[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 113 (Thursday, August 1, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6189-S6190]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        REMEMBERING LINDY BOGGS

  Mrs. BOXER. Madam President, I wish to pay tribute to an incredible 
woman--former Congresswoman and Ambassador Lindy Boggs--who was a 
trailblazer for women and a passionate advocate for the people of 
Louisiana and people across the country who too often don't have a 
voice in Washington.
  When I first became a Member of Congress in 1983, Lindy was one of 
only 21 women serving in the House of Representatives. I will always be 
grateful for the kindness and generosity she showed in taking me under 
her wing--and it was the same for so many other women who followed her 
in Congress and found in her a role model of such dignity and strength.
  No one will ever forget her courage in the face of unspeakable 
tragedy--the loss of her husband, Congressman Hale Boggs, whose plane 
disappeared during a campaign trip to Alaska in 1972. Louisianans, 
including her husband's closest friends, urged her to run for the seat 
in a special election the next year, and she became the first woman 
elected to Congress from the State where she was beloved.
  I remember visiting Lindy's home State of Louisiana years later and 
being overwhelmed at the outpouring of love and respect the people she 
represented had for her--and with good reason. Throughout her time in 
Congress, she was a champion for civil rights, women's equality, and 
social justice.
  During her first term in Congress, Lindy was assigned to the House 
Banking Committee. At one point, the committee was considering an 
amendment to a lending bill banning discrimination on the basis of 
race, age or veteran status.
  Seizing the opportunity, Lindy quickly added the words ``sex or 
marital status'' to the amendment and ran to a copy machine to make 
copies for each Member. She told her colleagues:

       Knowing the Members composing this committee as well as I 
     do, I'm sure it was just an oversight that we didn't have 
     `sex' or `marital status' included. I've taken care of that, 
     and I trust it meets with the committee's approval.

  That is how sex discrimination was made illegal in the Equal Credit 
Opportunity Act of 1974.
  She was a skilled lawmaker who used her immense personal charm, 
political savvy and intellect to win over colleagues on issues that 
were critical to her State and the country. One of her Republican House 
colleagues remarked:

       It was impossible not to like Lindy. She liked everybody. 
     She was nice to everybody. She achieved more with less huff 
     and puff and bluster than any of the rest of us did.

  Lindy stood up for equality and racial justice, even when her views 
were not popular with some voters in her own district. When she left 
Congress in 1991 after serving nine terms, she was the only White 
Member to represent a Black-majority district.
  She led the fight for equal pay for women in government jobs and for 
greater access to government contracts for women business owners. She 
worked to protect women from domestic violence, and inspired so many 
young people--women and men--to follow her into public service.
  Lindy was a pioneer in so many ways--the first woman to chair a major 
political party's nominating convention, the first woman to serve as 
U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican, and the first woman to have a room in 
the Capitol named in her honor. But because of her leadership and 
mentorship, Lindy made sure that she would not be the last and that 
generations of other women would be able to follow in her extraordinary 
footsteps.
  My heart goes out to her family, her friends and all of those whose 
lives she touched. She will be dearly missed.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Madam President, today I honor and celebrate the life 
of an extraordinary American: Marie Corinne Morrison Claiborne Boggs, 
who we all knew as ``Lindy.'' She was a remarkable national leader, 
trailblazer for women everywhere, wife, mother, and a friend. Lindy 
taught me--and an entire generation of Louisianians, both men and 
women, through her example--to answer the call of public service.
  With her death last Saturday, July 28, 2013, our entire State is in 
mourning but we are also celebrating a life well lived.
  Throughout her life, she shaped the world to become a better and more 
just place. When she was born in 1916, women could not vote and 
segregation reigned supreme. But she refused to accept the world as it 
was and set about to change it. She lived through both World Wars and 
the Great Depression. Despite all of these daunting obstacles, Lindy--a 
graceful woman with a strong, passionate calling to serve others--was 
not deterred.
  Like many women of her time, she married a man of great promise--and 
ultimately great power--Hale Boggs. But

[[Page S6190]]

when he was lost in a tragic plane accident in Alaska, she--unlike 
many--stepped up and into his shoes, trusting God to lead her forward.
  She was elected to succeed her husband in Congress on March 20, 1973, 
and became the first woman elected to the House of Representatives from 
our State. At the time, there were only 15 women in the U.S. House of 
Representatives and none in the U.S. Senate.
  But Lindy never let the novelty of this, the pressure of work and 
family, or any other challenge she faced throughout her career stand in 
her way or deter her from serving her State and her country.
  Her keen political mind, iron will and graceful Southern charm helped 
her become one of the most formidable forces Congress has ever known. 
She was known for bridging the gap between Republicans and Democrats 
and convincing her colleagues to do what was right with poise, kindness 
and reason.
  As her colleague Bill Frenzel, a Republican from Minnesota said of 
her: ``It was impossible not to like Lindy. She liked everybody. She 
was nice to everybody. She achieved more with less huff and puff and 
bluster than any of the rest of us did.''
  She used her formidable influence to help lead the fight for civil 
rights, pay equity for women and the right for women to hold a mortgage 
on her own home without the necessity of a husband's signature.
  As a member of the Banking Committee she inserted a provision barring 
discrimination over sex or marital status into the Equal Credit 
Opportunity Act of 1974. She did not tell her colleagues before she did 
it and simply told them:

       Knowing the members composing this committee as well as I 
     do, I'm sure it was just an oversight that we didn't have 
     `sex' or `marital status' included. I've taken care of that, 
     and I trust it meets with the committee's approval.

  There was no objection! And tens of millions of women were given 
access to credit, opportunity and a future of their own.
  Lindy never tired in her fight to expand opportunities for women, 
whether it was helping women as candidates for public office at all 
levels of government, pressing Federal cabinet secretaries and agency 
heads to promote women to senior leadership and policy positions in 
government, supporting women that work two to three jobs to keep food 
on the table and a roof over their head or speaking out for victims of 
domestic violence.
  In fact today, there is a place named ``Lindy's Place'' in New 
Orleans that carries on her work to support abused and battered women.
  In 1976, she nominated a young woman from New Orleans to the U.S. 
Military Academy as soon as the Army dropped the gender bar, and then 
quickly nominated women to all four service academies. She applauded 
NASA when Sally Ride was the first female American astronaut to go into 
space. She knew women could really excel at anything whether it was on 
this planet or beyond.
  Following her retirement from Congress in 1991, she once again 
answered the call to serve as the first female ambassador to the Holy 
See where she continued to exhibit the same strength, intelligence and 
respect that she was known for throughout her life. She was most 
certainly the only person to call the Pope ``darlin'!''
  Lindy's decades of service to her family, community, Nation and 
church reminds us all to give of ourselves fully to a worthy cause, and 
is an example of what we can achieve when we do. She has certainly set 
the gold standard for public service.
  But knowing Lindy as well as I did, I believe she was most proud of 
her 3 children, 8 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren.
  As many of you know, the special cloakroom for the women of the House 
bears Lindy's name. A few months ago when we celebrated the 40th 
anniversary of Lindy's election, she said she was proud of that room, 
but that ``Maybe, someday, the women will have to relinquish the room 
when women are the majority in the House.''
  I know that Lindy will be proud when women achieve this milestone. 
Even after that day comes, Lindy's legacy will continue to inspire us 
for many years to come.

                          ____________________