[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 40 (Wednesday, April 1, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H2040]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      THE WORLD LOST A GREAT LEADER ON THE PASSING OF BELLA ABZUG

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, on the last day of 
Women's History Month, the world lost a great leader in Bella Abzug. 
Tears are being shed today, not just in the United States but around 
the world, because Bella's vision was not confined to one issue or to 
one nation.
  Bella Abzug was the original feminist, an icon in the women's 
movement here and around the world. But she worked for more than a 
constituency or an interest group, or even a movement. She will be 
remembered for her hats but, more importantly, for what was under her 
hat: her brains, her voice, and her heart.
  I am deeply indebted to Bella, and I know many women who feel the 
same way. I also know that there are women today who may not feel that 
Bella's loss has any connection to them. But I want to remind them 
about the rights Bella fought for and won on their behalf, rights so 
many of us now take for granted, or forget that women ever had to fight 
for them in the first place.
  Make no mistake, there is not an American woman alive who does not 
have more rights, commands more respect, or enjoys more opportunity as 
a result of Bella's work. Because of Bella Abzug, women today stand a 
little taller, walk a little prouder, and accept nothing less than they 
deserve.
  Bella broke through barriers, shattered glass ceilings, and woke 
people up. Even in her final years, when she was confined to a 
wheelchair, no woman stood taller in the fight for women's rights than 
Bella Abzug. Bella was a pioneer in so many forums: as a legislator, 
peace activist, labor lawyer, lecturer, news commentator, civil 
liberties advocate, and the first person to be elected to Congress on a 
platform of women's rights and peace.
  She cofounded the National Women's Political Caucus, coauthored the 
Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts, cast one of the first votes 
for the Equal Rights Amendment, presided over the Women's Congress for 
a Healthy Planet, and cofounded the Women's Environment and Development 
Organization.
  But the whole of Bella's life was much more than the considerable sum 
of its parts. She was a historical figure in the women's movement, a 
cultural icon who transcended politics and policy. Bella did not just 
change the law, she changed how people thought, how they looked at the 
world, and how they lived their lives. She was a firebrand orator, a 
consummate organizer, and a living symbol of the limitless potential of 
what women can do.
  Bella was motivated by a sense of outrage about the rampant 
inequality between men and women that still exists today. She took this 
outrage to her grave.
  I know if Bella were alive today she would be telling us not to 
mourn, but to organize and to mobilize. Bella said just last year, we 
are building a women's movement, and we have been making it larger and 
larger. It is worldwide. It is where it has never been before.
  Bella's effort to connect with younger women and to create a 
worldwide movement for women's rights has ensured the women's movement 
will continue well into the next millennium. It is my responsibility, 
the responsibility of other women in Congress, and the women of this 
Nation to keep that spirit alive.
  As Bella herself said, women will change the nature of power, rather 
than power changing the nature of women.

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