Today was a historic day as Nancy Pelosi was elected the first female Speaker of the House in our nation's entire history. From the Washington Post:
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was sworn in today as the first female speaker of the House in U.S. history, as Democrats formally took control of Congress for the first time in a dozen years and immediately set their sights on quick passage of ethics legislation.
Pelosi, 66, took the oath of office at 2:30 p.m. EST after winning election as speaker in a straight party-line vote that reflected the Democrats' 233-202 House majority in the new 110th Congress. Rep. John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) became House minority leader.
Before taking the oath from Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), the longest-serving House member, Pelosi pledged in a speech to work in bipartisan fashion toward ending the war in Iraq, reining in deficit spending and raising ethical standards among lawmakers, among other goals.
Hailing her election to the speakership as a "historic moment for the women of America," Pelosi declared, "For our daughters and granddaughters, today we have broken the marble ceiling. . . . Now the sky is the limit. Anything is possible."
As former House Majority leader, now Minority Leader, Republican John Boehner said in introducing Pelosi, "Today is a cause for celebration."
But while we celebrate, let's not forget that, despite the lofty rhetoric, chronic problems remain -- the sky is not yet the limit. And if anything is to be possible for our daughters and graddaughters, we still have a lot of work to do.
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