SAN FRANCISCO / Pelosi's first priority is to halt Iraq war / Speaker taking office Jan. 4 comes home to talk up plans

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, center, accompanied by, from left, outgoing Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tenn., incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., outgoing House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Ill., and incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., meets reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2006. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf) less British Prime Minister Tony Blair, center, accompanied by, from left, outgoing Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tenn., incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., outgoing House Speaker Dennis Hastert of ... more Photo: KEVIN WOLF Photo: KEVIN WOLF Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close SAN FRANCISCO / Pelosi's first priority is to halt Iraq war / Speaker taking office Jan. 4 comes home to talk up plans 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told cheering supporters Saturday that Democrats would move the nation in "a new direction ... for all Americans, not just the chosen few," and pledged an ambitious agenda on subjects ranging from House ethics to foreign policy.

Speaking in San Francisco the day after adjournment of the Republican-controlled 2005-06 Congress, Pelosi declared -- as she had throughout her party's successful November election campaign -- that "my highest priority, immediately, is to stop the war in Iraq."

In that effort, she added, "We extend a hand of friendship and cooperation to the president. We hope we can work together."

But while promising a "spirit of civility and bipartisanship" in the Congress that convenes on Jan. 4, Pelosi took a few partisan shots at Republicans, saying they catered to the very rich and fostered corruption.

The first House vote of the year, she said, will be on new rules that will transform "the most corrupt and closed Congress in history into the most honest and open."

She gave no details and did not refer to the current debate among Democrats over the ethics proposals. Pelosi has endorsed new restrictions on lobbyists and some disclosure requirements for lawmakers sponsoring "earmarks," or local projects tucked into larger spending bills. Other Democrats have proposed going further by banning earmarks and transferring ethics enforcement from congressional committees to an independent agency.

Nearly 1,000 supporters had hors d'oeuvres and drinks and applauded Pelosi and other Democrats at the annual campaign-funded event in the Fairmont Hotel's Gold Room. Pelosi's staff said it was about twice the size of past gatherings.

Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, who will become chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee, told the crowd that Washington pundits who had relegated Democrats to permanent minority status hadn't reckoned on Pelosi, "a political disruptor."

Pelosi later said she welcomed "an opportunity to disrupt, an opportunity to make a difference." She noted she would become not only the first female speaker, but also the first from California.

She reviewed her plans for the first 100 hours: raising the minimum wage, cutting student loan interest rates in half, requiring Medicare to negotiate lower prices with prescription-drug makers, rolling back tax breaks for oil companies and passing legislation to promote stem cell research.

Also high on her agenda, Pelosi said, are "very aggressive measures to stop global warming" and a labor-backed "card check" proposal to require employers to negotiate with any union that signs up a majority of a company's employees.

Pelosi and Mayor Gavin Newsom, who also spoke, had ripostes for Republicans who warned during the campaign that electing a Democratic majority would foist "San Francisco values" on the nation.

"While we are diverse, we speak with one voice when it comes to fairness and giving people hope in the city of St. Francis," Pelosi said.

Newsom lauded "a city of dreamers, a city of doers ... a city where we unite around our common humanity. ...Those are the values of San Francisco."