Rep. Hakeem Jeffries nominated Nancy Pelosi to be next Speaker of the House of Representatives in a stirring speech that demonstrated why so many see him as a rising star among the ranks Democratic politicians. These sorts of nomination speeches are often sort of hagiographic, and this was no exception to that rule as Jeffries painted the most glowing picture of the Californian congresswoman. Jeffries listed the many legislative accomplishments of the “once and future Speaker,” which included her saving the American automobile industry, providing affordable health care to more than 20 million Americans, created the consumer financial protection bureau and enacted a minimumwage increase for the first time in 10 years.
But it wasn’t just her legislative wins that Jeffries listed. He also set the agenda for the newly Democratic-led house before lauding Pelosi’s character building in a very effective crescendo, saying: “Nancy Pelosi is a woman of faith. A loving wife, a mother of five, a grandmother of nine, a sophisticated strategist, a legendary legislator, a voice for the voiceless, a defender of the disenfranchised. A powerful, profound prophetic principled public servant and that’s why we stand squarely behind her today.”
