[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 44 (Wednesday, March 30, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H2047]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO GERALDINE FERRARO

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Lewis) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LEWIS of California. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I very much 
appreciate my colleague yielding me this time.
  I have come to the floor to let the world know that during the time I 
have been in the Congress, from my view, one of my dearest friends has 
just passed away.
  Geraldine Ferraro and I came to the Congress together as classmates 
some three decades ago. She was more than just a friend. She managed to 
have me serve on the same committee with her that first term. From the 
Public Works Committee, it wasn't very long before she convinced a 
cross-section of us to travel with her to New York to attempt to have 
us better understand the difficulty New York has in delivering potable 
water to the people of the great City of New York.
  Geraldine was a really, really tough lady, according to some. I knew 
her as a wonderful friend. She was a woman who cared about her 
constituency and fought very hard to represent their interests; and, 
indeed, the initial role of any Member of Congress is to represent or 
try to represent their people well, and Gerry and I learned together 
what that was all about.
  So over these years as I look back on this service, the opportunity 
to serve with the woman who became the first major-party woman as a 
Vice Presidential nominee, it was always my privilege to say that Gerry 
Ferraro most importantly was my friend.
  Mr. Speaker, when Gerry Ferraro and I came to Congress in 1979, she 
was one of just 16 women serving in the House of Representatives. It 
could be frustrating for my female colleagues at that time--my friend 
Congresswoman Shirley Pettis, who I had the honor of succeeding in the 
House, told stories of being asked on several occasions if she was 
someone's secretary when she got off the member's elevator.
  But Gerry Ferraro, who had made a name for herself in the New York 
district attorney's office, soon caught the eye of Speaker Tip O'Neill. 
He named her to the Public Works and Transportation Committee and later 
to the Budget Committee. It was the beginning of a close relationship 
with Tip O'Neill, who eventually had a strong hand in putting Gerry in 
line to be named as the first female vice presidential candidate from a 
major party.
  As a fellow member of the Public Works and Transportation Committee, 
I quickly saw that Gerry would be a very strong advocate for the needs 
of her Queens district. We both understood the absolutely essential 
priority of serving our constituents, and ensuring that federal dollars 
flowed where they could provide solutions to very major challenges.
  I also found that although Gerry Ferraro had a pretty liberal 
reputation, she was ready and willing to work with members on both 
sides of the aisle to accomplish goals and serve the needs of her 
constituents and all Americans. She and I worked together often in 
recognition of the fact that 90 percent of the issues we confront here 
have nothing to do with partisan politics.
  Her willingness to fight for her district and her ability to get 
things done brought her respect and admiration from people throughout 
New York and beyond. It also led Tip O'Neill to get her appointed to 
chair the party's convention platform committee in 1984. And that in 
turn led Walter Mondale to realize the great qualities of this 
hardworking, pragmatic representative from Queens. He asked her to be 
his vice presidential nominee, and history was made.
  Mr. Speaker, today we welcome 74 women colleagues in the House and 17 
in the Senate. That is without question an improvement to be applauded, 
although my old friend Gerry Ferraro would say there is still a lot of 
work to do. I do not doubt that many of those who serve with me drew 
their inspiration to run for office from Geraldine Ferraro's pioneering 
spirit, and I will always be proud that I served as her classmate.
  So, with that, in memory of Gerry's service here in the Congress, I 
watched her grow as a human being and a public servant, and I am very 
proud of the fact that she is my friend.

                          ____________________