[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 36 (Tuesday, March 28, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E425-E426]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      TRIBUTE TO KORYNE HORBAL, DEE LONG AND VIVIAN JENKINS NELSEN

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MARTIN OLAV SABO

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 28, 2006

  Mr. SABO. Mr. Speaker, it is my honor to take part in the celebration 
of National Women's History Month by recognizing accomplished leaders 
from the State of Minnesota: Koryne Horbal, Dee Long and Vivian Jenkins 
Nelsen.
  Koryne Horbal has blazed a trail for gender equality in Minnesota and 
much beyond. Her

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many leadership posts have included Chairwoman of the Democrat-Farmer-
Labor (DFL) party, founder of the DFL Feminist Caucus, Democratic 
National Committee (DNC) Member representing Minnesota where she 
started the DNC's Women's Caucus. She also served as the U.S. 
Representative to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. 
She served in the U.N. ambassadorial role for 4 years during the Carter 
Administration. During that time, she and Gloria Steinem became good 
friends and have since worked together on many projects.
  Ms. Horbal has worked tirelessly on many issues, from women's rights 
to pay equity, from higher education to health care. She says there was 
one female Minnesota legislator when she began in politics and 17 when 
she stepped down as State Chairwoman. She led a study called Present 
but Powerless that examined the role of women in the DFL party and 
found women heavily involved but rarely in positions of power. While at 
the U.N., she was also partly responsible for the only treaty about 
women, the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination 
Against Women. The U.S. is the only industrialized country to have not 
signed it, she adds.
  Ms. Horbal, now a consultant at the Women's Resource Center at 
Augsburg College, says she first got involved advancing women's rights 
when she realized how much women were left out of the process.
  ``I became a feminist one year when the party was deciding about 
which potential candidates would run for election,'' Horbal says. 
``Women weren't included in this discussion. That's what woke me up.''
  Dee Long charted new territory when she assumed leadership positions 
historically held by men. To date, not only was Ms. Long the first 
female Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives, she remains 
its only. She was also the first woman to chair a tax committee in the 
Minnesota Legislature, and was the first woman to chair a joint Senate/
House committee.
  Over the years, Ms. Long has taken the lead on many issues. But the 
ones that remain closest to her heart include environmental and tax 
issues. She helped lead the development of Minnesota's version of the 
Superfund legislation, where the polluter pays for hazardous waste 
cleanup. She also played a leading role in developing the Minnesota 
Livable Communities Act, which focuses on smart growth development. 
Today, Ms. Long works as the Director of the Environmental Tax and 
Incentive Program at Minnesotans for an Energy Efficient Economy.
  As new women politicians entered the Legislature, she advised them to 
not simply go to committee meetings. Know the issue backwards and 
forwards, and be a leader, she'd tell them. Being knowledgeable about 
the issues before you creates respect. She also encouraged women to get 
involved in issues that weren't historically women's issues, such as 
taxes, justice, and others.
  ``If you know the issues, you'll have the respect,'' she says.
  Vivian Jenkins Nelsen also has a long list of firsts among her 
accomplishments. She is the co-founder of INTER-RACE, a diversity think 
tank located at Augsburg College. She was a Bush Leadership Fellow at 
Harvard University, and is a nationally recognized diversity 
practitioner, trainer and researcher. She was the first black woman 
graduate of Dana College in Nebraska. Further, she was the first black 
woman professor at Augsburg College, and first such administrator at 
the University of Minnesota. At the University of Minnesota, she served 
as Director of Human Relations Training as well as Director of 
Administration at the Hubert Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.
  Ms. Nelsen was always exposed to human and civil rights work growing 
up, and sees her work as an extension of her parents' efforts. ``Then, 
they were trying to bring black people up. I am trying to help make 
corporate America and American policy ready and accepting of all 
people.'' Her father, a pastor in the Lutheran Church, worked for Dr. 
Martin Luther King, Jr. and helped to organize the protest march to 
Selma. Ms. Nelsen recalls meeting with King as one of the critical 
moments that defined her path in life. She said when she met with a 
group of people with King, he focused his time and attention on her, 
because ``a kid came before everything else.'' This is a sentiment to 
she has taken to heart herself.
  Ms. Nelsen has consulted on race and gender issues for the Lutheran 
Church. She has also served as president of the Minnesota Women Equity 
Action League, which acted as the legal arm of the gender equality 
movement. Today at INTER-RACE, she works with Fortune 500 companies, 
nonprofits, and policy makers at all levels.
  ``My job is about helping people find their voice about justice,'' 
Nelsen says. ``It's about being able to look at other people's 
behavior, but also their own.''
  Mr. Speaker, these 3 women have impacted their communities and the 
larger world community with a lot of hard work, determination and grit. 
They have fought for greater gender equity and provided leadership to 
make it happen. I commend each of these women for the difference they 
have made, and continue to make every day.

                          ____________________