Click on photo to enlarge or download: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi,D-Calif.,introduces the newly elected class of freshmen representatives at a news conference Tuesday. The new members were in town for orientation. SHFWire photo by Kristopher Rivera
WASHINGTON – House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi,D-Calif.,announced she will seek to remain House Democratic leader at a Capitol Hill news conference Wednesday.
“I have made the decision to submit my name to my colleagues to once again serve as Democratic House leader,” Pelosi said.
Her announcement followed by a day,a happy session with the newly elected Democratic freshmen class. This class knocked out 16 Republican incumbents,a net gain of two seats.
“With these new members,the Tea Party starts to roll back,and problem solving can move forward,and that’s what this election was all about,” Rep. Steve Israel,D-N.Y.,chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee,said.
Israel said Democrats are ready to seek common ground,hopefully,on a higher ground and willing to find compromise and consensus with Republicans.
Israel said some of those compromises include opening up more small businesses instead of shutting down more Planned Parenthood clinics and balancing budgets so long as those budgets are “balanced fairly and the middle class is not asked to be the first and the only to sacrifice.”
Israel said Democrats are ready “for fiscal responsibility and not a fiscal cliff.”
Pelosi said Democrats will work with the president to “fix the economy,to create jobs and grow the economy,strengthen the middle class,protect Medicare and the Affordable Care Act,reduce the deficit in a responsible and balanced way. And they’ve come just in time to do that.”
Pelosi introduced Patrick Murphy,D-Fla.,as “a real fighter for the middle class” and a “real representative of his generation.”
Click on photo to enlarge or download: Nancy Pelosi announces Wednesday that she will seek another term as House minority leader. Although she was unable to seize the majority back from Republicans,more Democrats will join the 113th Congress in January. SHFWire photo by Kristopher RiveraMurphy appears to have defeated Rep. Allen West,R-Fla.,although Florida officials were still counting votes Wednesday.
“His election,with the others,is a cause for celebration,” Pelosi said. “His election sends a message to a new generation of Americans,that their voices will be heard at the table.”
Murphy,at age 29 would be the youngest member of Congress. Along with the other newly elected members of the House,he is seen as the voice of a new generation.
“Throughout this campaign the one message I heard time after time was the need for bipartisanship … to reach across the aisle,” Murphy said. “That’s what we need to do. We have to put our country first.”
Murphy described his newly elected classmates as problem solvers.
At Wednesday’s news conference,Pelosi took offense to a reporter’s question. He said some of her colleagues privately say that her decision to stay on prohibits the party from having younger leadership,hurting the party in the long term.
Pelosi’s initial response was to ignore the question,but she returned to the subject.
“You’ve always asked that question,except to Mitch McConnell,” Pelosi said.
Pelosi is 72. McConnell,R-Ky.,the Senate minority leader,is 70. Other leaders are also over 70: House Minority whip Steny Hoyer,D-Md.,is 73; Assistant Democratic Party Leader Jim Clyburn,D-S.C.,is 72 and Senate majority leader Harry Reid,D-Nev.,72. House Speaker John Boehner is an exception – he will turn 63 on Saturday.
Israel pointed out the Democratic caucus has 61 women,43 members of the Congressional Black Caucus,27 members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and 10 Asian-Pacific Americans.
“Together,the diversity of our caucus celebrates the strength of our nation,” Pelosi said. “This caucus is a picture of America.”
Reach reporter Kristopher Rivera at kristopher.rivera@shns.com or 202-326-9865. SHFWire stories are free to any news organization that gives the reporter a byline and credits the SHFWire.
About Kristopher Rivera - Fall 2012
I sat in a psychology course one day during my sophomore year at the University of Texas at El Paso,I began to question if I really wanted to pursue a career in psychology,which was my major. I was at a crossroad and began to think of how choices now would shape my future. At the moment I thought about how I never had a difficult time in my writing classes,and I enjoyed reading about bands in music magazines,including Alternative Press,Rolling Stone and SPIN.
The following semester I switched my major to journalism.
I am now a senior multimedia journalism major at the University of Texas at El Paso. College Prowler,a college guide for students,was my first internship in the field. It was nothing intense,just a brief collection of short essays about UTEP.
The real journalism experience started my junior year at UTEP’s student publication,The Prospector. In a span of about two years I have spent equal amounts of time covering sports,entertainment and news. I had a long-term career goal of writing as a music journalist. But after covering news stories,I began to see that there are far more important topics to report,such as stories about a crumbling missionary chapel in El Paso in need of repair or activists in El Paso protesting the drug war in Mexico.
Although it is hard work to be a journalist,it is also very rewarding. There is always something new to learn in the life of a journalist. You never know what to expect each time you go out and get a story.
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