Pelosi Remarks at Reception Honoring Life and Legacy of Geraldine Ferraro
Washington, D.C. - Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi delivered remarks at a reception she hosted at the Library of Congress to honor the life and legacy of Geraldine Ferraro. Geraldine Ferraro, a former Congresswoman and the first woman vice presidential candidate on a major ticket, passed away over the weekend. Below are Leader Pelosi's remarks:
"Good afternoon. Thank you all for coming. We can move down this way - I think you'll be glad that you did when we show Geraldine's speech. Thank you all for coming this afternoon, because we may be getting votes called shortly we're going to begin even before many of our friends arrive. But I want to thank you for coming, when we originally invited you to join us today we had planned a celebration of the magnificent contribution to our country of two great women leaders - Senator Barbara Mikulski, now the longest-serving woman in the United States Senate and Geraldine Ferraro, our colleague in the House of Representatives who made history by being the first woman on the national ticket, we all know that. We also know that after we sent you the invitation to come for that celebration this afternoon's proceedings turned into a celebration of Gerry's life. Imagine that for several years now I've been asking Gerry for a date so that we could honor her. Finally, a month ago, we got the date - today. Instead of us having that opportunity to have her be here, or have her via teleconference, the enthusiasm here to her, we have it on the day of her funeral. I just can't get over the coincidence of that.
"But she is a person of coincidences. She was born on Women's Equality Day, a day that was the anniversary of women getting the right to vote. Can you imagine? And the anniversary of the 19th Amendment becoming law and was buried on the last day of Women's History Month a day we had planned to honor her in person. It's appropriate that we do so here in the Member's Room of the Library of Congress because Gerry was a Member of Congress and we're proud that she was a Member of the House of Representatives. She loved the House and the House loved her. For that reason, in just a very short period of time, she rose to the leadership in the House and because of her extraordinary intellect and talent she became the Vice Presidential nominee.
"We'll hear her own words about what that meant to her, but suffice to say she is a source of great pride to us in the House. And we always believed that no matter when we served in the House, whoever served there, no matter when, is our colleague. Barbara Mikulski, Senator Mikulski, served with her in the House of Representatives and that's where their friendship - girlfriendship and all the rest - began. Bob Carr, our former colleague is here, who was in New York today as well. Thank you for joining us Bob. We're very pleased that our former colleague, Secretary Hilda Solis is here and she had a special poster made today.
"You know I take a little pride in all this because I was the chair of the convention host committee for the convention in 1984 in San Francisco. And we were very excited because we had Geraldine Ferraro as the Chair of the Platform Committee, an Italian-American, Nancy Pelosi as the Chair of the Host Committee, an Italian-American, and Mario Cuomo as the keynote speaker. So the Italian press was very interested in this and we were all getting our calls for interviews and all the rest of that, together, the three of us. Until, by Thursday night before the convention, all of a sudden they cancelled a dinner we were having in honor of the Chair of the Platform Committee, Geraldine Ferraro, and we knew something was up and then we found out the next day that she would eclipse any action that any of us could possibly take by being named the Vice Presidential nominee. It was so exciting.
"In San Francisco, she said: ‘If we can do this, we can do anything.' We'll hear her say that in a moment. And we believed her. She inspired women across the country to reach their greatness as they strengthened our country. Barbara talked about it today and she will, I'm sure, now but from my own experience in the that hall that night and Secretary Clinton talked about it today at the funeral today as well - when she stood up there and said what you will hear her say, this convention center just rumbled. The applause was endless, the enthusiasm was so emotional. It was such an intensity and it just was a drumbeat across America that change had happened with this bright shining star at the podium. Today, many of our thoughts about her life were talked about at a funeral in New York. Walter Mondale, he told a story about when she was - they went to Mississippi, the two of them on the campaign trail and a man went up to her and said: ‘say young lady, I just want to know one thing, can you make blueberry muffins?' She said: ‘yes I can, can you?' So that was that. I was supposed to add though, he said: ‘uh oh' when he saw her. Jane Harman wanted me to tell you, she spoke today, but she wanted me to tell you today, and remind us all about when Gerry came to the floor about a year ago she came back to the Floor of the House and she was engulfed by Members - Democrats and Republicans alike encircled her. Some had served with her, many had not, all wanted to catch her spark.
"Once again, Madeline Albright talked about her intellectual heft. She said: ‘I was supposed to teach her about foreign policy, she taught me about a lot of things.' As Secretary Clinton - oh my, she just had such beautiful things to say about Geraldine it would be presumptuous of me to quote them, except to say that they all addressed her great intellectual capacity and her warmth as a person. President Clinton, he was just great, he appointed her as the Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and he pointed out that he had just read in the paper the day before about the diversity in the district that she used to represent in New York. And he said the district was equally Hispanic, Black, and Asian-Pacific, and he said that in each one of the homes of all of those people, those young people knew they could do anything because of Geraldine Ferraro. Very beautiful. I won't even, again, presume to say what her children said, except any person would be as proud as they could be, a life well spent, great accomplishment to have their own children speak about them in a manner in which her children spoke about her with great love, pride, humor, devotion, and again, because they were her children their thoughts, what they conveyed to that church, again I would not presume to quote them, except to say that we all knew - in my last conversation with Gerry just a few weeks ago, she talked about her children, about her grandchildren, she was consumed with love for her husband John who was her caregiver to the end.
"What a remarkable thing. A family was the center of her life, just eight-months ago she and her husband John celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, renewing their vows in the same Manhattan church, St. Vincent, where they were married. Their children Donna, Laura, and John Jr., their eight grandchildren brought her great joy. And as she has said, and she will say in these remarks, and was quoted many times by the priest and others today, at the convention she said: 'every one of us is given the gift of life, and what a strange gift it is. If it is preserved jealously and selfishly, it impoverishes and saddens. But if it is spent for others, it enriches and beautifies.' Geraldine Ferraro's life was spent for others; she enriched and beautified our nation, and indeed the world. May we live up to her example. May she rest in peace."
[Leader Pelosi introduces Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney to speak]
"Thank you Carolyn very much. Since we've begun the program Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, Congresswoman Lois Capps, Congresswoman Jackie Speier, Congresswoman Shelley Berkley, my daughter Christine, my grand-daughter Bella have joined us. Before I introduce Senator Mikulski, she and I both come from ethnic politics, I have to say, we all have our ‘how long have you known Gerry stories.' Well I met Gerry in 1980 when we were both sent as representatives of President Carter to earthquake in Italy. She was a Member of Congress, I was Chair of the California Democratic Party. We traveled - Barbara these names will be familiar to you - we traveled with Mario Cuomo, who was Lieutenant Governor of New York at the time, Silvio Conte, Mario Biaggi, you know the crowd, right?
Senator Mikulski. You went to an earthquake and I went to the inauguration of a Polish Pope.
[Laughter]
"But when we went with all that crowd and she and I bonded immediately as the two women on the trip and became friends for life and, as we all hope, beyond. She was, just to see her there as an Italian-American and I know you all take pride, and I do too, the first woman and it was so exciting beyond words, but you can just imagine to have the first Italian-American Catholic woman nominated, too much. Hilda, before we hear from the Senator would you like to make a presentation to the women of the Congress? Hilda Solis, our Secretary of Labor.
[Secretary of Labor Solis speaks]
[Senator Barbara Mikulski speaks]
"So let me tell all of you this: Barbara talked about the history that our beloved Gerry made. The Library of Congress has very nicely documented some of this and so I want to invite you to see the memorabilia, the magazine articles, the cover stories, all the rest, of Geraldine Ferraro some of it is over here. Behind here we have Gerry with her grandchildren, all great moments in her life. That picture just reminds me of how she - that's her grandson right next to her, you see that is the Italian flag there. And she - last conversation I had with her she just went chapter and verse of her grandchildren and all the wonderful things they were doing. Secretary Clinton today said, you know, she identified herself as a housewife from Queens. Housewife from Queens. Barbara talked about her mother sewing beads on those wedding dresses to afford an education for her children and, as a result, Geraldine Ferraro lived the American dream. Let us hear her tell us about that. So, the families here, the speech is here from the convention and the beginning of it is probably - you'll hear some of the most stirrings words that have made a difference in so many lives."