[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 50 (Tuesday, April 13, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E617]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH HONOREES

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MARTIN OLAV SABO

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 13, 1999

  Mr. SABO. Mr. Speaker, as Women's History Month draws to a close 
today, I rise to salute a woman from my Congressional District in 
Minnesota whose long commitment to community service has proven her to 
be a true leader.
  Betty Benjamin has been a lifelong proponent of women's reproductive 
rights, playing an active role in the pro-choice movement for 31 years. 
A former teacher and social worker, Benjamin helped organize the 
Abortion Rights Council of Minnesota in 1966, in light of her concern 
that existing law prohibited a woman's right to choose and caused many 
women with unwanted pregnancies to seek illegal, dangerous abortions. 
Through her leadership in the ARC--today known as the Minnesota 
National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL)--Benjamin and the other 
unpaid volunteers worked countless hours in their effort to ensure that 
women have legal access to abortion. Their educating, lobbying, and 
fundraising efforts were rewarded in 1973 when the U.S. Supreme Court 
ruled in Roe v. Wade to legalize abortion.
  But Benjamin's work did not end there. She has remained active in the 
pro-choice movement because of her concerns that the Roe v. Wade 
decision could be eroded. She led the Abortion Rights Council in 
Minnesota as president for 14 years, and has served as a board member 
of the National Abortion Rights Action League since 1967. She 
represents Minnesota NARAL as incoming chairperson of the Women 
Candidate Development Coalition, which recruits women across the state 
to serve in public office. She currently is a member of the National 
Organization for Women (NOW), at both the state and national levels. 
Recently, Minnesota NARAL established the Betty Benjamin Leadership 
Development Fund to help identify, educate and train interested 
Minnesota college students for future leadership roles.
  Benjamin's tireless efforts and many accomplishments on behalf of 
women's right to choose may best be explained in her own words: ``My 
concern is that the full range of safe reproductive choices will be 
accessible to all our daughters and granddaughters. To make that a 
reality there is much each person can do.'' Betty Benjamin's life is a 
testament to her words.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to honor Betty Benjamin in celebration of 
Women's History Month. I thank her for her contributions to both the 
state of Minnesota and to our country, and I wish her continued 
successes in the future.

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