[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 89 (Tuesday, June 17, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1284-E1285]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   TRIBUTE IN HONOR OF WOMEN'S RIGHTS PIONEER, REP. MARTHA CRIFFITHS

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 17, 2003

  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, tonight we honor 
former Congresswoman Martha Griffiths. I appreciate this opportunity to 
share with my colleagues my admiration for one of Michigan's and this 
nation's most distinguished leaders.
  Martha Griffiths is the woman most responsible for the inclusion of 
women in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Act was a landmark piece of 
legislation that outlawed discrimination on the basis of sex, race, 
ethnicity, or religion in the election process, employment, public 
accommodations, or in Federally-assisted

[[Page E1285]]

programs. It opened the doors of opportunity to women throughout the 
United States and spurred women across the world to fight for similar 
laws in their home countries.
  She was the first woman appointed to the Detroit Recorder's Court, 
the first woman sent to Congress from her district, the first woman 
seated on the House Ways and Means Committee in 1954 and the first 
woman chosen to serve as Michigan's Lieutenant Governor. As the first 
woman and the first African-American to ever represent the Dallas, TX 
area in Congress, I have learned a great deal from her empathetic 
approach to public policy and political leadership. She never forgot 
that the bills we considered and the policies we crafted affected real 
people with real families. She always considered how a bill might 
affect our community's most disadvantaged families.
  Martha's greatest legislative victory came when she engineered the 
inclusion of a ban on sex discrimination in the landmark 1964 civil 
rights legislation, which paved the way for a number of laws and 
Supreme Court rulings on issues ranging from equal pay to freedom from 
sexual harassment.
  She displayed considerable political savvy in 1970 when she employed 
a little-known parliamentary tactic to blast the ERA out of the House 
Judiciary Committee, where it had been stalled for 47 years.
  As a legislator, I admire Martha Griffiths. She earned the respect of 
her colleagues for both her intelligence and independence; they have 
described her as ``tough as alligator skin'' with ``a steel-trap 
mind.''
  Mr. Speaker, Representative Martha Griffiths has been a clear, strong 
and consistent voice for women and women's issues. I am proud to stand 
here in honor of Martha Griffiths and her legacy.

                          ____________________