[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 22 (Wednesday, February 26, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E319]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                AMERICANS FOR DEMOCRATIC ACTION TRIBUTE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. PATSY T. MINK

                               of hawaii

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 26, 1997

  Mrs. MINK of Hawaii. Mr. Speaker, for 50 years the Americans for 
Democratic Action have served this Nation as the liberal conscience 
covering all issues that affect and confront our lives. While there are 
numerous liberal single issue organizations that have carved out 
extraordinary roles in developing American political thought, none have 
the scope and history as does the Americans for Democratic Action 
[ADA].
  When I came to Congress first in 1965, with the war in Vietnam just 
beginning to awaken the protests of our youth all across our college 
campuses, it was the ADA that helped me to put the focus of criticism 
on process and peace. From 1965 to 1975 until this war ended 
unceremoniously, the ADA assiduously guarded the civil liberties of our 
citizens from the emotional and fanatical tirades of those who could 
not see the painful sacrifices this country was making of its young for 
a yet undeclared war.
  The ADA was formed to serve as an independent political organization. 
That its politics is more Democratic than Republican is no accident. 
Its founders were illustrious persons like Eleanor Roosevelt who after 
her husband's death rose to the ranks of First Lady of the World; 
Walter Reuther, who created a labor movement involved in social and 
economic policies well outside ordinary labor politics, and scholars 
like John Kenneth Galbraith, whose views helped to steer this Nation to 
economic growth and greater prosperity for the struggling middle class. 
Vice President Hubert Humphrey was also a founder of ADA.
  ADA for 50 years has attracted into its ranks the great voices of 
political activism and its policies have become the bellwether of 
liberalism for all of America.
  ADA was there at the beginning of the civil rights movement. In 1948, 
it fought valiantly for a strong civil rights plank in the platform of 
the Democratic Party.
  ADA was the place where the policy of full employment became a 
national goal later called the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment Act, 
still guided by Leon Shull.
  Empowering workers to see that politics was a way toward improvement 
of working conditions, wages, and job security gave ADA goals to 
achieve by working closely with the labor movement. Many of labor's 
leaders continue to serve as ADA's national vice presidents.
  I was elected national president of ADA in 1978 and served in that 
capacity until 1981. During my tenure, ADA under the guidance of Winn 
Newman advanced pay comparability policies for women that brought the 
pay equity debate into an examination of the value of work that women 
do.
  ADA is a movement constantly reaching out to new challenges and new 
areas of leadership.
  Its current president, Jack Sheinkman, was the head of the 
Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union before he was elected 
ADA's national president. The executive director is Amy Isaacs who is 
in charge of its day to day operations. ADA is a national membership 
organization, but unlike others, it services 22 local chapters all 
across the country, with approximately 65,000 members.
  Among our present and former Members of Congress who served ADA as 
national president: Hubert Humphrey, Don Edwards, Al Lowenstein, Don 
Fraser, George McGovern, Robert Drinan, Barney Frank, Ted Weiss, 
Charles Rangel, Paul Wellstone, and John Lewis. I was its first and 
only woman president.
  Happy 50th birthday Americans for Democratic Action. And may you have 
many more.

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