Rep. Jackie Speier.Photo: Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
“Forty-three years ago this week, I was lying on an airstrip in the jungles of Guyana with five bullet holes in my body,” Speier, 71, said in aYouTube video Tuesday announcing her decision. “I vowed that if I survived, I would dedicate my life to public service. I lived and I served.”
Ryan went to investigate reports of abuse in Jonestown, where some of his San Francisco-area constituents were among approximately 1,000 church members living there.
Speier, who was 28 at the time, was the congressman’s staffer.
Nine others, including Speier, were wounded.
Speier ran for Ryan’s seat on Congress a year later but lost that election. After serving six years on the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors and 18 years in the California State Legislature, she was elected to Congress in 2008, claiming the seat Ryan once held,the Associated Press reports.
Rep. Leo J. Ryan.Charles Gorry/AP/Shutterstock
“It has been a remarkable journey that has surpassed my wildest dreams,” Speier said in her retirement announcement this week. “It’s time for me to come home, time for me to be more than a weekend wife, mother and friend. It’s been an extraordinary privilege and honor to represent the people of San Mateo County and San Francisco in almost every level of government for nearly four decades.”
1978 photo of the Guyana airstrip where Rep. Leo Ryan died.Tim Reiterman/The San Francisco Examiner via AP
“I have never forgotten that I have been given the opportunity to serve because of you,” she said. “As I leave, I want to convey my deepest appreciation to you and urge you to protect our precious democracy. It is fragile and vulnerable.”
source: people.com
