[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 114 (Friday, August 2, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1221]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IN TRIBUTE TO AMBASSADOR LINDY BOGGS, DIPLOMAT, EQUAL RIGHTS ACTIVIST, 
                     AND FORMER MEMBER OF CONGRESS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, August 2, 2013

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to a great 
American and a former member of this House. Ambassador Corrine 
``Lindy'' Boggs was a diplomat, equal rights champion, and a former 
Member of Congress from Louisiana. Lindy Boggs, who died on Saturday, 
July 27, 2013, was one of the most admired members of this body and was 
beloved by all who knew her. She will be truly missed. All of us mourn 
her loss and extend our condolences to her family and loved ones.
  Born Marie Corinne Morrison Claiborne Boggs on March 13, 1916 on a 
sugar plantation in Louisiana, Lindy Boggs attended Sophie Newcomb 
College at Tulane University in New Orleans, where she met and later 
married her husband Hale Boggs. After graduation, Lindy Boggs became a 
history and English teacher in Romeville, Louisiana. Her husband 
attended law school before being elected to Congress in 1940, rising to 
become Majority Leader of the House of Representatives.
  On October 16, 1972, a tragic event occurred. A plane carrying 
Congressmen Nick Begich of Alaska and Majority Leader Hale Boggs 
perished in the Alaska wilderness. Both were presumed dead, as their 
bodies were never recovered. Lindy Boggs won the special election and 
succeeded her husband in Congress, becoming the first woman from 
Louisiana to be elected to the House. Mrs. Boggs was then elected to a 
full term in 1974 and reelected seven times before retiring at the end 
of her term in January 1991. In 1976, Lindy Boggs became the first 
woman to preside over a Democratic National Convention.
  The velvet Southern charm she had refined while growing up in 
Louisiana enabled her to become a very effective legislator. It was 
because of her amendment that discrimination on the ground of ``sex or 
marital status'' is prohibited by the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 
1974. Mrs. Boggs also pushed for other women's economic concerns, like 
equal pay for government jobs and equal access to government business 
contracts.
  In addition to champion equal rights, Lindy Boggs was a strong 
supporter of historic preservation. She also supported civil rights 
legislation at a time when such support often met with hostility in the 
part of the country she represented. Lindy Boggs also strongly 
supported and defended antipoverty programs. She said:

       You couldn't want to reverse the injustices of the 
     political system and not include the blacks and the poor; it 
     was just obvious.

  In 1991, a room that was being used as the House speakers' office in 
the 19th century was named in her honor as the ``Lindy Claiborne Boggs 
Congressional Women's Reading Room.'' In 1994, Lindy Boggs was admitted 
to the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame and in 1997, 
President Bill Clinton appointed her Ambassador to the Holy See. In 
2006, she was awarded the Congressional Distinguished Service Award for 
her outstanding service in the House of Representatives.
  In addition to her remarkable career in public service, perhaps Lindy 
Boggs' greatest accomplishment are the wonderful children she raised, 
each of whom has been quite successful in continuing the family legacy 
of service: Cokie Roberts, a Washington journalist for ABC and National 
Public Radio; Thomas Hale Boggs Jr., a leading lawyer and chairman of 
the noted firm of Patton Boggs; and Barabara Boggs Sigmund, who served 
as Mayor of Princeton, New Jersey.
  Madame Speaker, a great lady has finished her course, run the great 
race, and gone on to claim her great reward. We are deeply saddened by 
the loss of this tireless champion for equal and civil rights. But her 
good works will be with us for eternity. For that we can all be 
grateful.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask a moment of silence in memory of Lindy Boggs.

                          ____________________