Nancy Pelosi to speak at HESTEC

EDINBURG — U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to speak at next month’s Hispanic Engineering, Science & Technology conference at the University of Texas-Pan American, U.S. Rep. Rubén Hinojosa announced Wednesday.

The visit would take place sometime during the HESTEC conference, slated for Sept. 24-29, according to Hinojosa’s office.

The Mercedes Democrat could not release the details of Pelosi’s trip because she had not given written confirmation, according to Hinojosa’s district director, Salomon Torres. Torres expects to receive written confirmation by this weekend.

Pelosi’s office could not confirm her travel plans for safety reasons, one of her aides said.

Pelosi, a California Democrat, is the highest elected female politician in U.S. history. She is second in line to the presidency, behind Vice President Dick Cheney.

The HESTEC conference encourages students to pursue higher education and careers in science. The event is run by UTPA in conjunction with Hinojosa’s office.

Hinojosa mentioned Pelosi’s trip in passing during his speech at a work-force conference Wednesday at the McAllen Convention Center.

Pelosi’s visit to the Rio Grande Valley would be the latest of several by prominent national politicians within the past year.

President Bush visited Mission’s Anzalduas County Park in August last year, and presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., stopped in McAllen in March for a fund-raising dinner.

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Julie Shapiro covers general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach her at (956) 683-4424.