[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 101 (Tuesday, June 23, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E946]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          TRIBUTE TO JANE HART

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. SANDER M. LEVIN

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 23, 2015

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a good friend 
and a pioneer from my home state of Michigan, Jane Hart. Jane passed 
away on June 5, 2015.
  Some of us in Congress knew Jane through her husband, the late 
Senator Phil Hart, for whom the Hart Senate Office Building is named 
and who was known as the ``conscience of the Senate.'' I had the 
privilege of knowing her personally through common endeavors in 
Michigan. So while Jane Hart was her husband's partner in so many ways 
during his service to the people of Michigan, she was a leader and a 
trailblazer in her own right. She was a person with an unusual 
combination of a sense of responsibility for the common good, family 
loyalty and respect for individuality.
  Like so many women during World War II, Jane was committed to helping 
the American war effort. She was involved with the American Red Cross, 
helping to found their motor corps. She trained other women to drive 
the trucks built in Michigan factories to military bases around the 
country and to ports for transport overseas. Her involvement in this 
effort led to her interest in flying. During a time when there were 
very few women pilots, Jane earned licenses to fly single and multi-
engine airplanes. She later became the first woman in the state of 
Michigan to earn a license to fly helicopters, and during her husband's 
first campaign for the Senate, she flew Phil to campaign events 
throughout the state.
  Her passion for flight led to an interest in the space program, and 
she, along with 12 others, were the first women to pass the physical 
and psychological tests required by NASA of astronaut candidates. NASA 
denied their entry into the astronaut program, and the Detroit News 
reported that she commented at the time, ``The men just could not get 
it and the country lost a great opportunity.'' While this group of 
women, who became known as the Mercury 13, never went to space 
themselves, their efforts and their advocacy helped to pave the way for 
Sally Ride to become the first American woman astronaut, and for all 
the women who have contributed so much to our space program since Ms. 
Ride's historic flight.
  As a pioneer for women in flight and in space, it was no surprise 
that Jane Hart was a powerful advocate for women's rights in general. 
In 1966, Jane was a founding board member of the National Organization 
for Women (NOW), where she chaired the new organization's Task Force on 
Legal and Political Rights, and she helped to establish NOW chapters in 
Michigan and in Washington, DC. For many years, she passionately 
advocated for an Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In 
recognition of her leadership, Jane was inducted into the Michigan 
Women's Hall of Fame in 2007.
  Jane was also a well-known peace activist during the tumultuous 
period of the Vietnam War, which her son Michael told the Washington 
Post sometimes made things ``a little bit . . . complicated'' for her 
husband. But, as her son also noted to the Post, ``On occasion someone 
would demand of him, `Can't you control that wife of yours?' But the 
senator would respond, `Why would I?' ''
  While leading a life of adventure and advocacy, Jane Hart also raised 
her family with love and commitment. She and Phil Hart had nine 
children, eight grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. To them, 
and to all who knew her, Jane Hart was a vital force whose 
intelligence, energy and passion were inspirational. I encourage my 
colleagues to join me in remembering Jane Hart's remarkable 
contributions to our country and in extending condolences to the Hart 
family on her passing.

                          ____________________