[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 15 (Thursday, February 9, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S977]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING BETTY FRIEDAN

 Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I rise today to honor the life 
and legacy of my friend, Betty Friedan. She opened the minds of 
Americans to the possibility of a new role for women in our country. 
She provided the spark that has helped make the ambitions of so many 
women come true.
  This spark helped me realize my own dreams. It allowed me to become a 
social worker, a Baltimore City councilwoman, a U.S. Congresswoman, and 
now a U.S. Senator. Betty Friedan's spark inspired women to realize our 
full potential.
  Betty Friedan was born Bettye Goldstein in Peoria, IL, in 1921. She 
graduated summa cum laude from Smith College in 1942 before accepting a 
fellowship for graduate study in psychology at the University of 
California, Berkeley. She did not finish her fellowship at Berkeley, 
however, because a male friend at the time discouraged her from doing 
so. This may have been the beginning of Betty Friedan's awareness of 
the troubled station women were expected to fill.
  In 1947, Betty Goldstein married Carl Friedan. The newlyweds moved to 
a home in suburban New York and started a family. It was during this 
time that Ms. Friedan began to consider why she and so many of the 
women she knew yearned for more choices on how to live their lives. Her 
book, the ``Feminine Mystique'', is considered one of the most 
influential works of the 20th century. In it, she examined the issues 
of limited choices and limited career prospects for American women. 
``The Feminine Mystique'' changed the face of America.
  ``The Feminine Mystique'' challenged American society to reevaluate 
the role of women in our country. The feminism that Betty Friedan 
embraced provided a spark for people like me to speak up and speak out.
  Ms. Friedan founded the National Organization for Women in 1966, 
where she served as the first president, before going on to found NARAL 
in 1969.
  Two years later, I entered my first race for public office and won a 
seat on the Baltimore City Council. I then joined Betty Friedan, Gloria 
Steinem and many other women in founding the National Women's Political 
Caucus.
  Betty Friedan paved the way for women when she wrote ``The Feminine 
Mystique'' and she devoted the rest of her life to the cause of 
equality, vaulting it to the forefront of the American conscience. Ms. 
Friedan was an unwavering advocate for equality, justice, women, and 
positive change.
  I honor Betty Friedan for her courage and her creativity--and thank 
her for all that she did for me and for women everywhere.

                          ____________________