Transcript of Speaker Pelosi Remarks Introducing President Biden at 2022 House Democratic Issues Conference

Philadelphia – Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave remarks to introduce President Joseph R. Biden at the 2022 House Democratic Issues Conference. Below are the Speaker's remarks:

Speaker Pelosi. Thank you for your generous introduction.

I join you in saluting our Caucus for its excellence. I thank you, Vice Chair Aguilar, for a wonderful conference. Mr. President, what you see before you – I say to them under one roof, when our Caucus comes together – it is the greatest collection of integrity and high skills and imagination to make the future better for the American people.

They came together in this Caucus, under the leadership of Mr. Jeffries and Mr. Aguilar and our other leadership. And we've heard from them, we've heard from members of your Administration, we heard from grassroots activists. We heard from – actually, we began with a prayer, a prayer to, of St. Francis: ‘Where there's despair, I may bring hope.' And you have brought us hope.

And now Mr. Cleaver's prayers have their own imagination.

[Laughter]

But they also bring us hope. So thank you, Mr. Cleaver for your prayer today. Again, this was a remarkable few days, because it was – it was For The People. But it was ‘Slava Ukraini.' It was about Ukrainians. Just like the mothers here have talked about Ukraine, and how – what our responsibility is there to those people. They are fighting for their country. They are fighting for democracy.

Now I'm just saying, Mr. President, it's an honor for us to see you any day. But on the one-year anniversary of the Rescue package – that's the American Rescue Plan, thank you for joining us. Thank you for your leadership.

[Applause]

Now, I know you all talked about it all weekend: millions of jobs created under your leadership, hundreds of millions of vaccinations taking place, children in school, people back to work, Child Tax Credit, so many things that you made possible and to improve the lives of the American people, on this one-year anniversary. More to be done – what we talked about here, when I heard you say in that room, and I quoted you – you will be very pleased: to join, in a bipartisan way, for an infrastructure bill that would not confine your vision for America to just that, and we have other initiatives that are being put forth.

As you said in your State of the Union address, clearly your message was about hope, it was about progress and it was about empathy For The People – many of whom have not felt the benefit of the upturn in our economy.

With this election — because we talked about empathy, under your leadership, we talked about the equality and empathy and all that we are doing, whether it is building infrastructure or advancing our economy to do so in a new, fresh way to not only help people survive, but to help them succeed and to do so in a transformative way, where men or women and people of color participated in that. And you're making that happen with policy equity, with empathy For The People, making progress.

I'll just close by saying our democracy is on the ballot here. We know that. Not every – Mr. Hoyer has said again and again that Republicans are saying ‘legitimate political discourse' is what happened on January 6th. That's a threat to our democracy.

Mr. Clyburn has said – I always quote Jamie Raskin and Thomas Paine: ‘The times have found us.'

Yesterday, we were at the Independence Hall and saw the reenactment of the peaceful transfer of power with George Washington and John Adams – very emotional, especially in light of what happened last year. And Mr. Clyburn says, while we're saying, ‘The times have found us,' he's saying, ‘The times that try men's souls' – another Paine quote.

So with all of that, we have to show the public the relationship between democracy and their kitchen table concerns. If the other side has its way in suppression the vote – suppressing the vote and nullifying elections, what does that mean? It means big, dark money dominates. So at the kitchen table, people will not have confidence that they can have lower drug prices or higher minimum wage or better public education for their children, safer neighborhoods free of gun violence, because that big, dark money, which would prevail if the Republicans have their way in suppressing the vote and nullifying elections.

So, so much is at stake – nothing less than our democracy, but what democracy also means, fair elections mean in the lives of the American people. You have been – your time – time has found you.

This is a President who has a great vision for our country. We see that every day. He has vision and values that go with – he is a President who has knowledge and therefore judgments about policies that can work.

You know, he's been clear about that and linked to it. But we do know that every day in his life, he has made a difference – in his political and official life. A President who is strategic in his thinking, who knows a path to get something done. And a person with such authenticity, such sincerity, about what he believes in. He knows that kitchen table; his family has been at that kitchen table when he was a little boy, when he was a little boy in Pennsylvania and then moved to Delaware.

So again, God has blessed us with the timing of this presidency and this person, who is just making such a tremendous difference in the lives of the American people. So what a joy for us to be able to welcome him, as we discuss how we go forward and how we press upon the American people that their concerns are our concerns. That we sit with them at that kitchen table, and we are determined, again, to win the election, to make a difference. And our message will be the message of the President of the United States: our special guest, Joe Biden – President Joe Biden.