grateful heart, i want to thank my family -- my husband of 49 years, paul pelosi, our children, nancy corinne, christine, jacqueline, paul, and alexandra, our grandchildren, who are represented today by our granddaughter madeleine, and i have to include the d'alesandro family of baltimore in that gratitude as well. and i must thank my constituents in san francisco for giving me the privilege of representing that beautiful and diverse city in the congress of the united states. each of us is here today is truly a representative, a representative in the truest sense of the word -- to represent the highest hopes and aspirations of the american people. on new year's eve -- some of you, a large number of members of congress joined hundreds of people at the national archives building where we observed at midnight the 150th anniversary of the emancipation proclamation. at midnight, there was an enactment of harriet tubman ringing the bell, ringing the bell, and as she rang the bell she said, "now we are free." it was quite an incredible moment and it was one that ushered in what president lincoln wou

our children, nancy, corinne, jacquelyn, paul, and alexandra.n who are represented here today by our daughter matldeline and i have include their family in that gratitude as well. i must thank my constituents in san francisco for giving me the privilege of representing that beautiful and diverse city in the congress of the united states. each of us here today is truly a representative. a representative in the truest sense of the word to represent the highest hopes and aspirations of the american people. on new year's eve, some of you, a large number of members of congress joined hundreds of people at the national archives building where we observed at midnight the 150th anniversary of the signing of the emancipation proclamation. [ applause ] at midnight, there was an enactment of harriet tubman ringing the bell. as she rang the bell, she said "now we are free." it was great an incredible moment. it was one that ushered in what president lincoln would call a new birth of freedom for his era and for generations to come. that transformative moment

grateful heart, i want to thank my family -- my husband of 49 years, paul pelosi, our children, nancy corinne, christine, jacqueline, paul, and alexandra, our grandchildren, who are represented today by our granddaughter madeleine, and i have to include the d'alesandro family of baltimore in that gratitude as well. and i must thank my constituents in san francisco for giving me the privilege of representing that beautiful and diverse city in the congress of the united states. they come here as representatives, independent representatives of their districts. their job description and their job title or one and the same, rep. how they do that, honoring their conscience, the constitution and their constituents is how they make their decisions about their votes. these 49 new members, they are personal manifestations of the american dream in their own lives and their parents' lives of crossing the threshold into being part of the american dream. that has two parts -- the dream part of the and the american part of it. it is not just the economics. it's certainly is important but it is about who we