[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 116 (Monday, September 18, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9677-S9678]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        REMEMBERING ANN RICHARDS

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I rise today to honor Governor Ann Richards, 
who died last week at the age of 73.
  Humor is one of the chief democratic virtues. A good joke can wipe 
out differences of rank, bring down the self-exalted, and join audience 
and speaker in a common bond. A sense of humor is an especially 
priceless quality in a political leader because it exposes the 
pretensions that always seem to accumulate around the state, and it 
reminds us that we are still a people's government.
  Governor Richards is being remembered this week as an innovative 
leader, a pioneer for women, and, I might add, one tough cookie. But we 
should also take a moment, on the occasion of her sad death, to 
remember something else we have lost--her wonderful sense of humor. And 
if we could take a positive thing from her passing, it might be that we 
have had the opportunity to remind ourselves of all the many times she 
made us laugh. We all remember Ann's remark that ``Ginger Rogers did 
everything Fred Astaire did--she just did it backwards and in high 
heels.'' And we all treasured her earthiness--for instance, when she 
allowed that she regretted her 1994 election defeat ``Oh, for about 
five seconds.''
  Of course, there have always been people who have found a sense of 
humor threatening, especially when it is in their idea of the wrong 
hands. As Texas columnist Molly Ivins said of the Governor, ``I mean, 
with Ann it was a real problem. . . . They just did not know what to 
make of her. . . . If they realize that a woman can be funny, I think 
men are afraid that tone can be used against them. And they don't like 
it.''
  The truth is that Ann Richards--the first woman to be elected 
Governor of Texas in her own right--had to fight against bias her whole 
political life. At every stage, she was more than a match. In the early 
1960s, Ann was forced to help found the North Texas Democratic Women 
``basically to allow us to have something substantive to do.'' And 
asked at the end of her long career why she had entered politics, Ann 
replied: ``I did not want my tombstone to read, `She kept a really 
clean house.''' Instead of accepting others' ideas of what was best for 
her, Governor Richards opened her own path--and everyone who follows 
her, in Texas and in every other State, owes her thanks.
  But there is another danger to humor. As she wrote in her 1989 
autobiography, ``I was always worried because there is a general 
feeling that if you're funny you're not serious.'' That pressure is 
particularly acute for a politician. But Ann taught us all that 
laughter draws on great honesty and insight--that depth and humor can 
exist in the same spirit. ``Humor is a powerful tool,'' she continued. 
``It clears the air. Once you laugh, your mind is opened and then you 
are able to hear the other things that are being said to you.''
  Governor Richards showed her depth in 4 years of successful policies 
in Texas. She presided over the dramatic growth of her State's economy, 
and her audits on the State bureaucracy saved taxpayers $6 billion. She 
reformed Texas's prison system, pursued a truly egalitarian policy for 
education funding, and saw a dramatic increase in student achievement 
scores on her watch. And through all of her success, Governor Richards 
never forgot the prejudice she had faced--and so she worked tirelessly 
to include members of marginalized groups in the people's work. Ann 
Richards appointed more women and minorities than any of her 
predecessors. She was responsible for the first crime victim on the 
State Criminal Justice Board, the first disabled member of the human 
services board, the first teacher to chair the State board of 
education, the first Black regent at the University of Texas, and the 
first Black and female officers in the elite Texas Rangers.
  And while many ex-politicians have a habit of fading into the sunset, 
Ann remained a dynamo. She worked in international law, taught at Texas 
and Brandeis, continued to write, and campaigned for members of her 
party across the country, right to the end--in fact, I am sure many of 
us in this Chamber owe Ann thanks for her help on the stump. What Ann 
accomplished after leaving the Governor's mansion could have been a 
full career for someone less ambitious or full of life. And her 2004 
book had an exceedingly apt title--``I'm Not Slowing Down,'' a phrase 
that embodied the energy and Texas doggedness we loved in her.
  It took cancer to stop Ann Richards. And though she has gone, we will 
remember her as one of the great political characters of the 20th 
century. We will miss her boldness and her silver tongue. But we will 
remember what she taught us over a five-decade life in politics: Jokes 
don't just make us laugh. They force us to see more clearly and 
sympathize more fully; and they bring us a little closer to the state 
of equality that is the whole reason our Nation is.
  Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to former 
Governor of Texas Ann Richards. She was a role model, an inspiration, 
and an abiding friend to me and to my husband. On Wednesday, she passed 
away in her home, surrounded by loved ones. I will truly miss her warm 
friendship, her guidance, and her inimitable sense of humor.
  Ann Richards blazed a trail for women everywhere, and she did so 
without ever losing her spirit, grace, optimism, charm, and sense that 
we can all build a better world.
  She was wonderful about giving guidance. She always made sure to take 
the time to give advice to new women candidates. When I was considering 
a run for the Senate, she told me that it would be hard, it would be 
tough, but if you want to make a difference, then you need to put 
yourself out there. And she was right.
  She was born in 1933 in Lakeview, TX, to Ona and Cecil Willis. The 
family

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moved into Waco so that she could attend Waco High School. She taught 
public school at Fulmore Junior High School in Austin, and she often 
said it was the hardest job she ever held. In 1982 she was elected 
State treasurer in Texas, making her the first woman elected statewide 
in almost 50 years. And she won an uphill battle to become the first 
woman in Texas history to win the race for Governor in her own right.
  She often spoke about being motivated to enter politics in order to 
help others, particularly the women and minorities who traditionally 
had been shut out of positions of power. She once said, ``I did not 
want my tombstone to read, `She kept a really clean house.' I think I'd 
like them to remember me by saying, `She opened government to 
everyone.'''
  As Governor, she made it a priority to open positions of power to 
women and minorities and to advocate for what she called the ``New 
Texas,'' a place where her daughters would never feel that they were 
held back because of their gender. Under her leadership, Texas student 
achievement scores rose and dropout rates fell. As Governor, she grew 
the economy, created an ethics commission, pursued insurance reform, 
established rehabilitation programs for prison inmates, and fought 
crime. And she even found the time to earn a motorcycle driver's 
license on the occasion of her 60th birthday.
  Even after she left office, she never stopped working on new ways to 
encourage women to get involved. One of her last projects, the creation 
of the Ann Richards School for Young Woman Leaders, is slated to open 
in Austin in 2007. It will be a tribute to her legacy to see the 
remarkable new generation of leaders the school will nurture.
  Today, her loving children Cecile, Daniel, Clark and Ellen, and her 
eight grandchildren, are testament in themselves to Ann's generosity of 
spirit and enduring influence.
  Ann Richards had an ability to draw people to her with her warmth and 
good humor, and her sharp wit and homespun wisdom was legendary. She 
was never afraid to stick up for what she believed in. She will truly 
be missed.

                          ____________________