[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 29 (Tuesday, February 14, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2639-S2640]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS

  Ms. MOSELEY-BRAUN. Mr. President, the Senator from Texas and I would 
like to take a moment in morning business to congratulate the League of 
Women Voters on their 75th anniversary.
  Mr. President, I want to take this opportunity to congratulate the 
League of Women Voters on their 75th anniversary. The League is a 
quintessentially American institution--one that has served this country 
very well.
  The league's accomplishments are many. I am particularly proud of the 
leadership the league provided in the 72 year struggle to give women 
the right women to vote. A struggle the league finally won when the 
19th amendment became a part of the U.S. Constitution.
  In 1919, Carrie Chapman Catt founded the league in Chicago, at the 
Convention of the National American Women's Suffrage Association. While 
the fight for women's right to vote helped create the league, however, 
its mission has always been much larger. Seventy-five years ago, Carrie 
Chapman Catt said that ``Winning the vote is only an opening wedge * * 
* but to learn to use it is a bigger task.''
  That statement is as true today as it was when the League was 
founded--and the league's continuing work is perhaps the best evidence 
of that truth. The league continues to educate and inform citizens and 
get people involved in their communities; it plays a critical role in 
helping to make government work better. League members work at the 
grossroots to build citizen participation in the democratic process, 
and to promote positive solutions to community issues through education 
and advocacy.
  While the league can be justifiably proud of its many 
accomplishments, league members are not content. They know there is 
still much work that remains to be done. In 1995, there are still far 
too many Americans who are not registered to vote and who do not 
participate in the democratic process. This is the focus of the 
league's most recent ``Take Back the System'' campaign. Its goal is to 
make voter registration more accessible, to provide voters with 
information on candidates and issues, and to restore the voters' 
confidence and involvement in the system.
  The campaign has been very successful. Its crowning achievement came 
last year, when the Congress passed the National Voter Registration 
Act. Motor-voter has begun to enfranchise millions of Americans who 
have been shut out of the political process, because it makes voter 
registration more uniform and more accessible. In the past month since 
the statute has been in force, tens of thousands of new voters have 
signed up to register and participate in the political process. This is 
very positive. I am hopeful that my State of Illinois will implement it 
as well.
  The league has played a large role over the years in many other 
issues related to increasing participation in the democratic process. 
After the Brown versus Board of Education Supreme Court decision, local 
leagues began to work in the community to discuss the issue of 
desegregation. Their goal was to promote calm, reasonable discussions, 
to diffuse the tension the decision had caused, especially in the 
South. At that time, the leagues in the South were representative of 
women in the South. Local leagues held
 forums and talks on the issue. Their efforts at providing education 
and building consensus were successful. In 1956, the Atlanta league 
made headlines when it voted to strike the word white from its bylaws 
restricting membership to white women. The league has provided 
leadership on behalf of the enfranchisement and civil rights of all 
Americans.

  And the league has been very involved in preserving civil liberties 
and protecting the privileges written into the Bill of Rights. In 1947, 
President Truman initiated his Loyalty Program, whose purpose was to 
root out spies in the Federal Government. Anyone whose loyalty came 
under question was required to testify before a loyalty board, and was 
often denied due process. During this period, the league developed a 
program to educate citizens about individual rights. In 1955, League 
President Percy Maxim Lee, testified before the House Un-American 
Activities Committee against Senator McCarthy's abuses of congressional 
investigative power. She emphasized that:

       Tolerance and respect for the opinions of others is being 
     jeopardized by men and women whose instincts are worthily 
     patriotic, but whose minds are apparently unwilling to accept 
     the necessity for dissent within a democracy.

  Today, the league is working in the emerging democracies of Eastern 
Europe to promote grassroots political education. League members have 
spent time in Poland and Hungary training people about how to make 
local government more responsive, and how to increase citizen 
participation in the democratic process. They have also brought people 
to the United States to
 learn how local leagues promote positive solutions to community issues 
through education and advocacy.

  The league's programs are always unbiased and nonpartisan. They never 
support or oppose candidates for office. Although the message is 
political--the mission is to influence public policy--the goal is to 
promote an open, representative, and accountable government which has 
the confidence of the American people.
  I have been a member of the League of Women Voters' Illinois chapter 
and Chicago chapter for 15 years. As a member of the league, I invite 
all of my colleagues, as well as all the people listening at home on C-
SPAN, to involve yourselves with this grassroots organization. Across 
the Nation, there are over 100,000 members and supporters that build 
the strength of the league. Our members include people of all colors, 
creeds, and both genders, and we embrace new members with open arms. In 
the words of Susan Lederman, a former president of the league, ``Our 
energy, experience, and enthusiasm will be contagious. Our democracy 
will be stronger and better for the effort we make.''
  Mr. President, again, I wish to congratulate and commend the league 
and its members for their continued efforts in behalf of keeping our 
political and governmental institutions vital ones. Their role in 
protecting and promoting democracy in this country, frankly, has been 
unparalleled.
  I know Senator Hutchison has a statement, as well.
  I just wanted to take this moment to wish the league and its members 
a 
 [[Page S2640]] happy 75th anniversary--and there will be at least 75 
more years--and that I join them in this celebration for the tremendous 
contribution they have made to the people of this great country.
  I would like now to yield to the Senator from Texas.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.

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