[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 77 (Wednesday, May 26, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H3683-H3684]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       WHY I BECAME A REPUBLICAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Fowler) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. FOWLER. Madam Speaker, I became a Republican because of the 
party's long-held principles. The Republican Party was founded on two 
fundamental issues: free land and abolishing slavery. Since that day, 
the party embraced the role of leader and never shied away from taking 
the challenge of taking an unpopular and difficult stance. From 
striving successfully to abolishing slavery to being the vanguard in 
the struggle for women's right to vote, the Republican Party has 
constantly forced all Americans to reevaluate the role of individuals 
and the role of the government.

                              {time}  2030

  The Republican party has always believed in individuals. We have an 
abiding faith in the idea that individuals and local communities can 
accomplish more than a distant Federal Government, a government that 
tends to become large, bloated, and wasteful, as ours has.
  As the great Republican statesman, Abraham Lincoln, said, ``The 
legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people 
whatever they need to have done but cannot do at all, or cannot so well 
do, for themselves in their separate and individual capacities. In all 
that people can individually do as well for themselves, government 
ought not to interfere.''
  There is an important role for the government. Imagine an individual 
trying to build a freeway alone. But it is a role that should be 
limited.
  Republicans believe the most effective government is closest to the 
people. After all, who knows more about educating our children, us and 
our child's teacher, or a distant bureaucracy across the country in 
Washington, D.C.?
  I chose the Republican party because I believe that each American 
citizen can be trusted. I believe that they know best and that they 
will make the best decision for themselves, and they will make the 
wisest choices. Whether it is how to spend their hard-earned money or 
how to spend their time, they should be in charge.
  The Republican party's economic policies of lower taxes and less 
government have reduced interest rates and sent the stock market 
soaring, yet inflation has remained stable. Thanks to these smart 
policies, every one of us is enjoying the largest sustained peacetime 
expansion ever.
  Our commonsense agenda and leadership has produced a healthy and 
strong economy. Job opportunities have increased significantly, 
unemployment is down, the budget is balanced, and because of our 
welfare reform, tens of thousands have moved from the welfare rolls to 
the payrolls.
  I have to say, while I firmly believe that all issues are women's 
issues, and I resist the popular tendency to view women as a monolithic 
group in politics or anything else, I still must emphasize the 
Republican party's accomplishments with regard to women in politics.
  I want to take Members back to 1896, when it was the Republican party 
who became the first major party to officially favor Women's Suffrage. 
That year Senator A.A. Sargent, a Republican from California, 
introduced a proposal in the Senate to give women the right to vote. It 
was defeated four times by a Democratic Senate, and it was not until 
the Republicans would gain control of Congress that it was finally 
passed in May of 1919.
  The first woman to serve in Congress was a Republican, Jeanette 
Rankin of Montana.
  In 1940, the Republican party became the first major political party 
to endorse an Equal Rights Amendment for women in its platform.
  In 1953, Republican President Eisenhower appointed the first woman 
Secretary of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, and the 
first woman ambassador to a major power.
  In 1964, Republicans were the first major American party to nominate 
a woman for president, Senator Margaret Chase Smith of Maine.
  In 1981, Republican President Reagan appointed the first woman 
Supreme Court Justice and the first woman U.S. representative to the 
United Nations.
  In 1983, Republican President Reagan had three women serving 
concurrently in his cabinet, the first time in the history of this 
country.
  Currently, Republican women chair a record seven House subcommittees 
and three Senate subcommittees. I serve as a deputy majority whip, 
along with two other women, and as a newly elected Vice Chairman of the 
Republican conference, I am now the highest ranking woman in the House 
elected leadership. The gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Deborah Pryce) 
serves as Conference Secretary.

[[Page H3684]]

  In the 106th Congress, Democrats have no woman in their elected 
leadership.
  We are working hard to ensure that each American has a safe, secure, 
and positive future.

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