Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to Speak at Meredith
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California) will speak at Meredith College on Friday, Nov. 2, 2007, at noon in Jones Auditorium.

Since 1987, Nancy Pelosi has represented California's Eighth District in the House of Representatives. On January 4, 2007, Pelosi was elected Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. She is the first woman to serve in this position and is the first woman in American history to lead a major party in the U.S. Congress.

This event is free and open to the public. For more information, call (919) 760-8455.

About Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi has represented California’s Eighth District in the House of Representatives since 1987. The Eighth District includes most of the City of San Francisco including Golden Gate Park, Fisherman’s Wharf, Chinatown, and many of the diverse neighborhoods that make San Francisco a vibrant and prosperous community. Overwhelmingly elected by her colleagues in the fall of 2002 as Democratic Leader of the House of Representatives, Pelosi is the first woman in American history to lead a major party in the U.S. Congress. Before being elected Leader, she served as House Democratic Whip for one year and was responsible for the party's legislative strategy in the House. On January 4, 2007, Pelosi was elected Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.

Pelosi is a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee. 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.

Pelosi hails from a strong family tradition of public service. Her father, Thomas D’Alesandro, Jr., served as mayor of Baltimore for 12 years, after representing the city for five terms in Congress. Her brother, Thomas D’Alesandro III, also served as mayor of Baltimore.

Pelosi graduated from Trinity College in Washington, D.C., in 1962. Pelosi and her husband, Paul Pelosi, a native of San Francisco, have five children: Nancy Corinne, Christine, Jacqueline, Paul and Alexandra, and six grandchildren.