In our recovery package we put new standards of accountability and transparency, which we hope will now apply.
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.
Democrats embrace The Affordable Care Act. We're very proud of it.
Presidents and speakers for over 100 years had tried to pass affordable care for all Americans. It was challenged over and over. The Supreme Court declared it constitutional.
What we're discussing privately and publicly, is a budget which is a blueprint for the future which creates jobs, which educates our children, which provides healthcare for all Americans, which takes our deficit down, which gives a tax cut for 95% of the American people.
The American people voted to restore integrity and honesty in Washington, D.C., and the Democrats intend to lead the most honest, most open and most ethical Congress in history.
I will not be making appointments to a committee that is not bipartisan.
We have so much room for improvement. Every aspect of our lives must be subjected to an inventory... of how we are taking responsibility.
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.
Democratic priorities remain clear: to provide a tax cut for working families, to promote policies that produce jobs and economic growth, and to assist millions of our fellow Americans who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own.
As you may know, I was raised in an Italian Catholic family in Baltimore, Maryland.
My brother is the former mayor of Baltimore.
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.
Americans deserve a better tomorrow, today.
With Americans worried about losing their jobs, their savings, their homes and their chance at the American Dream, the New Direction Congress will work in a bipartisan way to lift our economy and help America's middle class.
Bipartisanship is nice, but it cannot be a substitute for action, not having it cannot prevent us from going forward.
I have a few uniforms - depending on whether I'm going to a college campus or meeting a head of state. But clean and easy works best for me.
I went to Catholic school throughout my whole academic life. In fact, my children - my husband and I and our children in my own family now have over 100 years of Catholic education among us.
I love having the support of my caucus. We have a good working relationship.
Being the first woman speaker and breaking the marble ceiling is pretty important. Now it's time to move on.
