Pelosi to receive JFK award

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will receive the 2019 Profile in Courage Award from the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, the organization announced Sunday.

In a press release, the JFK Library Foundation praised Pelosi for her work to pass the Affordable Care Act, her historic nonconsecutive terms as Speaker of the House, and her efforts to “rebuild the Democratic Party in the image of America” in the 2018 midterm elections.

{mosads}“[Pelosi] will be recognized for putting the national interest above her party’s interest to expand access to health care for all Americans and then, against a wave of political attacks, leading the effort to retake the majority and elect the most diverse Congress in our nation’s history,” according to the release.

Ambassador Caroline Kennedy, former President John F. Kennedy’s daughter, and her son, Jack Schlossberg, will present Pelosi with the award at a May 19 ceremony.

{mosads}Kennedy, honorary president of the foundation, called Pelosi “the most important woman in American political history” and “a true Profile in Courage.”

“Speaker Pelosi leads with strength, integrity and grace under pressure – using her power to protect the most vulnerable of our citizens,” Kennedy said in the release.

Pelosi called the award “a great personal and official honor.”

“At President Kennedy’s inauguration, I was blessed to hear him speak of ‘the energy, the faith, the devotion…that will light our country and all who serve it – and the glow from that fire can truly light the world,’” she said in the release. “That energy, faith and fire have inspired my work in the Congress and as Speaker, and it is my hope that my receiving this award will encourage others to pursue public service, and lead with courage, conviction and conscience.”

Pelosi follows other recipients like former Presidents Barack Obama, George H.W. Bush and Gerald Ford.