Great Message from my Town Rep, Gaye Symington, who happens to be VT's Speaker of the House

Many friends and colleagues have asked me about my trip to Washington for the election and swearing-in of Nancy Pelosi. I thought you might like my impressions. This weekend I spoke to newly elected speakers of state legislatures at a conference at the University of Virginia. There I met the three other women speakers, all of them Democrats; Barbara Buckley of Nevada, Terie Norelli of New Hampshire and Margaret Kelliher of Minnesota. It was interesting to exchange notes and hear about the challenges their states face. They too are thrilled that a woman is taking the reins of the Congress with the intent to guide a change in direction for the country.

Gaye

Notes from January 4, 2007:

Last week I attended the election of Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. The election of a woman to the most powerful legislative post in the nation is an historic moment. I was seated in the gallery above the floor of the House near the section labeled in gold letters, “The Ladies’ Gallery.” I sat between a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and Maggie Fox, the wife of a three term congressman from Boulder Colorado, Mark Udall. Maggie’s sixteen year old daughter was sitting with Congressman Udall. Other children and grandchildren sat with members of congress as well.

Vermont’s newly elected congressman, Peter Welch, was below and perhaps ten rows in front of us. The clerk called the roll in alphabetical order, each member naming their candidate, Pelosi or Republican John Boehner. The Californians would embellish their vote with, “voting from the home state of the most honorable new Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.” The Baltimore members would chime in “Nancy D’Alesandro Pelosi,” with emphasis on the name of Pelosi’s father, the former Baltimore mayor. One member voted with the intonation of an accomplished preacher, “in the name of equal rights, justice and for the love of Jesus, Nancy Pelosi.” Several members voted “in the name of all the children and grandchildren” in their specific district. During the hour it took to get to the U’s and the W’s Maggie pointed out various current congressional leaders such as Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and former Speakers Tom Foley and Dennis Hastert, as well as celebrities in the galleries, such as Martin Sheen, Tony Bennett and Howard Dean.

Some in the gallery were sporting a lapel button where Pelosi’s face had been substituted for the face of Rosie the Riveter, a substitution that was more flattering than the same move a Vermont health care advocacy group had made with my face two years ago. The well known World War II poster has become a symbol for women stepping into roles of power.

The tone of the day appeared uncharacteristically gracious for Washington politics. Both Republican leader Boehner and Speaker Pelosi spoke of working together in the name of serving all Americans, not just their political parties. In her remarks the day before, Pelosi had spoken about making decisions with the prosperity of future generations in mind, a theme the Vermont legislature has also articulated.

As she accepted the gavel from Congressman Boehner, Speaker Pelosi invited children to come up to the podium. As she gave her remarks, two boys, perhaps ages 7 and 10, stood by her right arm. The younger boy kept picking up the gavel and twirling it around like a pinwheel. The older boy would reach around from behind to stabilize the gavel. After a few minutes the younger boy would resume the twirling only to be reminded by his older side-kick to put it down. Eventually Speaker Pelosi put her right hand down and gently but firmly took control of the gavel and placed it on the podium, without missing a beat in her speech.

I was struck by the familiarity of this barely discernable move. She could have been engaging in any of the multi-tasking that she has undoubtedly done as a parent of five children born within six years. Except this time she was delivering an address to the people of the United States about her vision for our country, and all the while establishing a limit to how much “fiddling around” she was going to tolerate from these boys.

After the vote and the speeches, we left the gallery to get in a “line” (it was a mob, not a line) of family members of new members of Congress waiting for a picture with Speaker Pelosi at a “private swearing in.” There was nothing private about it. It was total chaos. Eventually our group was called in as the family ahead of us finished up. We moved into place, Speaker Pelosi and Peter Welch holding the Welch family bible while about fifty cameras clicked and whirled.

As we turned to leave, Peter introduced her to me as the Speaker of the Vermont House. She held out her hand, and said, “Ah, Madam Speaker” and, fairly star-struck, I said the same in return and we shook hands and held them together for the cameras. In a few seconds the Welch entourage was swept into the adjoining atrium. It was the next group’s turn to hold hands with history.

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