[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 125 (Friday, September 29, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1932]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ANN RICHARDS' PASSING

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ROSA L. DeLAURO

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 29, 2006

  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, earlier this monthy, our country lost one 
of its most vibrant political forces--a woman of remarkable intellect, 
principle and--to be sure--wit. Regardless of who you were or whether 
you agreed with her politics, you could not help but admire and respect 
Ann Richards for who she was and what she accomplished. She was one of 
a kind--and she was my friend.
  The twelfth woman ever elected Governor in the United States and the 
first elected in Texas in her own right, Ann Richards was a 
trailblazer--a pioneer who never wasted a minute of her 73 years. Like 
few others, she was a force of nature--always pushing forward.
  And whether she was raising her four children, teaching high school 
and college, working to elect women to the Texas Legislature when there 
were hardly any, or training women candidates and campaign managers, 
Ann Richards made opportunity real for women--something I learned for 
myself, when she came to Connecticut to help me highlight the issues 
important to the women in my community. There I saw firsthand how she 
understood that the political process was a powerful force for change.
  But you did not have to be a woman or a student to admire and learn 
from Ann Richards. The secret to her success as simple as it was 
elemental. Indeed, as much as Ann Richards's wit made people laugh, 
more importantly, she made people think. She challenged our society and 
believed we could always make it better, fairer, more just.
  And Mr. Speaker, for someone so relentlessly quotable, no one will 
ever say that Ann Richards could not also walk the walk. During her 
campaign for Governor, Ann said she would be the face of ``New Texas'' 
and believed that government ought to reflect the diversity of its 
citizens. When she left office 4 years later, 46 percent of her 
appointees had been women, 15 percent were African-American, and one-
fifth were Hispanic. And most importantly, her successors have since 
followed her example. ``New Texas'' is now the standard.
  Ann Richards blazed a path taken now by women in all corners of 
society--in the well of the United States Congress and in Governor's 
mansions in States like Delaware and Michigan. In corporate boardrooms 
and in homes all across America. And most of all, at Planned 
Parenthood, where her daughter Cecile not only carries on her mother's 
irrepressible passion for women's advancement--she builds on its very 
foundation. I cannot think of a legacy more fitting than that.
  And so, Mr. Speaker, today we thank Ann Richards--for her fight, her 
tenacity and her special, unwavering sense of purpose.
  We should all make such a mark so extraordinary.

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