[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 134 (Wednesday, September 25, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H11217-H11218]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    HONORING RETIRING WOMEN MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Maryland [Mrs. Morella] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to give this special order 
honoring the women Members who will be

[[Page H11218]]

retiring next year. I am saddened that so many talented women are 
planning to leave Congress, and I wanted to take this opportunity 
tonight to express our gratitude for their many contributions during 
their years of service.
  I am going to proceed in order of years of service--first, Pat 
Schroeder, the dean of the women Members of Congress. Pat was elected 
in 1972, and became the first woman to serve on the House Armed 
Services Committee. During her service on that Committee, Pat has been 
the champion of women in the military and military families. She has 
also served on the Judiciary Committee for many years, where she led 
the fight to expand civil rights protections and reproductive rights 
for women.
  For 1979 until 1995, Pat served as the co-chair, along with Senator 
Olympia Snowe, of the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues. Under 
their leadership, Congress approved a number of landmark bills, 
including the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Violence Against Women 
Act, the Civil Rights Restoration Act, the National Institutes of 
Health Revitalization Act, which made great strides in bringing equity 
to women's health research, and so many other reforms benefiting women 
and children. I have been honored to be one of the two co-chairs, along 
with my colleague and good friend, Nita Lowey, to succeed Pat and now-
Senator Olympia Snowe.
  Pat also served for many years as the chair of the former Select 
Committee on Children, Youth, and Families, and brought national 
attention to a number of issues facing children and families. She is 
currently serving as chair of the Women's Caucus Task Force on 
Children, Youth, and Families. I also had the pleasure of serving with 
her on the former Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, where she 
served as chair of the Civil Service Subcommittee, and I can also 
attest to her commitment to federally employed and retired women.

  It is hard to imagine this House and the Women's Caucus without Pat 
Schroeder. She will be greatly missed.
  Cardiss Collins is another distinguished senior woman in the House 
and the longest serving African-American woman in Congress. I have had 
the pleasure of serving with her on the Committee on Government Reform, 
and I have been impressed with her perseverance on that committee. She 
has been a strong advocate for women, families, the poor, and Federal 
workers and retirees.
  During her service in Congress, Cardiss has worked to improve the 
health of women and minorities. She was the sponsor of legislation 
extending Medicare coverage for mammography screening and sponsored 
legislation that expanded Medicaid coverage for Pap smears. Cardiss 
sponsored legislation that established a permanent Office on Minority 
Health at NIH, and is the author of several laws addressing child abuse 
prevention and child safety.
  Cardiss has been particularly active in fighting for gender equity in 
college athletics. Her advocacy of title IX led to her induction into 
the Women and Girls' Sports Hall of Fame in 1994. Cardiss' leadership 
on these issues has been instrumental, and she will be missed.
  Barbara Vucanovich has served in this body for seven terms, and is 
the first woman elected to a Federal office from Nevada and the first 
Nevadan to serve in a leadership position in the House; she was elected 
secretary of the Republican Conference earlier this year. She is the 
only Republican woman on the Appropriations Committee and she is the 
second woman in history to become an appropriations subcommittee chair.
  Barbara has made many contributions to equity in women's health 
research. As a breast cancer survivor, Barbara has brought her own 
experience to the fight against breast cancer. In her work on the 
Appropriations Committee, she has been a champion of breast cancer 
research, both at the National Institutes of Health and the Department 
of Defense. She has been a vocal advocate for regular and affordable 
mammograms and is the sponsor of legislation to provide annual 
mammograms for older women under Medicare and Medicaid. Barbara's 
efforts on behalf of women and families will be missed, and I know that 
she will continue her work for breast cancer prevention and research 
after she leaves Congress.
  Jan Meyers was first elected to the House in 1984, and is currently 
the Chair of the House Small Business Committee, the first Republican 
woman since 1954 to chair a House committee. Her expertise on small 
business issues has been invaluable, and she chairs the Women's Caucus 
Task Force on Entrepreneurship and Economic Equity. Jan has worked very 
hard to restore the home office deduction and she has focused on 
promoting tax incentives and regulatory relief for small businesses. 
She has also worked to expand access to capital for small businesses.
  Jan has been a consistent and strong supporter of the rights of 
women, particularly the reproductive rights of women here in this 
country and abroad. She has served on the International Relations 
Committee, where she has pursued her commitment to raising the status 
of women in developing countries. Last year, Jan sponsored amendments 
to both the foreign aid authorization and appropriations bills to 
protect family planning funding so that women and their families can 
take control of decisions relating to the size of their families and 
the spacing of their children. I am saddened to see Jan go, and her 
strong support of women and families will be sorely missed.

  Barbara Rose Collins was elected to Congress in 1990; she was the 
first African-American woman elected to the U.S. Congress from the 
State of Michigan. I have served with her on the Committee on 
Government Reform and Oversight, where she is the ranking member of the 
Subcommittee on Postal Service. During the 103d Congress, Barbara-Rose 
served as the Chair of the Subcommittee on Postal Operations. During 
her service in Congress, Barbara-Rose sponsored legislation to combat 
stalking and to increase breast cancer research. She also chaired the 
Congressional Caucus on Children, Youth, and Families in the 103d 
Congress. I know she will continue her work on behalf of women and 
families after she leaves this body.
  Blanche Lambert Lincoln became the first woman to represent the First 
District of Arkansas when she was elected in 1992. Blanche serves on 
the Commerce Committee, and helped form The Coalition, a group of 
conservative House Democrats who have sponsored a number of important 
legislative initiatives. The Coalition has worked with the Tuesday 
Group, a group of moderate Republicans, to which I belong, and I 
believe our groups have contributed a great deal to the compromises 
developed on a number of issues in this Congress. Blanche has also done 
a great deal to enhance rural development in her district. I 
congratulate her on the birth of her twin boys this summer, and I am 
sure that her departure from public service is only a temporary one?
  Enid Greene was elected in 1994, and was the first Republican 
freshman to be appointed to the House Rules Committee in 80 years. She 
serves on the Congressional Family Caucus, the House Small Business 
Survival Caucus, and the Executive Committee of the Republican 
Congressional Committee. Enid has been a strong advocate for lobbying 
and budget reform. She also has the distinction of being the first 
Republican Member of Congress to give birth while in office. I wish her 
well in the future.
  Mr. Speaker, the departure of these many women Members is a great 
loss for this body. I will be working with these distinguished Members 
and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to ensure that more women 
are assigned to important committee positions and that more women run 
for leadership posts in both parties. I salute these outstanding women 
members of Congress, and I look forward to continuing to work with them 
after they leave the House.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe very firmly that every time a woman is 
elevated, all women are elevated, and society is richer for it.

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