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Congresswoman Jackie Speier delivered a presentation for Government and United States History students on Aug. 26. Speier discussed major events in her life and hosted a Q&A at the end of her presentation, addressing topics such as immigration laws, gun control and climate change.
“I appreciated her laying out her positions on current issues that are relevant to us like gun control [and] climate change,” said senior Ryan Oshinsky. “She did a good job of presenting herself as a young person’s candidate.”
Speier highlighted that the day of the presentation coincided with Women’s Equality Day, and tied it to her stance on women’s rights and involvement in government and legislation.
“It’s a very important day to remember because it didn’t come easy,” Speier said. “There’s a whole generation of women that never were able to speak up about what they wanted in government.”
Although Speier is often occupied with her duties as a congresswoman, she makes an effort to support local schools and businesses. Speier spoke at Nueva High School prior to her presentation at Aragon.
“I make it a point of doing, I’d say five to six [high school presentations] a year,” Speier said. “Today is my San Mateo day. So I’m spending time, obviously, with young people, I’m going to go to a senior center and talk with them, and then going to meet with the City Council. And then I will end up meeting with a company here in the city of San Mateo.”
“Today is my San Mateo day. So I’m spending time, obviously, with young people, I’m going to go to a senior center and talk with them, and then going to meet with the City Council. And then I will end up meeting with a company here in the city of San Mateo.”
Speier, who received her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Davis, advised students not to fret about college admissions.
“When I was applying to college, I didn’t go on a college tour; my parents told me what two colleges I could apply to, Stanford University and UC Davis. So what happens? I get rejected from Stanford,” Speier said. “But it was all part of the plan. That’s kind of my message. There’s a plan for each of us. In my case, had I not gone to UC Davis, I would not have been 20 miles from the state capital and I wouldn’t have been in a position to intern for assemblyman Leo Ryan who became my mentor.”
Speier shared her experiences with Ryan and the unfortunate events that took place in Jonestown, a settlement in Guyana, South America, that was run by cult leader Jim Jones. Jones was the preacher for a San Francisco church called Peoples Temple, which had around 2000 members. Following reports of sexual, physical and child abuse, Jones took over 900 members of his congregation to establish a settlement which he called the “Peoples Temple Agricultural Project.”
“Congressman Ryan was trying to determine whether Americans were being held against their will [in Jonestown] … So he talked with the State Department and wasn’t getting the kinds of straightforward answers he was looking for. So we made the trip down there; people wanted to leave. We helped them exit [and] got to the airstrip,” Speier said. “And unbeknownst to us, a tractor trailer followed behind us with seven gunman on it. And they started shooting. Congressman Ryan was shot 45 times … I was shot five times, so I’m lying there … and we waited 22 hours without medical attention.”
Speier shares about her new attitude towards life following her experiences at Jonestown.
“There were death threats against my life by those members of the Peoples Temple that were still in San Francisco. and then over the weekend when I returned, I realized I can’t spend the rest of my life being a victim of the Jonestown Massacre,” Speier said. “I want my life to be more than just surviving this catastrophe. So I decided to run for congressman Ryan’s unexpired term on the very last day that you can take papers out. So I came home on a Friday, [and] Monday was the last day, the deadline and so I went down to the country courthouse and signed.”
Speier ultimately lost in her run to take Ryan’s former seat in the House of Representatives.
“This is what a three-time loser looks like,” Speier said. “I lost for student body president in High School … I lost for congressman in 1979 when I ran, and then I lost for lieutenant governor in 2006 when I ran. But here’s the message: First step to success is actually losing. Failure actually frames us better than success.”
Following her unsuccessful run for Congress, Speier ran for the San Mateo Board of Supervisors against someone who had been in office for 20 years.
“No one gave me a shot. No one said that I could do it,” Speier said. “I beat him by over 20,000 votes [and] became the youngest member to ever serve on the Board of Supervisors.”
Speier was then elected for the California State Assembly in 1986, the California State Senate in 1998 and finally became a member of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2008.
“It was super interesting to get to know more about her personal life,” said senior Ariel Leventhal, who interned under Jackie Speier in the summer of 2019. “Understanding her failures and personal obstacles has given me a better picture of who she is, and even made me more hopeful about what’s facing me.”
At the end of her presentation, Speier responded to students’ questions about current political issues.
In regards to climate change, Speier has emphasised change on a global and local level. She is a co sponsor and supporter of the Green New Deal which serves to directly address climate change. Speier is also a supporter of electric vehicles and eliminating the use of gasoline for commercial automobiles.
Locally, Speier has also focused on issues centered around the Bay Area, such as the rising water levels that affect many who live in San Mateo County.
“Whether you live in Foster City or on the hills of San Mateo, if you want to flush your toilet, you’ve got to be concerned about it, because all the waste treatment plants are located right on the bay,” Speier said. “part of my efforts have been to try and galvanize support for all the communities in San Mateo County to create a flood control district and a sea level rise resiliency committee.”
Speier was asked about her opinions on gun control laws and regulations. She mentioned the difficulty of passing legislation due to the Senate’s unwillingness to push gun reform. Her current goal is to reinstate the assault weapon ban that senator Dianne Feinstein instituted in 1994.
“And we need to put into effect, a ban on high capacity magazines,” Speier said. “I want to make sure it’s safe for you at your school, it’s safe for you at a concert and safe for you in a park and safe for you in a movie theater because you deserve to be safe. And you should make an incumbent on every elected official to protect you.”
Speier has also been focused on addressing the new immigration laws implemented by the Trump Administration.
When asked about her next steps regarding the “crisis at the border,” Speier said, “we’re trying to put a spotlight on this issue, we’re trying to prevent the president from pursuing his executive order, which is allowing him to be a dictator in this country now on the guise of emergency.”
Speier is a strong supporter of the youth and their involvement in politics and has internship positions for local high school students.
“Interning in the district office was something of a mixed bag. There was plenty of scary stuff like being yelled at by constituents and sitting behind bulletproof glass at reception, but also rewarding stuff like having a personal hand in getting stories connected to legislation in front of the Congresswoman and designing events for constituent services and outreach,” Leventhal said.
Speier continues to represent and support the San Mateo county through local community outreach and legislation in Congress.
