Pelosi, Bipartisan Delegation Meet with Japanese Prime Minister Abe

"Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister, for extending this courtesy to us so that we can come pay our respects to the great country of Japan, to your leadership, and to say how much we're looking forward to welcoming you to Washington to address a Joint [Meeting] of Congress. I'm proud to be here as part of this very substantial Congressional Delegation. The last time I was here as Speaker, I had the privilege of laying a wreath at the Peace Memorial [in Hiroshima] – the highest ranking American to do so. I take great pride in that.

"This relationship is so important to both of our countries, and we're proud to have sent you our very best in Ambassador Kennedy. We're very proud of her service here, as well as our Chargé Jason Hyland, who is with us today. On our trip, we've visited five countries in Asia. And our priorities have been about security – which you spoke about, and I hope we can hear more about; perhaps a trilateral meeting with China, Japan, and Korea – other issues of concern in the region, and in the world community; trade, and you mentioned TPP, and we want to discuss how we can have a road to ‘Yes' on that; and third, lifting up women in the world – and I congratulate you, you really – in Davos last year, when you said, ‘We're going to improve the economy by increased participation of women,' you were echoing what we say in America: ‘When women succeed, America succeeds.' Congresswoman Doris Matsui will speak to that in a moment.

"Thank you for acknowledging Congressman Rangel. Yesterday in Korea, he was honored by the Korean leaders for his role in, 50 years ago, fighting in the Korean War. He said it's better going back this time. He's the most senior Member of the Delegation, and one of the most senior in Congress. And we have one of the newest Members of Congress, Mark Takai of Hawaii – he's only been in Congress for three months, and already giving benefit to our important delegation. We're very proud of the relationship between our two countries. We're also very proud of the contributions that Japanese-Americans make to the success of America, in the Congress and in our country.

"So we look forward to having a conversation about TPP. Our delegation is bipartisan. Michael Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania will, from our standpoint, talk about TPP when it is appropriate in the conversation – Congresswoman Matsui about women succeeding in the economy. We have three Members of the Ways and Means Committee as a resource in the conversation. All of our Members want to be a ‘Yes,' but we have some concerns. We want a road to ‘Yes,' a path to ‘Yes,' with some bumps in the road so far.

"Thank you again, Mr. Prime Minister, for this honor to meet with you, again, to tell you how enthusiastic we are about welcoming you to Washington. And cherry blossoms may not be there by then, we don't know…

[Laughter]

"…But your visit will be a continuation of the friendship that brought those cherry blossoms to Washington, D.C. in the first place. Thank you."