[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 156 (Thursday, September 10, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5552-S5553]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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  SENATE RESOLUTION 687--HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF COYA KNUTSON

  Ms. SMITH (for herself and Ms. Klobuchar) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary:

                              S. Res. 687

       Whereas Cornelia Genevive Gjesdal ``Coya'' Knutson was born 
     on August 22, 1912, in Edmore, North Dakota;
       Whereas Coya Gjesdal graduated from Concordia College in 
     Moorhead, Minnesota, with majors in English and Music and a 
     minor in Education;
       Whereas Coya Gjesdal married Andy Knutson in 1940 and later 
     adopted a son;
       Whereas Coya Knutson was involved in her community, working 
     as a teacher, volunteering, establishing a medical clinic, 
     and serving on the Red Lake County Welfare Board;
       Whereas Coya Knutson was elected to the House of 
     Representatives of Minnesota in 1950;
       Whereas State Representative Knutson supported health and 
     education initiatives and sponsored the first clean air bill 
     in Minnesota, which prohibited smoking in some public places;

[[Page S5553]]

       Whereas, in 1954, Coya Knutson won a seat in the House of 
     Representatives of the United States, despite having lost the 
     nomination of her party to a man;
       Whereas Coya Knutson became the first woman elected to 
     Congress from Minnesota;
       Whereas Congresswoman Knutson became the first woman to be 
     appointed to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of 
     Representatives;
       Whereas Congresswoman Knutson sponsored legislation that 
     eventually led to expanded school lunch assistance, the first 
     Federal student loan program, and the first appropriations 
     for research on cystic fibrosis;
       Whereas Congresswoman Knutson's husband did not support her 
     career and reportedly wrote a public letter in 1958 ordering 
     her to return to Minnesota to ``make a home for [her] son and 
     husband'';
       Whereas the story of the letter was taken up by the 
     national press, with newspapers across the United States 
     running the headline ``Coya, Come Home'';
       Whereas Coya Knutson lost reelection in 1958 to a man whose 
     campaign slogan was ``A Big Man for a Man-Sized Job'';
       Whereas Coya Knutson eventually divorced her husband, moved 
     permanently to Washington, DC, and was appointed by President 
     Kennedy to be the liaison officer in the Office of Civil 
     Defense at the Department of Defense, where she served until 
     1970;
       Whereas Coya Knutson retired from politics and moved back 
     to Minnesota to live with her son and his family until her 
     death in 1996 at 82 years of age; and
       Whereas Coya Knutson was a trailblazer and an inspiration 
     who was devoted to her community, State, and country: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate honors the life and legacy of 
     Coya Knutson, whose dedication to overcoming exceptional odds 
     and devotion to the well-being of the United States shall 
     serve as an inspiration for generations of individuals in the 
     United States.

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