Nancy Pelosi Quotes & Sayings

The American people are very, very ready for a woman president. They're far ahead of the politicians. I always thought it would be much easier to elect a woman president of the United States than Speaker of the House, because the people are far ahead, as I say, of the electeds, on the subject of a woman being president. — Nancy Pelosi

Organize, don't agonize. — Nancy Pelosi

Freedom is secured every day by our men and women in uniform. We must build a future worthy of their sacrifice. — Nancy Pelosi

I was pampered in the fact that I had five older brothers, which I highly recommend to anyone. — Nancy Pelosi

Women are leaders everywhere you look - from the CEO who runs a Fortune 500 company to the housewife who raises her children and heads her household. Our country was built by strong women and we will continue to break down walls and defy stereotypes. — Nancy Pelosi

Pass the bill to find out what's in it — Nancy Pelosi

Furthermore, we believe that health care reform, again I said at the beginning of my remarks, that we sent the three pillars that the President's economic stabilization and job creation initiatives were education and innovation - innovation begins in the classroom - clean energy and climate, addressing the climate issues in an innovative way to keep us number one and competitive in the world with the new technology, and the third, first among equals I may say, is health care, health insurance reform. — Nancy Pelosi

The country needs more than one-party dominance, as much as I believe the Democratic Party is the party for the middle class ... We need to have a marketplace of ideas. — Nancy Pelosi

By making college more affordable for all and more accessible for minority students, the first new higher education authorizing legislation in a decade will help strengthen our nation and America's middle class, and spur a new age of innovation and ingenuity in our country. — Nancy Pelosi

I really want women to know their power, to value their experience. To understand that nothing has been more wholesome in the political process than the increased involvement of women. — Nancy Pelosi

I didn't know you were Catholic. (to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson as he got down on one knee to beg Pelosi to find Democratic support for the bailout bill)-2008 — Nancy Pelosi

Saddam Hussein certainly has chemical and biological weapons. There's no question about that. — Nancy Pelosi

The Republican Party is the Grand Old Party. It's made enormous contributions to the success of our country. And it is a party that has embraced its leadership role when it has had the majority or the White House. — Nancy Pelosi

My husband and I, when we had our five children and they were grown, we thought we were entitled to grandchildren. And so we were just expecting this to happen; of course, nothing was happening. And then we kept begging, bribing, cajoling, anything - threatening to adopt our own grandchildren - and finally, we got some grandchildren. — Nancy Pelosi

Stephen Colbert used to be my friend. I even signed the poor baby's cast when he hurt his hand. — Nancy Pelosi

For our daughters and our granddaughters now, the sky is the limit. — Nancy Pelosi

On the subject of money and politics and the rest, I have a DARE: Disclose who are these people; Amend the Constitution to overturn Citizens United; Reform: let's have public financing of campaigns; and Empower. — Nancy Pelosi

Bipartisanship is nice, but it cannot be a substitute for action, not having it cannot prevent us from going forward. — Nancy Pelosi

Unemployment benefits are creating jobs faster than practically any other program — Nancy Pelosi

As I view the Republicans in Congress, I don't see them as a real reflection of many Republicans in our country. — Nancy Pelosi

I think that much of the truth has been withheld from the American people. — Nancy Pelosi

I say to my colleagues never confine your best work, your hopes, your dreams, the aspiration of the American people to what will be signed by George W. Bush because that is too limiting a factor. — Nancy Pelosi

I don't know that anybody has walked up to me in the street or in a store or in the grocery and said to me, 'I hope you bomb Assad.' Certainly plenty have said, 'No; thumbs down, thumbs down, thumbs down.' — Nancy Pelosi

Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process. — Nancy Pelosi

Go to find common ground; where you can't, you stand your ground. — Nancy Pelosi

We need major investments for rebuilding the infrastructure of America in a very forward-looking way that reduces our dependence on foreign oil. It is a commitment to innovation, to science, to keep America number one and competitive and grow our manufacturing base. — Nancy Pelosi

That's why they (the Bush administration) had to make up that story about weapons of mass destruction. Because that was the only thing that would sell to the American people, and that wasn't true. — Nancy Pelosi

The name 'Republican' in some ways has been hijacked by obstructionists. — Nancy Pelosi

What the Republicans have said is rather than touch one hair on the heads of the wealthiest people in our country, people who make over $1 million a year, they're saying, 'Seniors should pay $6,000 more dollars a year. But please don't let us ask the wealthiest to do their fair share.' — Nancy Pelosi

Let's just do what is right for the American people. And those of us who are involved in politics and government know that our responsibility is to the American people, that we have a responsibility to find our common ground, to seek it and to find it. — Nancy Pelosi

There are the fundamental core values of the Democratic Party, which is to work to grow the economy, to create jobs, to encourage small business, to encourage ownership, to expand access to quality health care, to enhance opportunity by making higher education more affordable to American's young people, to have our children live in safe neighborhoods, drug-free, crime-free, and a safe and clean environment, first and foremost to provide for the national defense, to protect and defend the American people, and to have accountability for our budget and for our spending. — Nancy Pelosi

If women have confidence in themselves, they will have confidence in other women. — Nancy Pelosi

My father was in Congress when I was born. He was mayor my whole life from when I was in grade school - first grade - to when I went away to college. — Nancy Pelosi

Let me just say as one who has been speaker of the House, I've had to have a very thick skin about every kind of thing that was thrown at me. — Nancy Pelosi

Whatever the deal is with other countries, we want a better deal for America's workers. — Nancy Pelosi

Be yourself, know your power, have confidence in what you have to contribute. — Nancy Pelosi

I don't reject the concept of preemptive war. I'm a mother of five. I have five grandchildren. And I always say: Think of a lioness. Think of a mother bear. You come anywhere near our cubs, you're dead. And so, in terms of any threat to our country, people have to know we'll be there to preemptively strike. But what the president [Bush] did was, on the basis of no real intelligence for an imminent threat to our country, chose to go into a war for reasons that are still unknown to us. — Nancy Pelosi

With President Obama, we will move America forward. — Nancy Pelosi

The war on terror is the war in Afghanistan. — Nancy Pelosi

I call Washington 'the city of the perishable.' — Nancy Pelosi

I Don't Remember Saying that Everybody in the Country Would Have a Lower Premium — Nancy Pelosi

I had a friend who was getting married. I said, 'You're getting married - I didn't know about all this!' She said, 'I need health benefits.' — Nancy Pelosi

The House of Representatives has never sued a sitting president in all of U.S. history. — Nancy Pelosi

The president led us into the Iraq war on the basis of unproven assertions without evidence; he embraced a radical doctrine of pre-emptive war unprecedented in our history; and he failed to build a true international coalition. — Nancy Pelosi

My biggest fight has been between those who wanted to do something incremental and those who wanted to do something comprehensive. We won that fight, and once we kick through this door, there'll be more legislation to follow. — Nancy Pelosi

It isn't as much you a spending problem as a priorities, and that is what the budget is, setting priorities. It's about timing. And it's about timing as to when make cuts, as well. — Nancy Pelosi

The fact is that a lot of the spending increases came during the Bush administration. Two unpaid for wars we got ourselves engaged in. A prescription drug plan that added enormous amounts to our spending, and the tax cuts at the high end that did not create jobs and create revenue coming. — Nancy Pelosi

Ninety-eight percent of women in childbearing age who are Catholic use contraception. Ok, so in practice the church has not enforced this and now they want the federal government and private insurance to enforce it. It just isn't consistent to me. — Nancy Pelosi

My husband and I have season tickets to the Giants games, and we go there as fans to enjoy it. — Nancy Pelosi

I've never walked away from any of my positions. I take pride in them. — Nancy Pelosi

As many of you know, I came from San Francisco. We don't have a lot of farms there. Well, we do have one - it's a mushroom farm, so you know what that means. — Nancy Pelosi

If I cry, it's about the personal loss of a friend or something like that. But when it comes to politics - no, I don't cry. — Nancy Pelosi

As you may know, I was raised in an Italian Catholic family in Baltimore, Maryland. — Nancy Pelosi

I have absolutely no regret about my vote against this war. The same questions remain. The cost in human lives, the cost to our budget, probably 100 billion. We could have probably brought down that statue for a lot less. — Nancy Pelosi

I do believe that during the Bush-Cheney administration, that Vice President Cheney set a tone and an attitude for the CIA. — Nancy Pelosi

I read that my lifelong dream is to serve as speaker with Hillary Clinton as president. So what? — Nancy Pelosi

I had five children in six years. The day I brought my fifth baby home, that week, my daughter turned 6. — Nancy Pelosi

In our recovery package we put new standards of accountability and transparency, which we hope will now apply. — Nancy Pelosi

If you make - not have - $1 million a year, should you not participate in the sense of community of our country? I'm willing to put that on the table. — Nancy Pelosi

Politicians are trying to attract people to issues. — Nancy Pelosi

When taxpayers are subsidizing low wages, people should be aware of that. We're subsidizing an economy. We're not subsidizing people. They are doing a hard day's work. When we're not rewarding work actively, there's something wrong with the system. — Nancy Pelosi

I don't care how popular I am. I'm not putting myself out there to run for higher office. — Nancy Pelosi

It is clear that the American people are weary of war. However, Assad gassing his own people is an issue of our national security, regional stability and global security. — Nancy Pelosi

Our view of the law is that it - if somebody is here without sufficient documentation, that is not reason for deportation. — Nancy Pelosi

Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance — Nancy Pelosi

Tom Foley was a statesman, and it was a privilege to serve under him when he was the Speaker of the House. He loved our country. He was a gentleman. I had the privilege of seeing him a couple days before he passed away. — Nancy Pelosi

In this House, we may belong to different parties, but we serve one country. — Nancy Pelosi

Yes, [I am accusing the CIA of] misleading the Congress of the United States, misleading the Congress of the United States. I am. — Nancy Pelosi

The death of Osama bin Laden marks the most significant development in our fight against al-Qa'ida. I salute President Obama ... in achieving this major accomplishment ... The death of Osama bin Laden is historic. — Nancy Pelosi

I will not be making appointments to a committee that is not bipartisan. — Nancy Pelosi

Republicans support opening the floodgates to special interest money and suppressing the right to vote. It's just plain wrong. — Nancy Pelosi

That is why, as one who values the U.S. - Israel relationship, and loves Israel, I was near tears throughout the Prime Minister's speech - saddened by the insult to the intelligence of the United States as part of the P5 +1 nations, and saddened by the condescension toward our knowledge of the threat posed by Iran and our broader commitment to preventing nuclear proliferation. — Nancy Pelosi

My statements are just a statement of fact. — Nancy Pelosi

Think of an economy where people could be an artist or a photographer or a writer without worrying about keeping their day job in order to have health insurance. — Nancy Pelosi

Three year sof unconditional MFN have not lead to any subtantial improvement in human rights, trade and nuclear proliferation practice of the Chinese government. In addition to the trade barriers, China has marred our trade relationship wit prison labor or export and other unfair trade practices. — Nancy Pelosi

The situation in Iraq and the reckless economic policies in the United States speak to one issue for me, and that is the competence of our leader, — Nancy Pelosi

Each generation is responsible to make the future of the next. — Nancy Pelosi

We will energize America by achieving energy independence — Nancy Pelosi

I think about my parents all the time, especially on Sunday when I'm at Mass. My mother always said, 'We do not pray to win elections. We pray for people's health, we pray that God's will be done, we pray that we do our best. But we do not pray to win elections.' — Nancy Pelosi

We have so much room for improvement. Every aspect of our lives must be subjected to an inventory ... of how we are taking responsibility. — Nancy Pelosi

Nothing surprises me. One thing I don't ever have in my world is surprise. — Nancy Pelosi

Jobs mean freedom for workers to support their families. — Nancy Pelosi

Putin is going to do what Putin is going to do. — Nancy Pelosi

My father died the year I was elected to Congress: 1987. — Nancy Pelosi

You know, God bless him, bless his heart, president of the United States, a total failure, losing all credibility with the American people on the economy, on the war, on energy, you name the subject. — Nancy Pelosi

Every month that we do not have an economic recovery package 500 million Americans lose their jobs — Nancy Pelosi

Don't underestimate your opponent, but don't overestimate them, either. — Nancy Pelosi

A successful marriage is a decision. You decide it's going to work. You can't always be there, but you have to be there enough. And you have to make sure you are where you're needed most. — Nancy Pelosi

On GOP Tax Cuts: They'll take food out of the mouths of children to give tax cuts to the wealthiest. — Nancy Pelosi

I come back to the science that is in it to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and climate change. It's about science, science, science and science, innovation, as we rebuild America, create jobs, invest in our people and turn this economy around. — Nancy Pelosi

I know about raising money. — Nancy Pelosi

America must be a light to the world, not just a missile. — Nancy Pelosi

For 25 years, it has been my privilege to represent the city of San Francisco and the great state of California; to work to strengthen our vibrant middle class; to secure opportunity and equality. — Nancy Pelosi

No money changed hands, of course. — Nancy Pelosi

Anybody who's ever dealt with me knows not to mess with me. — Nancy Pelosi

After 100 years of trying, finally we passed health care for all Americans as a right for all - not just a privilege for a few. It honored the vows of our Founders: Of life, a healthier life; liberty; the freedom to pursue our own happinesses ... We knew that ... this bill was ironclad constitutionally. — Nancy Pelosi

There's plenty of opportunity for everyone, so there's no reason to worry about somebody else's success, either saying you couldn't do this so she's better than you, or she's doing it so you can't. No, she's doing it so you can. — Nancy Pelosi

But we have to pass the bill so you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy. — Nancy Pelosi

[Martin Luther King, Jr.] would want us to celebrate him, his birth and his legacy by acting upon his agenda, by realizing the dream, by making the minimum wage a living wage, by having not just family and medical leave, but paid sick leave for our workers, [and] by having quality, affordable child care so that our families, the power of women can be unleashed in our economy and in our society. — Nancy Pelosi

While we may argue about the size of government, the Republican Party has not been a party that says, 'I want to destroy government.' — Nancy Pelosi