刚主持完乌克兰总统弗拉基米尔·泽伦斯基的联合地址南希·佩洛西(Nancy Pelosi)周四在国会发表了她作为众议院议长的最后一次新闻发布会，旁边是温斯顿·丘吉尔(Winston Churchill)1941年在众议院发表演讲的老照片，这是她在1月3日共和党重新夺回控制权之前的最后一次新闻发布会。
这位来自加利福尼亚州的82岁即将离任的民主党领导人权衡了围绕她退出的历史性事件——泽伦斯基的演讲、1月6日特别委员会最终报告的更新、1.7万亿美元的综合法案——当被问及她自己作为议长的突破性时间以及她作为众议院435名代表之一的未来角色时，她思考了这些问题。
在交出木槌时，第一位也是唯一一位当选众议院议长的女性，也是美国政府中级别最高的女性表示，她将保持“强大的影响力”，支持女性领导人的新时代，以支持“机构的完整性”。
在上个月宣布她将辞去领导职务佩洛西还表示，她打算担任下一届旧金山议员。
“作为众议院议长，我拥有令人敬畏的权力。当我过渡到一个不同的新角色时，我希望有强大的影响力。但不是指我的成员，而是指鼓励更多女性参加竞选...佩洛西周四表示:“众议院议长是一项非常大的工作，完成这项工作需要时间。”。
“我不会成为婆婆，走进来说，‘这是我儿子喜欢的火鸡填料、炒鸡蛋或其他任何东西的方式，’”她补充道，谈到了她与即将上任的民主党领导层的未来关系。
佩洛西还表示，虽然她还没有与共和党领袖凯文·麦卡锡进行任何正式谈话，但她可能的继任者目前正忙于寻求议长投票她希望新的发言人能在一月初迅速选出，这样国会的职责就能很快恢复。
“我们互动，我只是希望在1月3日，他们能够迅速选出一位议长，这样我们就可以继续国会的工作，”她说。“我想他们会有一个扬声器。我的兴趣...[是]该机构的完整性，该机构所拥有的力量和受到的尊重。”
佩洛西谈到她自己在1987年进入国会时，当时很少有女性占据这样的席位，更不用说领导职位了，她希望在未来的国会中鼓励进一步的多样性。
“我们中的一些人刚刚做出了决定:我们必须改变这种情况，我们必须招募人员，我们必须提供资金，我们必须鼓励女性参选，给她们信心，”她说。
“我想说，我给你的最好建议是:做你自己。你是世界历史上唯一的你……我被女人们告诉我如何给了她们信心或榜样而不知所措……我说，‘不要担心任何榜样。做你自己。"
佩洛西通过回顾最近几天在国会大厦举行的每周新闻发布会开始了她的每周新闻发布会，这是她作为民主党领导人的例行新闻发布会。
“对我们的民主来说，这是重要的一周，”她说。“昨天……我非常荣幸地在美国国会大厦欢迎乌克兰总统泽伦斯基。”
自从周二晚上首次报道泽伦斯基的美国之行以来，佩洛西一直以极大的敬意描述泽伦斯基的美国之行，多次将这位战时总统的访问与丘吉尔过去的讲话联系起来，当时她的父亲，已故的马里兰州众议员小托马斯·德阿莱桑德罗(Thomas D'Alesandro Jr .)是众议院的成员。
周三，在她卸任前可能是最后一次主持国会联席会议之前，佩洛西在国会山的一次拍照机会中与他一起出现时，谈到了乌克兰总统讲话的重要性。
“当温斯顿·丘吉尔在1941年来到这里，在圣诞节的第二天，实际上是在一周和81年前的今天，他呼吁美国帮助打击暴政和你们的——他当时说:‘我们正在做世界上最崇高的工作，不仅捍卫壁炉和家园，而且捍卫每一片土地上的自由事业，’”她说。
“八十年后，这是我的正式荣誉...现在欢迎泽伦斯基总统在联席会议上发表联合讲话。
当民主党在2018年中期选举中赢得众议院时，佩洛西第二次担任议长，在1月6日的起义中担任国会主席，她在周四的新闻发布会上说，这一事件是对民主本身的攻击。
“在不知疲倦地捍卫民主18个月后，世界将在1月6日看到两党特别委员会的最终调查报告，”她说，并感谢委员会主席、密西西比州民主党众议员本尼·汤普森(Bennie Thompson)和副主席、怀俄明州共和党众议员利兹·切尼(Liz Cheney)的领导。
“第117届国会以对我们民主的暴力攻击开始。现在我们在这里看它的结论。佩洛西说:“我们有一个重要的路线图，并确保正义将得到伸张，这种情况不会再次发生。”。
在她登上领奖台的时间接近尾声时，佩洛西对她在众议院领导她的政党的19年中遇到的所有人表示感谢。
她说，“我想我可能永远做的最压倒性的事情就是说‘谢谢’。
“感谢我的成员，感谢在政策上帮助我们的智力资源。感谢那些在政治上帮助我们在国会获得多数席位和力量的人，”她继续说道。“我想我的生活将是关于责任，关于记录，关于历史，感谢那些使这一切成为可能的人。”
Pelosi delivers final press conference ahead of departure as speaker: 'Thank you'
Fresh from presiding over Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's joint address to Congress and flanked by a vintage photo of Winston Churchill's 1941 speech to the chamber, Nancy Pelosi on Thursday delivered her last news conference as House speaker before Republicans retake control on Jan. 3.
The 82-year-old outgoing Democratic leader from California weighed the historic events which surround her exit -- Zelenskyy's speech, updates on the final report from the Jan. 6 select committee, the $1.7 trillion omnibus bill -- and, when asked, reflected upon her own barrier-breaking time as speaker and what her future role will be as just one of 435 representatives in the House.
While relinquishing the gavel, the first and only woman elected to lead the House and, for a time, the highest-ranking woman in the U.S. government said she would maintain "strong influence" and back a new era of female leaders in support of the "integrity of the institution."
In announcing last month that she would be stepping down from leadership, Pelosi also said she intends to serve her next term as a lawmaker representing San Francisco.
"As speaker of the House, I have awesome power. As I'm transitioning to a different, new role, I expect to have strong influence. But not on my members but just in terms of encouraging more women, for example, to run ... The speaker of the House is a very big job and just wrapping it up will take time," Pelosi said on Thursday.
"I'm not going to be the mother-in-law, comes in and say, 'This is the way my son likes his turkey stuffing, his scrambled eggs, or anything else,'" she added about her future relationship with incoming Democratic leadership.
Pelosi also said that while she has not had any formal conversations with GOP leader Kevin McCarthy -- her presumed successor, who is currently embroiled in a quest for speaker votes -- she hopes that a new speaker will be swiftly selected in early January so congressional duties quickly resume.
"We interact, and I'm just hoping that on Jan. 3 that they'll be expeditiously able to elect a speaker so that we can get on with the work of the Congress," she said. "I think they'll have a speaker. My interest... [is] the integrity of the institution, the strength of and respect that the institution commands."
Pelosi remarked on her own entrance to Congress in 1987, when few women occupied such seats, let alone leadership posts, and her hope to encourage further diversity in future Congresses.
"Some of us just made a decision: We have to change this, we have to recruit, we have to fund, we have to encourage women to run, give confidence to them," she said.
"I say the best advice I ever had that I extend to you is: Be yourself. You're the only person in the history of the world who was you … I get overwhelmed by women telling me how I've given them confidence or a role model … and I said, 'Don't worry about any role model. Be yourself.'"
Pelosi began her weekly press conference, which occurred routinely over her time as a Democratic leader, by looking back on recent days at the Capitol.
"It's been a momentous week for our democracy," she said. "Yesterday was … my high honor to welcome President Zelenskyy of Ukraine here in the United States Capitol."
Pelosi has described Zelenskyy's U.S. trip with great reverence since it was first reported on Tuesday evening, repeatedly linking the wartime president's visit to Churchill's past address, when her father, the late Maryland Rep. Thomas D'Alesandro Jr., was a member of the House.
On Wednesday, before what was likely the last time she would preside over a joint meeting of Congress before stepping down, Pelosi talked about on the significance of the Ukrainian president's speech while appearing with him during a photo opportunity on the Hill.
"When Winston Churchill came here in 1941, the day after Christmas, really within a week and 81 years of today, and he made the case for calling upon America to help fight tyranny and your -- he said at that time: 'We are doing the noblest work in the world, not only defending hearth and homes but the cause of freedom in every land,'" she said.
"Eight decades later, it is my official honor ... now to welcome President Zelenskyy to make a joint address to a joint session," she said.
Pelosi, who assumed the speakership for a second time when Democrats won the House in the 2018 midterm elections, sat at the helm of Congress during the Jan. 6 insurrection, an event she said during Thursday's press conference was an assault on democracy itself.
"The world will see the final report of the bipartisan select committee to investigate Jan. 6 after 18 months of tirelessly defending democracy," she said, thanking the committee's chairman, Mississippi Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, and Vice Chair Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., for their leadership.
"The 117th Congress began with a violent assault on our democracy. And now we're here at its conclusions. We have a vital roadmap and ensuring justice will be done and that this won't happen again," Pelosi said.
Near the end of her time at the podium, Pelosi expressed gratitude for everyone whom she had encountered over her 19 years leading her party in the House.
"I think that probably the most overwhelming thing I'll be doing forever is saying 'thank you,'" she said.
"Thank you to my members, thank you to the intellectual resources that have helped us with policy. Thank you for those who have helped us politically to attain our majorities and our strength in the Congress," she continued. "I think my life will be about accountability, to the record, the history, and thank you to those who made all that possible."
