Nancy Pelosi Tears Up Discussing Tone of Health Care Debate in America

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi teared up at a Capitol Hill press conference Thursday when she was asked about the increasingly vitriolic tone of the debate over health care.

"We are a free country and this balance between safety and freedom is is one that we have to carefully balance," she said.

Pelosi then slowed her words as she reflected on her own experiences in San Francisco politics, when Mayor George Moscone and city supervisor Harvey Milk were assassinated in 1978.


"I have concerns about some of the language being used because I saw this myself in the late 70s in San Francisco," Pelosi said. "This kind of rhetoric was...was ...very frightening and it created a climate in which we, violence took place and...I wish that we would all, again, curb our enthusiasm in some of the statements that are made, understanding that the ears it is falling on are not as balanced as the person making the statement might assume."

Pelosi continued, "Our country is great because people can say what they think and they believe. But I also think they have to take responsibility for any incitement that they may cause."

Video below.