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Biden Address: Harris, Pelosi Make Presidential Address History

WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) -- Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made history Wednesday night as the first women to share center stage in Congress during a presidential address.

Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Vice President Kamala Harris, left, greets House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., ahead of President Joe Biden addressing a joint session of Congress, Wednesday, April 28, 2021, in the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (Jim Watson/Pool via AP)

Harris and Pelosi were seated behind President Joe Biden for his joint address to Congress. When they greeted each other before Biden's arrival, Harris and Pelosi clasped hands before giving each other a COVID-19-friendlier elbow bump.

Pelosi has sat at the rostrum in the House chamber before but always next to a male vice president: Dick Cheney, Biden and Mike Pence. Harris is the first female vice president in U.S. history.

Women's advocates have said seeing Harris and Pelosi seated together behind Biden will be a "beautiful moment." But they noted that electing a woman to sit in the Oval Office remains to be achieved, along with the addition of an equal rights amendment to the Constitution.

"It's pretty exciting. And it's wonderful to make history. It's about time," Pelosi said hours before the speech during an interview on MSNBC.

Biden helped usher the moment along by pledging to pick a woman for his running mate and selecting Harris, then a U.S. senator from California.

"This is a great start and we have to continue to move forward to give women their equal due," said Christian Nunes, president of the National Organization for Women.

Pelosi made history by becoming the first female House speaker during Republican Bush's presidency. He acknowledged the moment by noting during his address to Congress after Pelosi's election that he had the privilege of being the first president to open with the words "madam speaker."

Pelosi, 81, reclaimed the powerful leadership post during Republican Trump's presidency and sat behind him during his final two speeches to Congress, famously ripping up her copy of Trump's remarks in 2020 as cameras continued to roll after he was finished addressing lawmakers.

Harris, 56, made history last year when she became the first woman and first Black and Indian American person elected vice president. In her role as president of the Senate, she joins Pelosi to preside over the joint session of Congress.

Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, said Wednesday night will show men, women, boys and girls that women can attain and hold high-level positions and that they are as entitled to them as men are.

Walsh also noted Biden's promise to put a woman on his ticket, and pointed as well to the diversity of his Cabinet. She said Biden was likely to begin the speech by turning around to face Pelosi and Harris and feeling proud — not just personally, "but I also think proud for the country and proud for his party and I think he will clearly see the historic implications of this and the role that he played in making that happen."

"For all of us who care about women's public leadership, we still look forward to the day when the person standing at the podium, in front, is a woman," Walsh added. "But for now this is a particularly gratifying moment."

Harris' office declined comment Wednesday on her historic role in the president's address, preferring to let the moment speak for itself.

Apart from the speech Wednesday, Harris and Pelosi have notched another first in U.S. and women's history. They are first and second, respectively, in the line of presidential succession.

© Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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