Speaker Emerita Pelosi Receives Honorary Degree from Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas, Honoring Her Commitment to Defending Democracy
Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws at the Sorbonne from the distinguished Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas.
At a ceremony held on Monday at the historic Sorbonne in Paris, France, the University bestowed upon Pelosi the high honor of honorary degree in recognition of her leadership in the defense of democracy, in the United States and around the world.
Below are excerpts from prepared testimonials, which were read during the ceremony at the Sorbonne:
Stéphane Braconnier, President, University of Paris-Panthéon-Assas: “With Nancy Pelosi, we celebrate democracy in the most brilliant way possible. Nancy Pelosi in fact embodies, more than any other in the current context, all of the values that underpin and sustain our democracies, values that she has defended without wavering throughout an exemplary career dedicated to the defense of the rule of law … In these crucial moments Nancy Pelosi demonstrated a deep and powerful attachment to democracy. Nancy Pelosi is an exemplum that our university wished to honor with the award of the degree of honorary doctor of law.”
Professor Dr. Emmanuelle Chevreau, Vice President of Paris-Panthéon-Assas University for International Affairs: “It is difficult for me to find the right words to express the immense honor you [Pelosi] have bestowed on our university by accepting this distinction. We wish to pay tribute to your exemplary career. In these uncertain times, it is a source of inspiration and hope for our entire academic community, and in particular for the young students who are present here today. … You are and will remain the embodiment of the legislative power, the First Branch of Government, enshrined in Article I of the U.S. Constitution.”
Polina Pidhorodyska, Ukrainian Second-Year Law Student at Paris-Panthéon-Assas University: “Madam Speaker Emerita, Mrs. Pelosi, I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your infallible commitment in favor of Ukraine and Ukrainians, from the very beginning of the Russian invasion. I remember perfectly the moment you arrived in Kyiv in May 2022. All Ukrainians personally felt that they were not alone and that the free world had their back. You gave them hope and the power to hold their heads high.”
During the ceremony, Polina also presented Speaker Emerita Pelosi a work of art crafted in her region of Ukraine, in recognition of and gratitude for Pelosi’s ironclad support for Ukraine in their fight for freedom.
Speaker Emerita Pelosi has received at least 21 honorary degrees from some of the world’s most prestigious universities.
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Below are Speaker Emerita Pelosi’s remarks:
Speaker Emerita Pelosi. Thank you so much for this very distinguished honor which I am very proud to receive, and thank you for your warm welcome to this distinguished university, Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas. The excellence of your academics, and the breath-taking beauty of your campus, remain an envy of the world. With roots stretching back to the Middle Ages, and really beyond, you have shaped many of the finest minds in human history.
And today, we salute Polina Pidhorodynska who will soon grace us with her knowledge and insight. Polina is from Ukraine, and she will just – take us into the future. Thank you, Polina. Because of you and your class, the future is bright!
And so it is with great excitement, and this wonderful company with all of you, to join all of you – and great pride – for me to return to France to humbly accept your Honorary Doctorate of Laws. I am personally – so gratifying to receive it. But I do so on behalf of my many colleagues in the Congress of the United States, who had the courage to make many of the things that we discussed possible. It’s easy for me, because I represent San Francisco in the Congress. But for some of them – using the word you used, Emanuelle, the ‘courage’ – you said it in Italian, to get the job done. And they even had the courage to elect the first woman to Speaker of the House in American history.
I'm proud to be receiving it in the presence of our distinguished Ambassador to the United States, Ambassador Denise Bauer, who is – has the ear of the President of the United States and his great esteem. Thank you, Madam Ambassador, for joining us today. And I'm thrilled to be here with my daughter Alexandra, my grandson Thomas, and we're happy to be here with my husband, Paul, who – thank you for asking – is doing very well.
I am honored to be with each of you: citizens of America’s most ancient ally, France. Indeed, our nations share a centuries-long bond that predates America’s Founding – and even that of the First French Republic in 1792. Our Founders love France. Our first Ambassador [to France], Benjamin Franklin, was a self-professed Francophile and served, again, as the first ambassador. But it was Thomas Jefferson, who was rumored to say that everyone who loves democracy has two countries: their own, if it’s democratic, and France.
And we will always remember that the French soldiers fought alongside ours in our war for independence. That includes Marquis de Lafayette, who helped lead us to victory at Yorktown, a very decisive victory for us. You may not know this, but in the chamber of the House of Representatives, there's only two paintings, and they are massive. One on one side of the Speaker's chair – huge – is of our patriarch, George Washington. And on the other side, similar size – a massive painting of – Marquis de Lafayette. I think that's pretty exciting. And all who visit the United States Capitol, it is fitting that they view Washington and Lafayette in this setting – because Washington treated Lafayette as a son. So much respect.
Lafayette is in the House to honor his contributions to our country – and those of the French, others of the French, who helped win our independence. And in Washington’s estate, Mount Vernon, hangs the key to the Bastille that was given to him by Lafayette. There may have been more than one key, but we have it. It’s our story, we’re sticking with it – this is the key to the Bastille. It is – it is, just, a symbol of Lafayette, and a symbol of respect for America's freedom.
After America secured its freedom, Lafayette proudly proclaimed – Lafayette said this: ‘Humanity has won its battle. Liberty now has a country.’ So, fitting that it would be the French who gifted us the Statue of Liberty, which is a symbol of America throughout the world, of our welcoming people to our country.
Our soldiers fought side-by-side defending democracy: from the fields of Yorktown, which I mentioned, to the beaches of Normandy, and then beyond. Personally, it is meaningful to me, Normandy: my uncle, Johnny D'Alesandro, was one of the brave Americans fighting for freedom in the Second World War. When I was – I brought an American delegation, time and again, to Normandy, to mark – well, once on the 70th and 75th anniversary, D-Day, I sat with veterans. I told them that my uncle fought at the Battle of the Bulge. And they said, ‘Oh yeah, we went there next.’ We went there next with the French, with the French: fighting together for democracy. As you know, we will be having the 80th anniversary of Normandy this next year, and that will once again be an ongoing manifestation of the friendship between our two countries.
In any event, our nations have long been bound together by our everlasting commitment to what you talked about, we all talked about: shared values. Shared values between our countries, shared values with this magnificent institution. Values so eloquently summarized by your national motto: liberté, égalité, fraternité. These values have long been, and continue to be, a guiding light.
When on the beaches of Normandy in the 20th Century, we faced the great test of whether democracy or autocracy would prevail, we were honored to stand with you against the designs of imperialists and of dictators. And so now, in our time, we must stand together as we did of old.
The principles of democracy are imperiled in my own country and around the world. The sanctity and dignity of the individual; the rule of law; sovereignty. Institutions of self-government – conceived to produce prosperity and progress – for the many face profound challenges from the appetites and the [ambitions] of the grasping few.
As Voltaire – here we are, in France – as Voltaire said: ‘Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities of terror.’ Voltaire.
Across the world, we see despots and dictators launching despicable assaults against democracy. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and the many war crimes Russian Forces are committing against women and children. Democracy is, of course, on the line in Ukraine. Ukraine’s courage to fight for democracy is the fight for democracy everywhere.
The Chinese Communist Party’s litany of human rights abuses against the Chinese people: whether Uyghurs, or in Tibet or Hong Kong, in addition to their aggression against Taiwan.
And the horrifying terrorist attacks by Hamas against Israel, inciting the heartbreaking humanitarian crisis in Gaza. This is a challenge to our conscience and to our courage, for us to come together and say: as barbaric as the Hamas attack was on Israel, and how heartbreaking it is for the families, and how impatient we all are for the hostages, all of the hostages to be released, it is a challenge for us to have justice, but at the same time, have humanity toward the civilians in Gaza as well. That’s what our Secretary of State has asked for: a humanitarian pause so that we can effect that. That's the challenge that we have.
While different in threats that I mentioned – different and distinct threats, they force upon us a shared common goal. They want to step out the flame of freedom. We cannot let them do that.
And make no mistake: history has taught us again and again, the threat to democracy anywhere is a threat to democracy everywhere.
Do you know this? That only weeks after President Teddy Roosevelt ended his term as President of the United States, he came here to Sorbonne to speak on the duties of citizenship in a republic. His words bear our consideration.
President Teddy Roosevelt said: ‘A democratic republic such as ours’ – years ago – ‘represents the most gigantic of all possible social experiments, the one fraught with great responsibilities alike for good and evil. The success’ – he said – ‘of republics like yours and like ours means the glory, and our failure the despair, of mankind.’ That is what is at risk.
The essential variable, Roosevelt reminded us, was – and is – the quality of the individual citizen. That is not easy. Citizenship is difficult and sometimes challenging. Yet democracy is fundamentally a covenant: a recognition of rights and responsibilities that enable us to meet the perils of history with fortitude and grace and a determination to pursue the right way to go. With that fortitude, with that grace and with that determination, democracy can not only survive – it can thrive.
We must not only be defenders of democracy – but the future demands that we also place at the top of our agenda the existential threat of our time: the climate crisis.
It was here in Paris in 2015, as you know, where the global community forged an historic agreement to set ambitious climate targets. It was challenging.
When President Macron addressed the United States Congress in 2018, we were pleased to hear him forcefully declare: ‘There is no Planet B.’ We must take this action.
In 2019, France hosted the G7 Speakers’ Meeting in Brest under the leadership of National Assembly President, then, Ferrand – addressing the devastating impact of the climate crisis on our oceans. It was a remarkable conference.
France has met – is meeting – this moment, domestically and globally. And we are all grateful to you for that – for your leadership.
In our country, under our visionary President Joe Biden, America’s commitment to the climate cause has been ironclad: delivering the biggest, boldest climate action in history last year! You might not know this, but Joe, President, then-Senator Joe Biden introduced the first climate resolution in the United States. It was in 1986, even before I was in Congress. And he had vision, foresight, leadership, even then, on this subject. It is a very strong commitment for him.
Our law that we passed is about a healthier environment; a cleaner, greener economy; our security and our values – our shared values. These are priorities our nations proudly share, and we work together – as we work together to save our planet.
We see it as a health issue: clean air and clean water. We see it as an economic issue: new green technologies. We see it as a security issue: the rising sea levels, encroachment of deserts – all of the things that you know are happening can create competition for resources and habitat and the rest, and that can cause conflict. Our national security advisors tell us: this is a security issue as well. Health, economic, security, but of course, first and foremost, it is a values issue for us. If you believe as I do that Earth is God's creation, we have a moral responsibility to be good stewards. But even if you don’t share that view, we all know that we have a moral responsibility to future generations to pass on this planet in a very sound way.
Earlier, I spoke about two portraits in the House Chamber. When I was invited, we were going to be in a different room, but we outgrew it! And in that room, there were two portraits by Benjamin Constant of Prometheus. One was of Prometheus bound, to represent the past. One, Prometheus unbound, to represent the freedom of the future. So that has been – that must be our heritage. Our heritage is our hope for the future.
Now I love bringing that up, even though we had to move rooms, because I do believe the arts are such a unifying, unifying factor in our lives. They inspire us. We laugh together. We cry together. We enjoy together. We find our common ground, something we might not have recognized before. We put aside our differences, as we – whether it be a painting, a musical presentation and the rest – we are in a different place. And I do believe, one thing that gives me hope, is that the arts will bring us together in that way. What place but Paris – Sorbonne in all its manifestations, such an opportunity for us to come together.
On this day, let us celebrate that extraordinary bond between our nations. In some of the presentations, you mention my background, that I was from Baltimore. And my pride that I take, and is part of my inspiration when we talk about democracy, is that our national anthem was written in Baltimore during the War of 1812. Sometimes the Brits don’t like me bringing that up. But anyway, that's what it was.
Indeed, if you were at a ball game – if you see a ball game on TV, when we play the National Anthem at the beginning of every ballgame, toward the end, everybody cheers: ‘Land of the free, home of the brave.’ But I cheer before that, and here’s why and how it relates to today. In the course of it, it says: ‘Proof through the night that our Flag was still there.’ That’s in the song. And that’s when I start cheering. ‘Proof through the night that our Flag was still there.’ Our democracy, our freedom was still there. And our Flag is something that we take an oath to at every civic meeting, and children do so in school. We pledge allegiance to that Flag, with liberty and justice for all. And that's what a democracy is about. In fact, that is what the arts are about: liberty and freedom of expression as well.
So it is within us – and it is possible – that we can reach out. And obviously, we must win this fight in the world between democracy and autocracy. We fought it and won it in Normandy in World War II – something that is our, part of our heritage together.
I mentioned – I don’t know if I mentioned earlier, but my uncle was in that War. I did mention it. He is buried in France. And I thank the French for the beautiful care and attention you have always paid to our American cemeteries in France, where our soldiers are. It’s another, another connection. So whether it's the arts, whether it's our shared history, whether it's our commitment to democracy, and whether it is, now, our coming together to advance more women in the political, academic or corporate arena. We say in America: ‘when women succeed, America succeeds.’
Again, I am honored to be the first woman Speaker, but I certainly don’t intend to be the last. But you have a woman President of the Assembly here and a number of representatives of the French government here, more than ever as well. So again, I don’t know about who all is saying, ‘This is the Year of the Woman’ – so we like to think every year is. Whether it is about the women – and we do think that advancing women is advancing democracy as well.
Thank you, thank you for this tremendous honor, which I will display with great pride on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. We have to go right after this meeting because of the session of Congress. And on this day, again, let us celebrate the extraordinary bond between our nations and our people and even renew our vow to stand together to build a brighter future for our democracy and for the planet, for families on both sides of the Atlantic, Pacific and the rest.
Thank you, again, for this Honorary Doctorate of Law. I am so excited by it. And I view it as a compliment to our country, to our Congress, and I take it – I consider it the highest honor.
Vive La France – and God Bless America!