• Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, from California's 8th Congressional District
• Became Speaker of the House in January 2007
• Member of the Progressive Caucus
• Attacked the War in Iraq on the day Baghdad was liberated because it was "too costly."

Nancy Pelosi has represented California's Eighth Congressional District (which includes most of San Francisco) in the House of Representatives since 1987. Her Congressional seat has been held by Democrats, without interruption, since 1949. Pelosi is a member of the socialist-leaning Progressive Caucus, to whose executive committee she was named in 2002. In January 2007 she became the first female Speaker of the House in American history.

Pelosi was born in March 1940 in Baltimore, Maryland, the youngest of six children. Her father, Thomas D'Alesandro, Jr., served as both a U.S. congressman in Maryland and as the mayor of Baltimore.

In 1962 Pelosi graduated from Trinity College in Washington, DC, and then interned for Democratic Maryland Senator Daniel Brewster before moving, with her husband, to San Francisco in 1969.

Following her relocation, Pelosi became increasingly involved in politics. In 1977 she was elected Democratic Party chairwoman for northern California. Around that time, she befriended Phillip Burton, the Democrat congressman representing California's Eighth District. When Burton died in 1983, his wife, Sala, succeeded him in office. Three years later she was diagnosed with cancer and chose Pelosi to be her successor within the party, thereby assuring Pelosi the backing of the Burtons' political allies.

Mrs. Burton died on February 1, 1987, just a month after she had begun her second full term in office. In a special election to determine who would fill Burton's now-empty House seat, Pelosi narrowly defeated San Francisco Supervisor Harry Britt and took office on June 2, 1987. Since then, she has been re-elected every two years.

In 2001 Pelosi became House Minority Whip. The following year, she was named Democratic Leader of the House of Representatives, thereby becoming the first woman in American history to lead a major party in the U.S. Congress.

After the landslide Democrat victories in the November 2006 mid-term elections, Pelosi was elected to be Speaker of the House. When she first assumed the post in January 2007, she stated, "I accept this gavel in the spirit of partnership, not partisanship." She further voiced her belief that the recent election results reflected American voters' overwhelming disapproval of the Iraq War:

"The election of 2006 was a call to change -- not merely to change the control of Congress, but for a new direction for our country. Nowhere were the American people more clear about the need for a new direction than in Iraq. The American people rejected an open-ended obligation to a war without end."

"There is no purely military solution in Iraq. There is only a political solution. Adding more combat troops will only endanger more Americans and stretch our military to the breaking point for no strategic gain. Rather than deploy additional forces to Iraq, we believe the way forward is to begin the phased redeployment of our forces in the next four to six months, while shifting the principal mission of our forces there from combat to training, logistics, force protection and counter-terror."

Contrary to Pelosi's prediction, the troop surge proved to be immensely successful in restoring peace to Iraq. Nonetheless, in February 2008 Pelosi declared the surge to be a "failure" that had "not produced the desired effect."

On February 8, 2007, Pelosi appointed Joseph Onek, a senior policy analyst for George Soros's Open Society Institute and Open Society Policy Center, to be her Senior Counsel.

In April 2008 Pelosi traveled to Damascus to discuss foreign policy issues with Syrian President Bashar Assad. She made this trip against the wishes of President Bush, who said that it sent "mixed messages" and undermined U.S. policy in the region. "Photo opportunities and/or meetings with President Assad lead the Assad government to believe they're part of the mainstream of the international community," Bush explained. "In fact, they're a state sponsor of terror." Bush was referring to the fact that Syria was: (a) allied militarily with Iran; (b) hosting a number of Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders within its borders; (c) supporting the insurgency against U.S. troops in Iraq; and (d) generating unrest in Lebanon.

Former State Department official Robert F. Turner saw Pelosi's Damascus trip as a felonious violation of the Logan Act of 1798, which calls for a prison sentence of up to three years for any American, who, "without authority of the United States," tries to influence a foreign government's behavior vis a vis any "disputes or controversies with the United States."

"We came in friendship, hope," Pelosi said of her trip. She then told reporters: "[Our] meeting with the president [Assad] enabled us to communicate a message from [Israeli] Prime Minister Olmert that Israel was ready to engage in peace talks as well." But in fact, Olmert had conveyed no such sentiment. Israel's position remained what it always had been: its participation in peace talks with Syria was contingent upon the latter ending its support for terrorism.

In July 2008 Pelosi characterized President Bush as "a total failure" who had lost "all credibility with the American people on the war, on the economy, on energy, [and any other issue]." Congress, she added, had been "sweeping up after his [Bush's] mess over and over and over again."

After Pelosi's election as Speaker of the House, the public approval rating of Congress dropped to a mere 14 percent by July 2008, according to a Gallup poll. This was the lowest rating the Gallup organization had ever recorded for any Congress.

From 1979 to 2003, Pelosi made $56,410 in contributions to the campaigns of various political candidates and causes. Some $45,910 of that total went to Democrats, and $10,500 went to special interest groups. Among the more notable recipients of Pelosi's donations were Ted Kennedy, Tom Harkin, John Kerry, Barbara Boxer, Richard Durbin, and Tom Udall.

Pelosi's family has a net worth of more than $25 million, making her one of the wealthiest members of Congress.

Following is an overview of Pelosi's policy positions and voting record on key pieces of legislation during her years in the House of Representatives:

Abortion and the Rights of the Unborn: In November 1995, September 1996, March 1997, April 2000, June 2003, and October 2003, Pelosi voted against legislation to ban (except where the mother's safety might require it) the late-term abortion procedure commonly known as partial-birth abortion. In September 1995 she voted against banning the use of federal funds for abortions at U.S. military facilities. In June 2000 she voted in favor of permitting federal funds to pay for abortions at U.S. prison facilities. In February 2004 she voted against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, which proposed to make it an added criminal offense for someone to injure or kill a fetus while carrying out a crime against a pregnant woman. In April 2005 she voted against notifying the parents of minors who have obtained out-of-state abortions. In December 2006 she voted NO on the Abortion Pain Bill, which sought to ensure that women seeking an abortion are fully informed regarding the pain experienced by their unborn child.

In an August 2008 appearance on the television talk show Meet the Press, Pelosi was asked when she believed human life begins. She responded:

"I would say that as an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time. And what I know is over the centuries, the doctors of the church have not been able to make that definition … St. Augustine said at three months. We don't know. The point is, is that it shouldn't have an impact on the woman's right to choose." 

Pelosi is rated 100% by NARAL, indicating an uncompromising pro-choice voting record.

Marriage: In July 1996 and July 2006 Pelosi voted against bills defining marriage strictly as a legal union between one man and one woman. In September 2004 she voted NO on a bill to prohibit same-sex marriage.

Welfare: Pelosi voted against the Welfare Reform Act of 1996, which ultimately succeeded in moving large numbers of people off of public assistance and into jobs.

Education: In November 1997 and August 1998, Pelosi voted against the implementation of voucher programs designed to help low-income families send their children to private schools if they wished. In November 2001 she voted NO on allowing voluntary prayer in public schools. Pelosi has received a rating of 100% from the National Education Association (NEA), America's largest labor union.

Crime: In April 1994 Pelosi voted YES on replacing the death penalty with life imprisonment. In June 2000 she voted YES on funding for alternative sentencing instead of more prisons.

Illegal Immigration: In February 2005 Pelosi voted against funding for "Real ID" legislation mandating higher standards for State drivers' licenses and identification documents. In September 2006 she voted against a bill authorizing the construction of 700 miles of double-layered fencing between the U.S. and Mexico. That same month, she voted against a bill that sought to affirm the inherent right of state and local authorities to enforce federal immigration laws. Pelosi is rated 0% by the U.S. Border Control, signifying that her voting record reflects an open-borders stance.

Fossil Fuels: In February and August 2001, Pelosi voted to keep Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) closed to oil drilling. As Speaker of the House in 2008, she refused to permit this issue to be debated on the House floor. Explaining her unwavering opposition to oil exploration, she said, "I'm trying to save the planet; I'm trying to save the planet." In October 2005 and June 2006, Pelosi voted against the construction of new oil refineries in the U.S.

Taxes: In March 2000 Pelosi voted NO on $46 billion in tax cuts for small businesses. In April 2001 she voted NO on eliminating the "death tax." The following month, she voted against a tax cut package of $958 billion over 10 years. In October 2001 she voted NO on a $99 billion economic stimulus package. In April 2002 she voted against making President Bush's 2001 tax cuts permanent. In May 2004 she voted against making permanent an increase in the child tax credit. In September 2004 she voted NO on providing a series of tax relief measures. In December 2005 she voted against retaining reduced tax rates on capital gains and dividends.

Patriot Act: In October 2001 Pelosi voted to pass the Patriot Act anti-terrorism legislation. However, in July 2005, December 2005, and March 2006, she voted against bills reauthorizing and extending the Act.

Military Affairs: Though she supported the Clinton administration's military measures in Haiti, Kosovo, and Bosnia, Pelosi opposed the 1991 and 2003 wars in Iraq (both of which were led by Republican presidential administrations).

In October 2002 Pelosi voted against the joint congressional resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq. "This is about the Constitution," she declared. "It is about this Congress asserting its right to declare war when we are fully aware what the challenges are to us. It is about respecting the United Nations and a multilateral approach, which is safer for our troops."

In October 2006 Pelosi said: "If we [the U.S. military] leave Iraq, then the insurgents will leave Iraq, the terrorists will leave Iraq." On another occasion she elaborated: "If the President wants to say the war in Iraq is part of the war on terror, he's not right…The war on terror is the war in Afganistan…. The jihadists in Iraq [will] stay there as long as we're there. They're there because we're there."

In May 2007 Pelosi voted in favor of an amendment to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq within 90 days. In May and June 2008 she voted NO to funding for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Military Commissions: In September 2006 Pelosi voted against a bill authorizing the President to establish military commissions to try detained enemy combatants in the war on terror.

Pelosi During the Obama Administration:

In April 2009, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), a non-partisan government watchdog group, named Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid as its 2008 "Porkers of the Year" because of what CAGW viewed as their consistent record of fiscal irresponsibility.

In May 2009 Pelosi became the subject of enormous controversy centering around what she knew about the CIA's use of waterboarding as an enhanced-interrogation technique on high-value terrorist suspects. Pelosi had recently become an inveterate critic of the Bush administration's authorization of waterboarding, a practice she claimed to have become aware of only recently. According to Pelosi, waterboarding was a form of torture that was wholly unacceptable to use under any circumstances. She said, moreover, that she favored punitive action against those in the Bush administration who had deemed waterboarding appropriate.

But then it was learned, in May 2009, that the CIA, as early as September 2002, actually had briefed Pelosi about its use of waterboarding. This revelation, in light of the fact that Pelosi had never raised any objection to the practice when she was told about it, made her appear to be a hypocrite who was now intent on punishing her political foes for having supported a tactic to which she herself had quietly assented for several years.

In a May 14, 2009 press conference on the subject of what she had known and when she had known it, Pelosi stated that the CIA had withheld information about its use of waterboarding in the September 2002 briefing, and that the Agency was now lying in its assertion that Pelosi had indeed been briefed. A reporter at the press conference asked Pelosi, "Madam Speaker, just to be clear, you're accusing the CIA of lying to you in September of 2002?" Pelosi replied, "Yes, misleading the Congress of the United States, misleading the Congress of the United States. I am."

The reporter then followed up: "And also -- and doing it again now, as they've released this list of briefings that says you were briefed on the interrogation tactics that were used."

Pelosi replied:

"I'm saying -- I'm quoting what the head of the CIA has said. This is -- we don't know if this information is accurate that he's talking about…. But I'm telling you that they talked about interrogations that they had done and said, 'We want to use enhanced techniques, and we have legal opinions that say that they are OK. We are not using waterboarding.' That's the only mention, that they were not using it. And we now know that earlier they were.

"So, yes, I am saying that they are misleading -- that the CIA was misleading the Congress. And at the same time, the administration was misleading the Congress on the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, to which I said, 'This intelligence does not support the imminent threat,' to which the press asked the same question you just did now. 'Are you accusing them of lying?' I said, I'm just stating a fact….

"They mislead us all the time. I was fighting the war in Iraq at that point, too, you know, saying to my members the intelligence does not support the imminent threat that they are conceding. But what's the point? Yes, they did. They misrepresented every step of the way. And they don't want that focus on them. So they try to turn the attention on us."

In December 2009 Pelosi led at least 20 members of Congress (and many of their spouses and children) on an all-expenses-paid trip to attend a global-warming summit in Copenhagen, Denmark. The delegation was so large, that three military jets were required to transport its members. A number of Senators and staffers also made the trip, courtesy of taxpayer dollars, via commercial airliners. Although Pelosi was personally responsible for deciding who went on this trip, she subsequently refused to answer any reporters' questions regarding the cost of the trip. According to CBS News, the estimated cost of the three military jets' flight time was $170,000. In addition to that was the cost of dozens of commercial flights, hundreds of hotel rooms (many at five-star facilities), and tens of thousands of dollars in meal and entertainment expenses. At the time, Pelosi's home state of California had a $20 billion budget deficit.

According to documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, during 2008-2009 Pelosi incurred expenses of some $2.1 million for her use of Air Force jets for travel -- including $101,429 for in-flight expenses such as food and alcohol. She regularly used Air Force aircraft to travel to her district at an average cost of $28,210.51 per flight. Of 103 Pelosi-led congressional delegations during the two-year period, 31 trips included members of her family.