Pelosi to new grads: Find strength in diversity

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) instructed the Class of 2015 on Saturday to celebrate America’s history as a cultural melting pot.

“Our founders had confidence in a principle that they knew had to guide our nation: E Pluribus Unum – ‘from many, one,’” Pelosi told students at San Jose State University in California.

“The founders could never have imagined how vast our country would become, or how diverse the many we would be – ethnicities, nationalities, gender identities, beliefs and priorities,” she said.

{mosads}“And they knew that we would have to be, from many, one,” the California lawmaker added. “Our founders’ wish is our command.”

Pelosi also urged San Jose State’s 2015 graduating class to value the wide range of backgrounds and beliefs that made up its ranks.

“Have confidence in the strength of that diversity,” she said.

“As I say with pride of the city of San Francisco, which I represent in Congress, the beauty is in the mix,” Pelosi said. “It’s true of San Francisco; it’s true of this graduating class.”

“Trust in the value of diverse and different perspectives, as represented by your fellow graduates – respect and cherish the diversity you have been blessed with here at San Jose State,” she added.

Pelosi also said that America’s Founding Fathers understood the long-term value of immigration.

She thus challenged her fellow lawmakers in Congress to continue their work on immigration reform.

“They had a sense, though, that immigration would invigorate our nation,” Pelosi said of America’s forefathers.

“That’s why we must pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill, and soon, and Zoe Lofgren is in the lead on that,” she said, citing the Democratic lawmaker who represents San Jose and the rest of California’s 19th district.

“And, for all of our differences and identities, we are committed to being one nation,” Pelosi added.

“Class of 2015, each of you, indeed all of us, has a role to play in honoring our diversity; in carrying out the vision and values of ‘from many, one’ into the next generation,” she said.