[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 29 (Tuesday, February 14, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H1701]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                         LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS

  (Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island. Mr. Speaker, on this day 75 years ago, 
the League of Women Voters was formally established. The League of 
Women Voters of Rhode Island grew out of the Rhode Island Equal 
Suffrage Association and was organized on October 8, 1920. The first 
year was spent uniting all suffrage groups in Rhode Island and 
recruiting new members.
  In the league's second year, units were set up in most Rhode Island 
communities in order for women to conduct study meetings and take local 
action. Some of the issues the league got involved in at the time were 
the child labor Law, equal pay for equal work, and equalization of 
educational and economic opportunities.
  In 1945, a move was begun to make units into independent local 
leagues and with that leagues were born all over the State of Rhode 
Island, including in Providence, Newport, South Kingston, Narragansett, 
Barrington, East Providence, and Bristol.
  Mr. Speaker, in Rhode Island the league has worked along with other 
groups, and it is important that today we recognize their efforts.

                          ____________________