U.S. House Speaker-elect sees helping middle class as top priority

U.S. House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi said Monday relieving burdens of middle-class Americans will be on the top of her agenda when fellow Democrats take over the House in January.

Pelosi made the remarks after meeting with her deputy-to-be and next House majority leader Steny Hoyer, saying they have agreed to move forward that agenda in a bipartisan way.

Once the new Congress convenes in January, she said she and fellow Democrats will introduce bills that are aimed to improve lives of working-class and middle-class people, which involves raising the level of minimum wage, cutting interest rates for student loans and allowing the Medicare program to negotiate lower drug prices.

Other items on the agenda are lobbying reform, implementing the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission and rolling back subsidies to the oil industry.

Following her party's victory in the Nov. 7 midterm elections, Pelosi was officially elected by her fellow Democrats in the House as speaker-designate last Thursday.

She is set to become the first female House speaker in the U.S. history, a position second in line of succession to the presidency, behind only the vice president.

Source: Xinhua