[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.
____________________