[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 76 (Thursday, June 3, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H3741-H3743]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      CATHERINE MAY BEDELL, POLITICAL PIONEER AND MENTOR TO WOMEN

  Ms. DUNN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a great lady of 
the Republican Party in the State of Washington. We are so sorry to 
learn that Catherine May Bedell, our former Member of Congress from the 
4th congressional district in Washington State, passed away last 
Friday.
  We lost Catherine May Bedell last Friday. She was a rare lady, Mr. 
Speaker; and a couple of us wanted to stand up today on the floor and 
pay tribute to her and let her friends who continue to serve in the 
House of Representatives and those in politics in Washington State and 
all over the country know of her passing.
  Catherine was born in Yakima. She was one of the few women in 
national politics at that time to win office on her own, because many 
people were appointed to replace their husbands or their fathers. 
Catherine was a strong Member of Congress, a strong woman, very 
articulate. She had a great time in life, and she stood up for those 
enterprises that she believed in.
  Her political career began in 1952 in Washington State's legislature, 
and she served as a representative until she was appointed by the party 
to run against the current Congressman, Otis Halbert, who had decided 
to retire. She was elected to the Congress in 1958.
  Catherine May Bedell was a wonderful spirit, Mr. Speaker. She was 
somebody who used her talents, being able to speak well, being able to 
write well, A PR agent, for example, who was hired on by NBC Radio to 
put together the Betty Crocker specials sponsored by General Mills.
  She returned to Yakima before she died. Catherine May Bedell was a 
great fighter for interests she believed in. She was a member of the 
Atomic Energy Committee, the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, and she 
fought for the Hanford Nuclear Reserve against people who were trying 
to close it down. She also was a Member of the House Agriculture 
Committee, and she

[[Page H3742]]

fought for dams to protect those farmers and bargers who operated there 
in the 4th Congressional District.

                              {time}  1315

  The last time I talked to Catherine May Bedell was soon after she 
left a position on the United States International Trade Commission. 
She and I met at an event in San Diego, California, where Catherine 
continued to do what she always did when she saw a woman who had 
interests in politics. She urged me to run. That was a long time, 11 
years before I actually ran for Congress, Mr. Speaker, but when the 
time came I remembered Catherine May Bedell's words and her 
encouragement and actually took her up on that bet and let her know 
through letters and cards how I was doing in the Congress.
  So that was my best memory of her, because it has so much to do with 
the work that I have done here in the United States Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, we have some folks who have followed her career and 
would like to say a few words.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. DICKS).
  (Mr. DICKS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks, and include extraneous material.)
  Mr. DICKS. Mr. Speaker, Catherine May Bedell was an outstanding 
member of the House of Representatives. She came from our great State 
of Washington, from Yakima. She was a graduate of the Yakima Valley 
Junior College and the University of Washington. She was a noted 
writer, teacher, journalist and radio broadcaster. In fact, she had the 
first Betty Crocker radio show in the country.
  She was elected, as mentioned, to the legislature in 1952, served to 
1958, and then won her first campaign for Congress in the 86th 
Congress. She served very well on the House Committee on Agriculture, 
where she was a strong voice for farming, irrigation, hydroelectric 
power generation across the State's expansive 4th Congressional 
District.
  She served very capably in the House from 1959 through 1970; and, 
after that, President Nixon appointed her to the U.S. International 
Trade Commission on which she served for 10 years.
  She was a great role model. In fact, she was the first woman elected 
to the House from the State of Washington.
  Many of us in this Chamber today know her son, Jim, who served as the 
Executive Vice President of the National Association of Broadcasters 
and today is the President and CEO of the Air Transport Association.
  Congresswoman Catherine May Bedell was also survived by a daughter, 
Melinda May Mazzetti, of San Francisco. I had the honor, when serving 
on Senator Magnuson's staff as an assistant, to work with her. She was 
a delight. She was a hard worker. She was a credit to this institution.
  We are very sad to learn of her passing. I had a chance to talk to 
Jim, her son, today; and, of course, the family was very pleased to 
hear that she would be remembered today on the floor of the House of 
Representatives.

            [From the Yakima-Herald-Republic, Jun. 2, 2004]

       Catherine May, Political Pioneer and Mentor to Women, Dies

                          (By Leah Beth Ward)

       Yakima native Catherine Dean May, the first woman elected 
     to Congress from Washington, died of natural causes Friday in 
     Rancho Mirage, Calif. She was 90.
       May was first elected to the 4th Congressional District in 
     1958 when Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, whom she greatly 
     admired, was president.
       Scholars have noted that she was one of the few women in 
     national politics at the time to win office on her own. Many 
     others were appointed to replace their husbands.
       ``She was very much a pioneer,'' her son, James C. May, 
     said Tuesday in a telephone interview.
       Described as strong and articulate by those who knew her, 
     May inspired and personally encouraged other women to run for 
     political office.
       ``When I first saw her, she was standing in a group of men 
     and they were listening to her. She could hold her own,'' 
     said Rep. Mary Skinner, R-Yakima, recalling a Republican 
     Party luncheon more than 30 years ago. ``I was a great 
     admirer.''
       May's political career began in 1952 in the state 
     Legislature, where she served as a representative until the 
     Republican Party nominated her to run for the congressional 
     seat of Otis Halbert, who was retiring. In what was called an 
     upset, she beat Democrat Frank LeRoux of Walla Walla.
       May was re-elected to Congress six times until 1970, when 
     she lost to Democrat Mike McCormack, a research scientist at 
     Hanford. That year she remarried, taking Donald W. Bedell's 
     last name.
       Born Catherine Dean Barnes on May 18, 1914, she graduated 
     from Yakima High School in 1932 and attended Yakima Valley 
     Junior College through 1934 before earning a bachelor of 
     science degree in 1936 from the University of Washington. 
     May's parents ran a Yakima clothing store.
       In 1937 she received a teaching certificate and taught 
     English for three years at Chehalis High School. She 
     interrupted that stint in 1939 to study speech at the 
     University of Southern California, according to her 
     congressional biography.
       Her son remembered his mother as very much the English 
     teacher, correcting grammar whenever necessary.
       ``In my household you grew up watching your language,'' 
     James May said.
       After teaching, May parlayed her language skills into radio 
     broadcasting, first with station KMO in Tacoma, and later 
     stations KOMO and KJR in Seattle. From 1942 to 1944, she 
     worked in advertising for the Strange and Prosser Advertising 
     Agency and the Federal Insurance Co., both of Seattle.
       NBC radio of New York City hired her between 1944 and 1946 
     to produce the first Betty Crocker show, sponsored by General 
     Mills.
       May returned to Yakima and continued in radio journalism as 
     ``women's editor'' at KIT in Yakima from 1948 to 1957.
       According to research of her congressional record by 
     Washington State University, upon her election, May was the 
     first representative from the state in six years to win a 
     seat on the House Agriculture Committee. She held the 
     assignment throughout her tenure and used it to fight for 
     dams.
       In her last term in office, she received a second committee 
     assignment, the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, where she 
     fought an attempt to close Hanford.
       Though she never touted herself as a woman's rights 
     activist, May was a quiet champion for the cause. She 
     supported the Equal Rights Amendment and worked to include 
     the prohibition against discrimination based on sex in the 
     landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act.
       Political defeat far from ended May's career in public 
     service. President Nixon appointed her to the U.S. 
     International Trade Commission, where she served from 1971-
     81.
       In 1982, President Reagan named her special consultant to 
     the president on the 50 States Project. She was president of 
     her own firm, Bedell Associates, in Palm Desert, Calif.
       May's survivors include her son of Washington, DC, and her 
     daughter, Melinda May Mazzetti of San Francisco.
       In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Catherine 
     May Bedell Scholarship Fund at Yakima Valley Community 
     College.
                                  ____

       Six women have represented the State of Washington in the 
     U.S. House of Representatives--Rep. Jennifer Dunn (R) (1993-) 
     Rep. Maria Cantwell (D) (1993-1995); Rep. Julia Butler Hansen 
     (D) (1960-1974); Rep. Catherine Dean May (R) (1959-1971); 
     Rep. Linda Smith (R) (1995-1999) and Rep. Jolene Unsoeld (D) 
     (1989-1993).
                                  ____


               [From The Associated Press, June 2, 2004]

    Catherine May Bedell, First Washington Congresswoman, Dead at 90

       YAKIMA, Wash. (AP)--Catherine Dean May Bedell, the first 
     woman elected to Congress from Washington state and producer 
     of the first Betty Crocker radio show, is dead at age 90.
       Bedell, who was elected to six terms as a Republican in the 
     4th Congressional District under her married name at the 
     time, Catherine Dean May, before losing to Democrat Mike 
     McCormack in 1970, died of natural causes Friday in Rancho 
     Mirage, Calif., relatives said.
       A Yakima native, Bedell was one of the few women to win 
     election to national office in that period without first 
     being appointed to replace their husbands, and many said she 
     inspired and encouraged other women in politics.
       State Rep. Mary Skinner, R-Yakima, said she met Bedell at a 
     Republican Party luncheon more than 30 years ago.
       ``When I first saw her, she was standing in a group of men 
     and they were listening to her. She could hold her own,'' 
     Skinner said. ``I was a great admirer.''
       Born Catherine Deane Barnes, she earned a bachelor of 
     science degree at the University of Washington, obtained a 
     teaching certificate and taught high school English for three 
     years in Chehalis with a brief but pivotal interruption to 
     study speech at the University of Southern California.
       She entered broadcasting in 1940 at KMO Radio in Tacoma, 
     then went to KOMO and KJR in Seattle, spent a couple of years 
     in advertising and was hired by NBC in new York in 1944 as 
     writer and assistant commentator.
       After working on the first Betty Crocker show, she returned 
     to Yakima, was women's editor at KIT Radio from 1948 through 
     1957 and served in the state House from 1952 to 1958, when 
     she was nominated for Congress to replace Otis Halbert, who 
     was retiring.
       An Admirer of then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower, she won 
     election in an upset over Democrat Frank LeRoux of Walla 
     Walla in a district that, at the time, covered a vast swath 
     of central Washington from Oregon to British Columbia.

[[Page H3743]]

       As the first representative from the state in decades to 
     serve on the House Agriculture Committee, she promoted dams 
     for irrigation and electricity production in her rural 
     district. In her last term she was also named to the Joint 
     Committee on Atomic Energy.
       She never promoted herself as woman's rights activist but 
     supported the Equal Rights Amendment and worked to include 
     prohibition against discrimination based on gender in the 
     1964 Civil Rights Act.
       She lost the seat to McCormack, a scientist at the Hanford 
     nuclear reservation, in 1970, the same year she remarried and 
     took the last name of her second husband, Donald W. Bedell.
       Bedell served on the International Trade Commission in 
     1971-81, and President Ronald Reagan named her as a special 
     consultant to the president on the 50 States Project in 1982.
       At her death she was president of Bedell Associates in Palm 
     Desert, Calif.
       Survivors include a son, James C. May, of Washington, D.C. 
     and daughter, Melinda May Mazzetti, of San Francisco.

  Ms. DUNN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. 
Hastings), of the Fourth Congressional District of Washington State.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for 
yielding. I see one of my predecessors from the Fourth District is 
waiting to speak, too.
  I want to congratulate our Members for being here to honor Catherine 
May Bedell. I regret that I did not know her. She represented the 
Fourth Congressional District. I did not know her. I knew of her. I did 
cast ballots for her before I got actively involved in politics. But 
she was certainly somebody that had leadership qualities.
  I recall that in one of the articles announcing that she had passed 
away, one of my friends serves in the State legislature, Mary Skinner 
said that she first remembers when she met Catherine May, and she was 
impressed by the presence that she had in a group of people talking 
about policy. I thought that was a very high compliment.
  I, too, spoke with Jim May. He kind of gave me a heads-up on Tuesday, 
and I did not touch bases with him until Wednesday when we had a 
conversation. Catherine May Bedell just turned 90 last month. My mother 
also just turned 90 last month. He told me that she passed away very 
quietly in her sleep; and she had a very, very good life. Obviously, 
when you lose somebody as close as your mother, it is a shock to you, 
but he said she lived a very, very good life.
  I am certainly pleased to be here on the floor with my colleagues to 
honor one of my predecessors who represented my district in Washington 
State.
  Ms. DUNN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. 
Inslee) from the First Congressional District of Washington.
  Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to join my colleagues in 
honoring Catherine May Bedell.
  In my role as a previous representative of the Fourth Congressional 
District, before I was freed by the voters for other duties, as we say, 
and the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Hastings) took that noble 
office, I did not have the honor of knowing her personally, but I knew 
her by her legacy. That I think is maybe the nicest, most meaningful 
legacy a Member of Congress could have. That is when I was door-belling 
and going to thousands of homes when I was running in Yakima for the 
seat that she previously held. I had a lot of people, when her name 
came up, said, I remember her. She was really a nice lady. I really 
liked her. I heard that a lot.
  When you think about a legacy that any of us might have here, I think 
that is the highest one we could have, that our names may come up when 
other people are door-belling. She was well loved in Yakima Valley, and 
we are thinking of her family today. It is an honor to represent her 
district as well.
  Ms. DUNN. Mr. Speaker, I want to say, in closing, we appreciate the 
time allotted to us. When a door closes, often another window opens. 
And to all of us, I want to say that 5 weeks ago a member of my 
campaign staff gave birth to a little baby girl whose name is Catherine 
May.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________