Two key lines in Nancy Pelosi's victory speech were about Reagan and Bush

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in her first address to the 116th Congress declared the beginning of "a new dawn" but pledged to work across the aisle, citing two past Republican presidents in the process.

Pelosi in her address said Democrats will protect DREAMers, and she made her case by citing former President Ronald Reagan, who said in his last speech as president, "If we ever closed the door to new Americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost." When Republicans in the chamber didn't clap along with Democrats in response to this line, Pelosi said, "You don't applaud for Ronald Reagan?"

Soon after, Pelosi paid tribute to former President George H.W. Bush, who she called a "cherished former member of this body" and a "beloved" commander-in-chief. She said, "Today, I single out one of his great achievements: working with both Democrats and Republicans to write the Americans With Disabilities Act into the laws of our land."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Pelosi also promised that the 116th Congress will be "transparent, bipartisan and unifying" and that Democrats will "seek to reach across the aisle in this chamber and across the divisions in this great nation." At the same time, she pledged to address income inequality, protect Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, and work to combat climate change, saying that in the midterm elections, "the American people spoke, and demanded a new dawn." Watch Pelosi's speech below. Brendan Morrow