[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 132 (Tuesday, September 20, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 20, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
        WILKES-BARRE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS CELEBRATES 50TH YEAR

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                         HON. PAUL E. KANJORSKI

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 20, 1994

  Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to mark the important 
occasion of the 50th anniversary of the League of Women Voters of the 
Wilkes-Barre area. This milestone will be celebrate at a commemorative 
dinner on September 22, 1994.
  The 38 women who met in a local restaurant on January 15, 1944 to 
organize the league could have had no way of knowing that their efforts 
would be lauded 50 years later. Their purpose then was to help women 
take an intelligent interest in government and promote the importance 
of the vote. In their first year, these original members organized a 
registration and get-out-the-vote campaign using the theme, ``Don't 
Squawk, Vote!''
  The league is also instrumental in organizing and moderating 
political debates, thereby giving the public an opportunity to hear 
various candidates air their views. Back in 1944, in preparing to hear 
two opposing candidates' platforms, one league member's remarks were 
entered into the minutes--and they probably still ring true today--``If 
more than two candidates were to be heard at any single meeting of a 
business character, the meeting might well last far into the night. And 
as has been suggested, some of the candidates are abysmally dull and 
would undoubtedly maunder on for hours.'' Even in 1944, these dedicated 
women had the foresight, and understood the importance of discussing 
only key issues and setting time limits.
  In addition to publishing nonpartisan voters guides, a tradition that 
is still carried out today, voter booths were set up on Public Square 
before elections to hand out candidate biographies, position papers and 
lists of polling places. The study, debate, and advocacy of issues 
defined the league's mission from the start. In the 1940's, the issues 
included affordable housing, unemployment compensation, school board 
structure, postwar economic recovery, the environment, and the United 
Nations. In the 1950's, the league dealt with local government reform 
school funding, and municipal consolidation. No matter what the issues 
of the day, the league has been a nonpartisan voice for citizens and a 
voice for change in the political process.
  Under its early leadership, Mrs. Bayard Hand, Mrs. Richard Goff, Mrs. 
George Bell, Mrs. Norman Patton, and Mrs. Charles Shafer, the 
membership of the Wilkes-Barre Chapter grew to 364 by 1953.
  In the 1970's the winds of change brought the admittance of men into 
the league's membership. Today, nearly 15 percent of the chapter's 
membership are male. They also target our local youth as the next 
generation of league members.
  Mr. Speaker, for 50 years the League of Women Voters has held true to 
its ideals of active citizen participation in an open political 
process. The early organizers of the Wilkes-Barre League set the 
standard of excellence in non-partisan participation which has become a 
tradition of the League of Women Voters. I join with the community in 
expressing my pride and appreciation for both the league's early 
pioneers who began the league's message, and for the members who carry 
on the message today.

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