Having five children in six years is the best training in the world for speaker of the House," says Nancy D'Alesandro Pelosi.

That's how she honed her organizational skills, says Pelosi, 66, who made sure to attend the birth of her sixth grandchild, Paul Michael Vos, just hours after the Democrats won the House elections that would make her the first woman speaker.

"When my children were young, time was my most precious commodity," she told the AARP Bulletin. "It made me the ultimate multitasker and master of focus, routine and scheduling."

Q. Discuss your dual roles as mother/grandmother and speaker. How do you balance the two? How does being a grandmother influence your views on issues?

November was so exciting for me: Democrats had victories from coast to coast; my youngest daughter gave birth to my sixth grandchild; and my Democratic colleagues nominated me to represent them as Speaker.

I view my role in politics as an extension of my role as mother and grandmother. The reasons I came to Congress are simple: the children, the children, the children.

Being a grandmother is a constant reminder of the need to build a stronger future for the generations to come. That means protecting our precious environment, ensuring a good education and a wealth of opportunities for every American, and preventing our grandchildren from being burdened with mountains of debt.

Q. How did managing a household of five children affect your management style in Congress? Does the experience of managing your family help you make the diverse personalities and interests of House members into a cohesive family?

Having five children in six years is the best training in the world for speaker of the house. When my children were young, time was my most precious commodity. It made me the ultimate multitasker and the master of focus, routine and scheduling.

The House Democratic Caucus is blessed by the diversity of its members. Just as I do as a mother, as speaker, I intend to do a great deal of listening. But when necessary, I am not afraid to use my mother-of-five voice to ensure that I am heard.

Q. How confident are you that the Congress and the President can agree on a plan to strengthen Social Security? What ideas do you favor: Raising the ceiling on taxed income? Raising the eligibility age? Private accounts funded by payroll taxes? Trimming benefits?

The Republican privatization plan has already been rejected by the American people and will go nowhere in a Democratic Congress. It is bad policy that would drain trillions of dollars from the Social Security trust fund, increase the national debt and slash future retiree benefits by more than 40 percent.

Social Security does face problems down the road, and we need to solve them, but we have the time to do it right. Democrats want to work with Republicans in a bipartisan way to make adjustments to keep Social Security solvent after the year 2050.

Q. What steps will the House take to reduce the number of uninsured Americans and to cut the cost of health care?

Making health care more accessible and affordable is one of the greatest challenges facing our nation, but Democrats believe that the wealthiest nation in the world should also be the healthiest. We are prepared to get right to work.

In the first 100 hours of the new Congress, Democrats will lower the cost of [Medicare Part D] prescription drugs for our seniors by requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate for lower drug prices.

When the State Child Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) is reauthorized in 2007, Congress is likely to use this opportunity to reduce the number of uninsured children and their parents. We may also seek legislative solutions that encourage more small business firms to provide health insurance to their employees and their dependents and that allow individuals approaching retirement age to buy into Medicare.

Finally, there will be efforts to improve existing coverage—including the Medicare Prescription Drug benefit. In addition to allowing for price negotiation, we will look for solutions that simplify the Part D program, improve coverage by reducing the size of the doughnut hole and increase enrollment for low-income seniors and individuals with disabilities.

There are real opportunities for solutions to reach our goal of making health care more affordable. Health technology can mean better care, lower costs, less hassle and fewer mistakes. Reorienting our priorities to promote prevention can lower the vast amount of health expenditures incurred by chronic care. And by investing in research we can demonstrate which drug, device or medical procedure works best.

Q. Assuming Congress empowers the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate drug prices for the Medicare benefit, how will it ensure that he does?

The legislation that empowers the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate for lower drug prices will include language that requires the secretary to report on his activities. Congress will keep the pressure on the Administration to carry out the intent of the legislation through oversight hearings.

Q. Do you favor lifting all limits on prescription drug importations?

No, we need the ability to monitor prescription drug imports to ensure that these medications are safe.

Q. Will the House support the President's call for an entitlements commission?

The health of our nation has been endangered by the fiscal irresponsibility of President Bush, and congressional Republicans, who have burdened our future generations with mountains of debt.

House Democrats will take our nation in a new direction of fiscal responsibility, following the strict rules of no new deficit budgeting. As such, we will have to make difficult decisions by examining the entire budget. All federal departments and agencies should be able to take an audit.

I would be reluctant to support calls for an entitlements commission, especially if it did not include a hard look at the policies that caused our mounting debt.

Q. Before the November elections, voters age 50-plus rated corruption as the single most important issue. How much control do you think the speaker has over the behavior of members of Congress? How will the House meet the public concerns for stronger ethics protection?

The first order of business for the Democratic Congress will be ethics reform to ensure legislative decisions are made for the common good. Democrats will break the link between lobbyists and legislation, which will mean that we can govern for all Americans, not just the privileged few. Reform will be instrumental to passing legislation that makes prescription drugs more affordable and ends giveaways to Big Oil.

Q. How can Congress reduce energy prices and our dependence on oil?

In the first 100 hours of the new Congress, Democrats are taking the first step toward energy independence by rolling back billions of dollars of subsidies for Big Oil already making record profits, and investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency to help wean us off of foreign oil.

Elaine S. Povich is a freelance writer who covers congressional politics.

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Election 2006: The Road Ahead (November 2006)