription drug benefits, patients bill of rights and investing in education.
Just two more points. As you know, we are faced with a clear and present danger really, known as terrorism. We must stand together in a bipartisan way to fight the war against terrorism. But as we protect and defend our country, we must also protect and defend our constitution...
I could go on and on about the issues, and I will in other venues, but today is a day of celebration, of recognition that something very extraordinary has happened in our country.
You've heard me, some of you on TV, saying, when people ask me what does it feel like to be the first woman to be elected by her collegues to be the leader of the party in the congress. I say 'Well, right now it feels a lot like the Thanksgiving Turkey. They carry you out. Everybody says 'isn't that wonderful.' They ooh and they ahh, and then they begin to carve you up.'
But we can take it. We can take it! I can take it because I have you..."
...In any event, it's a huge responsibility. I told my collegues and I tell you now that I will always conduct myself in a manner to make you proud of the tremendous honor that has been bestowed upon me. I understand the challenges that we have ahead. I understand how important it is for the Democrats to prevail if we are going to have the future that we want for our children.
I understand the importance of the national scope of the job. So, I'm going to have to ask your cooperation again in order to give me the latitude to travel the country to do the job, to win the House for victory in 2004 in the House of Representatives! And to take back the White House in 2004!
Note: Each of the photographs above is linked to a larger version if you click on the image.
If you'd like a VHS or Mini DV of my footage, email me at lisarein@finetuning.com.
I'll be releasing these photographs and all of my video footage under a Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication soon, but until then, here's a Public Domain Dedication of my own to hold everyone over: I, Lisa Rein, hereby dedicate the entire copyright of this collection, "Lisa Rein's November 23, 2002 Footage from Leader Pelosi's San Francisco Celebration Party" to the Public Domain.
I'm working on a better interface and a Comprehensive Photo/Video Index so folks won't get lost in the quagmire of my rapidly-expanding library of video footage.
I'll also have some technical notes up soon to help explain how to install the software required to get the movies to run on various platforms for you non-uber techie folks.
I also still need to re-encode everything as MPEGs capable of running on unix-based operating systems.
