By Mona Austin
(The Slice): The gentlewoman from California, America's first woman Speaker of the House of Represntatives, Nancy Pelosi has yielded her seat in light of a Republican majoriy emerging formthe 2022 mid-term elections. As is customary she requested permission to addres the house on Thursday for one minute and proceeded to reflect on what serving in the U.S. Capitol has meant to her. The native Baltimorean, recalled how her father, one of the earliest italian Americans to serve in the House chamber, brought her to the capitol for the first time for his swearing in when she was 6 years old. Following in his footsteps she would grow up to become one of the longest serving and most powerful American politicians. Mrs. Pelosi steps down at the age of 82. She opted not to compete for the speaker role again but will finish her term as an elected official from the Golden State.
Speaking as the leader of the House for the last time she described American the current condition of democracy in the U.S. "Indeed American democracy is majecstic, but it is fragile.," she said.
A legacy of crisis control
Over the 20 years she served as House Speaker, t the nation has been marked by repeated challenges. Pelosi 's legacy encompasses circumventing an economic collapse under the first Black president. She also struck teh gavel to approve Obamacare. She was the boss of the impeachment efforts of Pres. Donald Trump as one of his staunchest opponents. As if to pronopunced her disdain for the 45th presiodent' holding the postition, Speaker Pelosi famously ripped Trump's State of the Union speech in half after he delivered a verbal lashing of the liberal agenda in 2019. Pelosi was looked to as a voice of compassion and reason in deal-making between extremely polarized parties. She came to symbolize a bulwark of defense to block the GOP's attack on democracy itself resulting from the January 6th Insurrection.
In his statement about her departure, Pres. Joe Biden gave an account of her record. He noted how she stood up against the violent extremism demonstrated at the Capitol on Jan. 6. "She might be stepping down from her leadership role in the House Democratic Caucus," wrote Biden, "But she will never waiver in protecting our sacred democracy."
Peolosi declared it is time for the new generation of leaders to take the reigns.
Democrats lose other prominent leaders
Two other other prominent position in the Democratic Caucus have been vacated. Maryland Democrat Steny Hoyer, House Majority Leader and James Clyburn, the Majority Whip from South Carolina. The Repubilcan dominance in the house essentially forced the veteran politicians to step down. They will remain in their roles until Jan 3, 2023 when the new class of Congress peope convenes.