[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 135 (Thursday, September 8, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H5217-H5220]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               COMMEMORATING THE LIFE OF PHYLLIS SCHLAFLY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 2015, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. 
King) for 30 minutes.
  Mr. KING of Iowa. Madam Speaker, it is my honor to be recognized to 
address the floor of the United States House of Representatives. I 
intend to take up the topic of the commemoration of the life of Phyllis 
Schlafly.


                             General Leave

  Mr. KING of Iowa. Madam Speaker, I would ask unanimous consent that 
all Members have 5 legislative days on which to revise and extend their 
remarks and insert extraneous materials on the topic of this Special 
Order here this evening.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Iowa?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. KING of Iowa. Madam Speaker, this sad news came to me this past 
weekend that the relatively long and extraordinarily productive and 
impactful life of Phyllis Schlafly had come to an end at the age of 92.
  I got to know Phyllis throughout the political activism of the 
country among conservative politics. It goes back for me quite a ways 
now, too, I might add. But I didn't pay a lot of attention to what was 
going on in the early `70s when Phyllis Schlafly's eyes went on some of 
the transformative shifts that were taking place in America.
  Phyllis was a pro-life activist before Roe v. Wade. She saw it 
coming. She knew what it meant. She became one of the strongest pro-
life voices in all of America and, I would say, the most persistent, 
the most consistent, and the most relentless voice for the longest 
period of time.

[[Page H5218]]

  Phyllis was active on the public scene from at least as far back as 
1952, all the way up until the last days of her life, which ended this 
past weekend. I would like to go through some of those milestones of 
Phyllis Schlafly's life, and then perhaps have some comments about 
those milestones along her life.
  As I review some of that material, Madam Speaker, I look back on her 
impact, particularly in Republican politics. She was a campaign manager 
for a successful Republican candidate for Congress in St. Louis in 
1946. It was for Claude Bakewell.
  She served as an elected delegate to eight Republican National 
Conventions. I don't know that there has been a more consistent or 
persistent voice at our Republican National Conventions over more than 
a half a century than we have heard from Phyllis Schlafly.
  She was an elected delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 
1956, 1964, 1968, 1984, 1992, 1996, 2004, and 2012. You might wonder 
what she was doing in those missing convention years of 1960, 1980, 
2000, and 2008. Well, she was an elected alternate in those 
conventions. And I would suspect that her choice was similar to that of 
what I had made a time or two in the past as well--that I wanted to 
make sure that there were young people that had an opportunity to be a 
delegate and that young people had an opportunity to come up and be 
active in politics. Phyllis Schlafly had facilitated thousands of young 
people to come into active politics.
  Phyllis attended the Republican National Convention in Cleveland this 
last July where it was the last time that I saw her as she came into 
the Republican reception, the Members reception upstairs. I had an 
opportunity to speak a few words with her and see that radiant smile on 
her face. She was dressed in just a very, very colorful and gracious 
dress and seated in a wheelchair. The brightness in her eyes told me 
there was a lot of spirit left in Phyllis Schlafly.
  Phyllis has played an active role in every Republican National 
Convention since 1952. The earliest real impact--when people began to 
notice who Phyllis Schlafly was--was when she published on May 1, 1964, 
the book, ``A Choice Not an Echo.'' It was a small little book that 
gave us an understanding about how presidential candidates are 
selected. It was a description of some of the backroom deals that were 
made about the dynamics of the presidential process. She called it for 
1964. She identified who the backroom supporters would be, how they 
would try to stop Barry Goldwater from being nominated.
  The book, ``A Choice Not an Echo,'' holds up to this day. She wrote a 
supplement to it as well to bring it up to speed, and published that 
book sometime in the last year or two.
  ``A Choice Not an Echo'' was an impactful book, and it was one that 
is one of the foundational documents that identifies the basis of 
modern-day conservatism. Phyllis Schlafly was one of a very few 
original conservatives here in America. She has been one of about three 
voices that were still active in the public scene that go back to the 
era in the early `60s. For Phyllis, it goes back as far back as 1946, 
when she managed a congressional campaign.
  Phyllis' life has been deeply engaged in this kind of activity. She 
was elected first vice president for the National Federation of 
Republican Women, 1960 to 1964. She was a candidate for Congress in 
1952 and 1970, in two different districts.
  Phyllis received numerous awards. She founded the Republican National 
Coalition for Life in 1990 with the specific mission of protecting the 
pro-life plank in the Republican platform, and no one has been more 
active and had more voice on the pro-life movement and more effective 
than Phyllis Schlafly throughout these years. Her voice on this public 
scene will sorely be missed.
  She was a volunteer and a founder of Eagle Forum. The people that 
worked with and for Eagle Forum out across through the States came as 
volunteers. She also established offices in all of Illinois and here in 
Washington, D.C., and kept a voice and a presence here.
  Phyllis Schlafly became a conscience for conservatives. As we are 
trying to clarify the meaning of the Constitution, understand our place 
in history, and stand up for those principles that matter, often the 
voice of Phyllis Schlafly was echoing in our ears here on the floor of 
the House of Representatives.

                              {time}  1845

  She would gather the young Eagles to come here at least once a year, 
usually twice a year to hear from them and give a number of us an 
opportunity to speak to the young people and take questions, but the 
bright lights that she identified, that she brought into activism have 
made, I think, a dramatic difference across America as that conscience 
of conservatism has multiplied across hundreds and then thousands of 
young Eagles that I had an opportunity to meet with and exchange ideas 
with and listen to.
  One of my stories about Phyllis Schlafly, I will start it first with 
this. When I arrived here in this Congress 14 years ago, one of the 
first days that I was here to walk out on this floor to vote, I walked 
back through the back of these Chambers, and one of the Members from 
Missouri, Todd Akin, came over to me and introduced himself. He said: I 
want to talk to you about Court stripping. And I said to him: You mean 
Article III, section 2 of the Constitution? And he said: Yes. How do 
you know that?
  Well, the reason I had paid attention to that was because it was 
Phyllis Schlafly who had written about it. In my years that I had been 
working in my construction office, all I ever really wanted to do was 
raise my family and run my construction business. I didn't really think 
about being involved and trying to be in the middle of public policy. I 
thought there were good, reliable people who would be here making those 
decisions.
  But I would send off for what, at that time, were little articles 
that I would call--you had to sign up for them, and you had to send off 
a check, and they would send you the mailing of her Forum document. 
Phyllis was all over the newspapers. I can't count all the 
publications, but I know she has published at least 27 books.
  I would read these articles that would show up in these publications. 
Maybe the headline caught me, but I would skip the author. I would read 
the story, I would read the article, and, boy, that is clarity of 
thought, utter clarity of thought. And then I would look up: Who wrote 
that? Phyllis Schlafly. Time after time after time. Before I really 
knew who Phyllis was, I was reading her material. She was impacting my 
thinking, and I am wondering: Who wrote this document? Phyllis 
Schlafly. Hundreds and thousands of documents, hundreds and thousands 
of analyses that she had done.
  And not only that, she was not disciplined to stick to a particular 
topic. I was looking through some of these topics that Phyllis had 
written books on. Of the 27 books, she picked a few topics: family and 
feminism, her book on family and feminism, ``The Power of the Positive 
Woman'' and ``Feminist Fantasies,'' those things that won't come true.
  Phyllis Schlafly, her comment on the judiciary, the book called, 
``The Supremacists: The Tyranny of Judges and How to Stop It.'' I have 
it here. I have a story about that I might tell if we have time a 
little later.
  On religion, her book, ``No Higher Power: Obama's War on Religious 
Freedom''; her book on nuclear strategy, ``Strike From Space'' and 
``Kissinger on the Couch.'' Then her book on education, ``Child Abuse 
in the Classroom''; her book on child care, ``Who Will Rock the 
Cradle?'' and on phonics, ``First Reader'' and ``Turbo Reader.'' That 
is an example of the kind of work that Phyllis did.
  She wasn't narrow at all in her scope. She understood her faith, her 
Christianity, her religion, her role as a mother of six, a grandmother, 
a great-grandmother. She understood her role as a wife; she understood 
her role as a student, as a law student with a law degree; and she 
understood her role here in America.
  When the ERA came forward--and it was a mistake then, it would be a 
mistake now--Phyllis Schlafly, when they thought it was all done and 
the Equal Rights Amendment was going to be ratified--there were a few 
States left--Phyllis Schlafly started the battle to shut down the ERA; 
and it was almost

[[Page H5219]]

singlehanded for a long time, but she mobilized a nation and put an end 
to the Equal Rights Amendment, which would have ended up with drafting 
women into the military.
  There is much going on today that she didn't agree with, but we have 
slowed down this train of liberalism. She has been a significant player 
in it.
  I see that we have some Members who have arrived at the floor that I 
believe would like to add some words to this. I yield to the gentleman 
from Ohio (Mr. Davidson), if he is prepared to offer some words.
  Mr. DAVIDSON. Thank you, Mr. King. It is an honor to be able to talk 
about Phyllis Schlafly. Though I never personally met her, like many of 
the heroes of our country, all Americans benefit from the service that 
she rendered to our country, and in particular to the Republican Party. 
She is the person, perhaps more than anyone, who made sure that the 
Republican Party is the party of life, that really is out there to this 
day on the side of science showing when life begins and showing what is 
happening at every stage of life.
  I am more optimistic than ever about what is happening to show this 
fact, but a voice there that just knew the truth and was unashamed in 
speaking for it, unashamed in helping our party coalesce around a core 
set of beliefs, and those core beliefs are the same ones that our 
Founders had. So when people look back and think that, you know, hey, 
the Founders were this era of giants, it is neat to have lived in an 
era when we have some of our own. Phyllis Schlafly was one of them.
  She certainly set the stage for Ronald Reagan's speech, ``A Time for 
Choosing,'' because of her activities in the 1964 campaign and because 
of ``A Time for Choosing'' and Reagan's success in that, success as 
Governor, and really shaping our modern party for the era that has been 
a conservative movement for a long time. That set the stage for Justice 
Scalia.
  So an eventful year, a sad year to see her pass and Justice Scalia 
pass in the same year, but also, you know, an era when we can look 
forward to future success and an era when we can see what the true 
meaning of womanhood is all about. She was a champion for women in a 
way she may never get credit for.
  So I am honored for her service to our country, for her defense of 
her faith and my faith, and for her contributions to make this the kind 
of country that really inspires so many around the world to see it as 
the land of opportunity. So thank you.
  Mr. KING of Iowa. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Ohio for 
his presentation here. I not only appreciate the kind words about the 
life of Phyllis Schlafly, but the voice of commitment to conservative 
cause that emerges as we listen to the gentleman's words from Ohio.
  I would like to now, if I could, yield to the gentleman from Texas 
(Mr. Weber), who has arrived. I would note also that our great friend 
Michele Bachmann from Minnesota is here on the floor of the House of 
Representatives tonight, and that adds a tremendous amount of joy to me 
to what otherwise is a sad occasion, but we have to be also celebrating 
the glorious life of Phyllis Schlafly. It helps commemorate it here to 
know that one of the people who was closest to Phyllis has made the 
trip here to be on the floor as we discuss her life and celebrate her 
life.
  Mr. WEBER of Texas. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague, Mr. King, 
and I, too, want to echo that, for Congresswoman Michele Bachmann being 
here, what a treat. What an absolute treat. We miss her, by the way. We 
do miss her. I want to thank Michele for being here and all that she 
has done.
  Madam Speaker, we did not recently lose a true conservative. We 
didn't recently lose the ``first lady of the conservative movement.'' 
We didn't just lose someone who was a threat to the liberal agenda and 
a threat to Communists. No, no, no. Phyllis Schlafly was much more than 
that. You know, eagles are known, Madam Speaker, for their strength and 
their ability to soar high above the clouds. Eagles are known to be 
above the fray. Phyllis was our eagle. However, she was that eagle who, 
while in the fray, maintained that 30,000-foot view. And she was much 
more than that. She was a warrior. She was a leader. She embodied 
American patriotism and liberty.
  In 1975, Mrs. Schlafly founded the Eagle Forum, which has been a 
pillar in the pro-family conservative movement for four decades and 
counting. There is no doubt, Madam Speaker, that the Eagle Forum will 
live on, and we will see her eagle soar higher and higher with time.
  Mrs. Schlafly was the heart and soul of the conservative movement in 
the early days. Many people thought she wouldn't make a difference, but 
as we look back, Madam Speaker, history is telling us otherwise. You 
hear it over and over again that one person cannot make a difference. 
Well, I will tell you that Phyllis Schlafly was living proof that one 
person can make a difference. Phyllis soared the highest, cared the 
most, and fought the hardest--more than anyone else--for our 
conservative values.
  Madam Speaker, since the day I was sworn in not quite 4 years ago, I 
have been saying it is time to put America first. Through all of Mrs. 
Schlafly's work, at the very core of her efforts, she wanted to ensure 
that our country was first and that Americans were our top priority and 
that the Federal Government and even State governments knew their 
place. I find great comfort, Madam Speaker, in knowing that in some 
small way, Lord willing, I might be allowed to take part in ensuring 
that the work of Phyllis Schlafly continues.
  She was a passionate woman who loved this country, loved her family, 
and was fiercely, fiercely driven to ensure that our liberties were 
protected and that the unborn--the unborn--would have a fighting chance 
to the guarantee of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
  Madam Speaker, those who know Phyllis know she always put family 
first, politics second. I can't help but believe that she knew that at 
the core of politics, it really was, really is, God first, family and 
country second, and political activism stemmed from that. Phyllis knew 
that.
  By the way, she cared so much for this country, she came out early on 
in support of Donald Trump, knowing it would raise eyebrows. But that 
was Phyllis. You never doubted where she stood. You never doubted her 
convictions. Madam Speaker, she did all that for her family because she 
cared about future generations of Americans.
  Above all, I appreciate her commitment to our Lord and Savior, Jesus 
Christ. We can take great heart in knowing that Phyllis joins her 
husband of 44 years, Fred, in the kingdom of Heaven with our Lord and 
Savior Jesus. Our hearts and prayers go out to her family. Mr. King, 
you said 6 kids, 16 grandchildren--16 grandchildren.
  Phyllis was an amazing person who lived an amazing life and did so 
much good for our country. For that, I will be forever grateful to her 
and the work she did for the conservative movement.
  I want to thank you, my colleague, Mr. King, for allowing me this 
opportunity to memorialize one of the greatest Americans. Madam 
Speaker, you know I am right.
  Mr. KING of Iowa. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas for 
coming down to help memorialize the life of Phyllis Schlafly.
  Madam Speaker, the things that come to mind as I listened to Mr. 
Weber talk about Phyllis Schlafly and I look across at Michele 
Bachmann, I think about a time that Phyllis took us back into a room in 
St. Louis to sit and talk to both of us about the future and the 
destiny of the country. It was three of us sitting there having a 
little snack and chatting away on the Constitution and the value of 
life and marriage and the current and the destiny of America. Phyllis 
always saw it, as I think somebody mentioned, from 30,000 feet.
  The time I spend here in this Congress, the time I have the privilege 
of dealing with people at some of the highest levels in the country, 
the longer I am at this, the fewer people I am able to identify who can 
see with clarity the big picture and understand the currents of the 
course of history and the cultural movements that operate within this 
course of history that are actually driving it. Phyllis always saw it. 
She always saw it with a clarity, and that is what drove her to put 27 
books out, and one of them was in support of Donald Trump.

[[Page H5220]]

  She had time in the last years of her life, ``The Conservative Case 
for Trump'' that is published. I think of the work that she got done. 
If somebody said to me: ``Well, Donald Trump is going to be the 
nominee''--and we maybe know this about the time of the Indiana 
primary--``why don't you just go out and write a book and publish 
that?''--to pull that off and get that done, to do that when you are 
92.
  I recall the time when Phyllis broke her hip and she was in a 
hospital in St. Louis.

                              {time}  1900

  So, I thought, I need to talk to Phyllis. I just want to wish her 
well. I call her up and, yes, she is in a hospital bed all right, but 
already, first thing when she comes out from the anesthetic, she asked 
for her laptop. She is at the hospital bed with a laptop, no doubt 
writing, producing documents, printing things, moving public policy in 
America from the hospital bed.
  On another occasion, I had the privilege to be named to present an 
award to Phyllis here in Washington, D.C. It was at an event at a hotel 
here in town. So, I am thinking: How do I make this work? Actually, my 
schedule wouldn't work for that. I thought: I can't let Phyllis down.
  Then, I learned that Phyllis had hurt her back and she had gone in 
for back surgery. I said: I think I know how to do this. I will tape a 
video for the people that are there to commemorate Phyllis, and then I 
will go visit her in St. Louis on my way back to Iowa.
  I flew to St. Louis and went to the nursing home where she was 
recovering from this back surgery. Her lap was covered with books and 
works and things we know. She sat there and told me how, yes, they had 
to put some cement in her back. I said: Just like it comes out of the 
truck? Well, pretty much, she said: They just go in there and fill in 
the gaps that I have, and now I have to take a little therapy and I 
will be fine.
  Well, she was fine, mentally. This woman had an aura about her. There 
was a radiance about her. I can only name three people that I have laid 
eyes on in my lifetime that when they were in the room you knew it; and 
you knew there was something emanating from the character, the spirit, 
the soul, and the intellect of Phyllis Schlafly. It is extraordinary. 
It is an extraordinary life.
  I know that one of her close friends was Louie Gohmert, who is here 
tonight on the floor. I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gohmert) 
to say a few words about Phyllis.
  Mr. GOHMERT. What a woman. What a person.
  Phyllis Schlafly led efforts to return America to being the shining 
light on a hill that it had been, but the light was dimming. She would 
see that. She could see the harm that was happening to our most 
vulnerable, and she led an effort more years than anybody that I have 
ever known personally to return America to being a citadel for freedom 
and for morality from which freedom can only grow. She saw us losing 
our way, yet she remained relentless.
  Those who despised her know better than most anyone else this is 
someone who would never, ever give up. She was a leader, a warrior, a 
mentor, and a friend. Like very dear friends, like family, you have 
disagreements sometimes, but you know her heart. You knew she wanted 
what was best for you, for this country, for the world.
  Mr. KING of Iowa. I would interject; when I disagreed with Phyllis, I 
started with the assumption that I was probably wrong.
  Mr. GOHMERT. That is a great assumption when it comes to Phyllis.
  Well, she has fought the good fight, she has finished her course, and 
she has kept the faith. I will be there Saturday morning with her 
family, but the best memorial we can give to Phyllis Schlafly is to 
make sure the light of freedom and morality does not die in America.
  Mr. KING of Iowa. I thank the gentleman from Texas for a very moving 
presentation here. I know that it means something very deeply in his 
heart, as it does in ours here on this floor and across this country by 
the thousands.
  A couple of things that I want to just quickly inject into this 
discussion.
  She would want me to say on article 3, section 2, Court stripping, we 
don't need to genuflect to the supremacists. The Court has gotten out 
of control. The Constitution is set up to where they are to be the 
weakest of the three branches of government, not a superior supremacist 
branch of government.
  Phyllis handed me the manuscript to this book, as I had a lot of long 
plane flights to do. The manuscript was just printed off a copy machine 
and kind of clipped together. I worked through all of that. I wrote my 
edits on it, my notes in the margins, red ink. I worked through it for 
hours--in fact, it was days. It got lost on the plane on the way back 
from Africa.
  I went to her and said: Phyllis, I need a little more time to work on 
the edits of your book because the manuscript has been lost in the 
luggage. She looked at me and she said: Well, Congressman, I didn't 
intend for you to edit my book. I just intended for you to have an 
early copy. I knew exactly what I wanted to say.
  The book stands out. She knew exactly what she wanted to say. That is 
a lot about her intellect and her personality.
  With utter clarity, the clearest political thinker of our time, based 
in Biblical values, values of Christians, constitutional values, a 
clear understanding of people and humanity and faith and family, she 
wrote on so many topics with utter clarity on topic, after topic, after 
topic.
  She lived a life of 92 years and was a player in the public arena 
since immediately post-World War II, and she is a player in our lives 
to this day. She is in our hearts, she is in our souls, she is in our 
conscience, and she affects our thinking and our actions--and she will 
for a long, long time to come.
  This is a woman who has redirected the destiny of America. I can't 
think of any woman who had more impact on the course of the history in 
the United States of America nor weighs more heavily on our sense of 
duty of what we need going forward to continue to honor the glorious 
life of Phyllis Schlafly.
  Rest in peace, Phyllis. God love you. We do.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________