[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 11 (Friday, January 26, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S515-S516]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE RESOLUTION 216--RELATIVE TO MINTING AND CIRCULATING $1 COINS

  Ms. SNOWE (for herself and Mr. Cohen) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
and Urban Affairs:

                              S. Res. 216

       Whereas, in 1940, Margaret Chase Smith became a Member of 
     the House of Representatives, commencing 32 years of public 
     service to the State of Maine and to the United States;
       Whereas Margaret Chase Smith was elected to the Senate in 
     1948, becoming the first woman to be elected to the Senate, 
     as well as the first woman to be elected to both the House of 
     Representatives and the Senate;
       Whereas, on June 1, 1950, Margaret Chase Smith delivered an 
     address entitled ``Declaration of Conscience'', which was a 
     defense of the basic principles of Americanism, including the 
     right to criticize, the right to hold unpopular beliefs, the 
     right to protest, and the right to independent thought;
       Whereas Margaret Chase Smith was the first woman to become 
     the ranking member of a congressional committee;
       Whereas Margaret Chase Smith was the first woman to serve 
     on the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on 
     Appropriations of the Senate;
       Whereas, in 1964, Margaret Chase Smith was the first woman 
     to have her name placed in nomination for the presidency by 
     either major political party;
       Whereas Margaret Chase Smith was the first civilian woman 
     to sail on a United States destroyer during wartime;
       Whereas Margaret Chase Smith was the first woman to break 
     the sound barrier in a United States Air Force F-100 Super 
     Sabre;
       Whereas, until 1981, Margaret Chase Smith held the all-time 
     consecutive rollcall voting record of the Senate, totalling 
     2,941 votes over 13 years;
       Whereas Margaret Chase Smith died at the age of 97, and, 
     during her lifetime, was given 95 honorary degrees and was 
     awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bush 
     in 1989;
       Whereas Margaret Chase Smith was a teacher, a telephone 
     operator, a newspaperwoman, an office manager, a secretary, a 
     wife, a Congresswoman, and a Senator;
       Whereas Margaret Chase Smith was a leader, a Nation's 
     conscience, a visionary, and a woman of endless firsts;
     
[[Page S516]]

       Whereas the achievements of Margaret Chase Smith are an 
     inspiration to millions of young girls and women, showing 
     that through the use of one's talents, abilities, and 
     energies that opportunities for women do exist and that the 
     door to elected office can be open to all women; and
       Whereas Margaret Chase Smith served with pride and 
     humility, and her epitaph aptly reads, ``She served 
     people.'': Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that if a $1 
     coin is minted to replace the $1 bill, the Secretary of the 
     Treasury should be authorized to mint and circulate $1 coins 
     bearing a likeness of Margaret Chase Smith.

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