[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 53 (Thursday, March 23, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H1397-H1402]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   CELEBRATING WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 9, 2023, the gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Moore) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I am so delighted to be joined 
this evening by women members of the Democratic Women's Caucus.
  The chairwoman, Lois Frankel, is here with us this evening. Vice 
Chairs Ayanna Pressley and Kathy Manning and other members of the 
Democratic Women's Caucus, Representatives Sydney Kamlager-Dove and 
Emilia Sykes, are with us here this evening, as well.
  We are celebrating Women's History Month. What we thought we would do 
today is talk about many of the women who have come to Congress and 
made history and a big difference in this very male-oriented 
institution.
  We call your attention to this chart. It starts here at about 1917, 
quite frankly, when Jeannette Rankin was the first woman elected to 
Congress, all the way back to 1789. We finally elected a woman in 1917. 
She served 1 year, not even one term, because she voted against the 
war.
  Here we are today. Within 1 hour, Mr. Speaker, we won't have a chance 
to talk about all of these women, but I think that the women we have 
chosen to speak about are women who found that they had the same 
profound challenges in this institution. They were highly educated and 
very intelligent, yet they faced tremendous hurdles. They overcame them 
and made a big difference in our institution.

  We are going to talk about Bella Abzug from New York tonight. We are 
going to talk about now-Senator Tammy Baldwin from Wisconsin, who was a 
Member of this body. We are going to talk about Patsy Mink and now-
Secretary Marcia Fudge from Ohio, who was Representative Fudge. We are 
going to talk about Shirley Chisholm. We may mention a thing or two 
about Nancy Pelosi from California, who is our Speaker Emerita.
  We are going to talk about Barbara Jordan; Lucille Roybal-Allard; 
Stephanie Tubbs Jones; Senator Mazie Hirono, who was a Member of this 
body before she went over to the Senate; Pat Schroeder, who just 
recently passed; and Geraldine Ferraro.
  We are going to talk about now-Secretary Deb Haaland, who was a 
former House Member, as the first Native American Cabinet Secretary but 
also one of the two first Native Americans to be elected to this body, 
along with Representative Sharice Davids.
  We are going to talk about the first Muslim women to join our body, 
Representatives Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Lois 
Frankel), the chairwoman of the Democratic Women's Caucus.
  Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank my great colleague 
from Wisconsin (Ms. Moore) for yielding and for organizing this session 
tonight. I am happy to be with all of my colleagues who are here 
tonight, also.
  I am very proud to be a Congresswoman in one of the most diverse 
Congresses in our history. It is the most diverse. We now have 94 
Democratic women. We even have quite a few Republican women, which is 
great.
  Listen, I am here as a mother and grandmother as we celebrate Women's 
History Month. It is a time to reflect on the historic gains women have 
made and reclaim our efforts as we march to equity.
  This is a time that we pay tribute, sister--I will call you sister; I 
feel like you are my sister--to the strong, fearless, and selfless 
women who paved the way for us all.
  When I think about it, just about every one of us here was first at 
something, but we know we are not going to be last. We are first but 
not last. In that regard, I am going to do a couple of shout-outs.
  I want to shout out to our Vice President, Kamala Harris, the first 
woman Vice President of the United States, who, of course, graced our 
Senate.
  I want to shout out to the first woman of color ever elected to this 
Congress, Patsy Mink, who was the first Asian American and also the 
author of Title IX, which has meant so much for women to advance in 
education.
  I am also going to do a shout-out to someone who was one of my very 
good friends, who I miss already as she retired last year, and that is 
Lucille Roybal-Allard, a very proud California Member, the first 
Mexican-American woman to be in Congress.
  It is not really their ethnic identity that I think about. Because I 
got to serve with Lucille Roybal-Allard, I remember her grit, her 
determination, the first woman of color cardinal in charge of an 
Appropriations Committee subcommittee and a lot of battles as chair of 
the Homeland Security Subcommittee.
  I want to tell you what she left. She left a quote: ``One thing that 
I hope is that the people that I have represented over the years know 
that I have worked as hard as I possibly could on their behalf and that 
I served them honorably and that, hopefully, I made a positive 
difference in their life.''
  I will tell you this, Lucille Roybal-Allard, if you are listening to 
this: You made a positive difference in many, many people's lives.

                              {time}  1945

  Now, Mr. Speaker, let me talk about someone who is a personal heroine 
of

[[Page H1398]]

mine, Bella Abzug. Bella Abzug, what a trailblazer. We know her for her 
hats. She always wore a hat. She was a giant of the women's rights 
movement, whose shoulders we all stand on today. ``Battling Bella'' as 
she was affectionately known, was on the front line of every issue of 
her time.
  She was born to Russian immigrants in the Bronx, and even as a young 
girl working in her father's butcher shop, she knew she wanted to be a 
lawyer. She went to Hunter College where she was on the student 
council, and then set her sights on Harvard, but the school had other 
thoughts. They ultimately rejected her because of her gender.
  Columbia University was much more astute and she earned her law 
degree there. She became a lawyer at a time when very, very few women 
were practicing law. She defended Black clients in the South. She 
dedicated her time to fighting labor rights, tenant's rights, and civil 
liberties. She worked with the ACLU and the Civil Rights Congress.
  She marched for equal rights, feminism, environmentalism, and the 
LGBTQ+ community. She organized the Women's Strike for Peace in the 
1960s. She brought together tens of thousands of women across America 
to protest nuclear testing and the Vietnam war.
  In 1970, decades into her career, she was elected to the Congress 
where she served until 1976. In these Halls, she introduced bills to 
remove troops in Vietnam, she fought for the equal rights amendment, 
access to abortion care, funding for childcare, and gay rights.
  She led the charge to make it illegal for credit companies to 
discriminate against applicants based on the basis of sex, race, 
religion, and marital status or age. Believe it or not, sister, there 
was a time that women couldn't even get credit in their own name.
  Outside of Congress, Bella founded the National Women's Political 
Caucus with other feminist icons: Betty Friedan, Shirley Chisholm, and 
Gloria Steinem.
  Bella Abzug was a true force to be reckoned with, a passionate and 
compassionate leader who wore many hats--literally and figuratively--
and fearlessly stood up for her values regardless of political 
consequences.
  She once said of herself, sister--and I think her description 
probably describes a lot of the women in this room tonight. She said: I 
have been described as a tough and noisy woman, a prizefighter, a man 
hater, you name it. They call me ``Battling Bella,'' mother of courage.
  There are those who say I am impatient, impetuous, uppity, rude, 
profane, brash, and overbearing. Whether I am any of these things or 
all of them, you can decide for yourself. But whatever I am, and this 
must be made very clear at the outset, I am a very serious woman.
  She was a woman to be taken seriously, and she did not back down from 
the biggest fights of her generation. She did not give up creating a 
better world for her children or her children's children. As women 
Members of Congress, looking back on her legacy, we take courage from 
her actions, and we will continue to fight, to build the equitable 
world that she dreamed of.
  Bella never backed down and neither will we.
  Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, that was great. I thank 
Representative Frankel so much for that. I must say that from afar 
Bella Abzug influenced me. I knew who she was. I knew about her helping 
to create the feminist movement, and it empowered me as a woman.
  With regard to Representative Lucille Roybal-Allard, let me just say, 
not only was she--it was pointed out, of course, she was the first 
Mexican woman to enter this institution, but it is not enough to just 
be the first. She came here and she led the way on things like the 
Violence Against Women Act. She fought and used her post as a cardinal 
to protect the interests of children, all children. We will truly miss 
her.
  She mentioned Senator Tammy Baldwin--no, she didn't mention her. She 
mentioned Senator Mazie Hirono. She was a former House Member, now in 
the Senate. She went to the Senate and was the first Asian woman 
elected to the Senate. She is also the first Buddhist who entered this 
body.
  Diversity is important so that all voices are heard in this body. I 
thank Lois Frankel for lifting up these women.
  Mr. Speaker, I am so pleased at this time to introduce one of the 
people who is younger than me, but that I get so much--much younger 
than me. I guess people are laughing because that is really not hard to 
tell. She is someone who inspires, someone who has already made her 
mark in this body, and she is one of our vice chairwomen of the 
Democratic Women's Caucus.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Ms. 
Pressley).
  Ms. PRESSLEY. Mr. Speaker, I am thankful for my sister in service 
here, my indefatigable colleague from Wisconsin, who leads on so many 
issues of consequence, especially in the space of anti-poverty, the 
stabilization of family, and women's health. I appreciate her.
  I am so glad that we could take the time to pay tribute to the women 
who have come before us who have kicked open doors, broken ceilings, 
powered movements, blazed a trail, been role models, mentored us by 
their example, and more intentionally poured into us, if we had the 
privilege to serve alongside them. Mr. Speaker, I thank Ms. Moore as 
well for her sisterhood and her mentorship.
  Mr. Speaker, neither my mother, Sandy, or my father, Martin, raised 
me to ask permission to lead. I do believe that a parent is a child's 
first and best teacher. Instead of traditional bedtime stories of 
princes and knights in shining armor, my mother read me the powerful 
speeches of Black Congresswomen like Barbara Jordan and Shirley 
Chisholm.
  Since my formative years, I have felt this soul tie to Shirley 
Chisholm, long before my work led me to this Chamber. In fact, my first 
office here as a freshman in the 116th Congress was formerly Shirley 
Chisholm's office.
  Not only was Shirley--and I don't say that to be anyway disrespectful 
by not referring to her as a Congresswoman--but she is, in fact, so 
iconic that you can just say her first name and it is clear who you are 
talking about. Not only was Shirley a first, the first Black woman 
elected to the House of Representatives, she was disruptive, she was 
brave, she was a trailblazer, in fighting injustice she was an 
inspiration.
  Very often, iconic leaders can be singularly defined by one great 
speech and some powerful quotes. I think it is tempting to do that with 
Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, but it would be a disservice to do so.
  While certainly she was the first Black woman elected to Congress, 
the first Black woman to pursue the U.S. Presidency, let the record 
reflect that Shirley Chisholm was an effective legislator in her own 
right, serving here for seven terms.
  She was the daughter of immigrants from Barbados and Guiana. She has 
blazed the trail for every Black woman in this body, including myself 
today, as the first person of color and the first Black woman to ever 
represent the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the U.S. House of 
Representatives.
  Everyone, including Vice President Kamala Harris, owes her a debt of 
gratitude. Her contributions go well beyond that. During her time in 
these sacred Halls of power, Shirley played a critical role in 
advancing policies that support our most vulnerable and marginalized 
communities.
  As a member of the Agricultural Committee, Shirley was pivotal in 
enacting the SNAP program, which helps feed over 42 million people each 
year. She was also one of 13 founding members in 1971 of the 
Congressional Black Caucus, which today boasts its largest membership 
in history. She was also a founding member of the National Women's 
Political Caucus.
  Everyone wants to be a part of something when it is already 
established, but it takes a certain kind of grit, vision, and 
determination to be the founder of something. Shirley was both a 
visionary and a doer, and tenacious in the actualization of these 
caucuses, which live on today.
  Shirley Chisholm was a forceful champion for the equal rights 
amendment, a cause I am honored to lead, in partnership with my 
colleagues and movement allies in the House today.
  In her words, in the words of Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, spoken

[[Page H1399]]

right here in the people's House, she said of the ERA: ``It provides a 
legal basis for attack on the most subtle, most pervasive, and most 
institutionalized form of prejudice that exists. Discrimination against 
women, solely on the bases of their sex, is so widespread that it seems 
to many persons normal, natural, and right.''
  Mr. Speaker, Black women like Shirley Chisholm have done the work of 
preserving and defending our democracy for centuries, but for far too 
often our contributions are ignored, erased, or rendered a footnote in 
history. It is not lost on me that the first time the ERA was put 
forward, women of color were not even part of the conversation.
  Today, there will be no erasure. We stand on the shoulders of folks 
like Shirley Chisholm, leading a multiracial, intergenerational 
coalition to advance this priority.
  Mr. Speaker, when asked how she wanted to be remembered, Shirley 
Chisholm said she wanted to be remembered as a Black woman who lived in 
the 20th century and dared to be herself--a catalyst for change.
  Today, during Women's History Month and every month, we honor women 
like Shirley, we follow in their footsteps, and we continue running, 
winning, leading, legislating, and taking up all the space with our 
full authentic selves, just as Shirley taught us.
  May she rest in peace and power. Happy Women's History Month.
  Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Pressley 
so much, what a great tribute to a great woman.
  Mr. Speaker, let me say that I am so happy to welcome to the podium 
another woman who is fairly new, but I tell you, she's a powerhouse and 
full of energy and ideas, here ready to do the work from North 
Carolina.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. 
Manning), one of our vice chairs of the Democratic Women's Caucus.

                              {time}  2000

  Ms. MANNING. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Congresswoman Moore for 
leading this Special Order hour. I want to thank our Democratic Women's 
Caucus chair, Representative Frankel, and my co-chair of the policy 
committee, Representative Pressley, for being with us tonight to 
celebrate this important moment.
  I rise today to celebrate Women's History Month and to recognize 
three courageous women from North Carolina who broke the glass ceiling 
and paved the way for future women in politics.
  First, I want to honor a true trailblazer from North Carolina, 
Gertrude Weil, a Jewish woman from Goldsboro, North Carolina. She was 
the daughter of immigrants who dedicated her life for fighting for 
women's equality, labor reforms, and civil rights. Gertrude led the 
tireless fight for women's right to vote through an organization she 
led, the North Carolina Equal Suffragette Association.
  In 1920, following years of suffragette advocacy, the 19th Amendment 
was finally ratified giving women the right to vote. Following the 
ratification, Gertrude called a meeting at the Guilford County 
Courthouse to announce that her organization would no longer be the 
suffragettes but would not become the North Carolina League of Women 
Voters.
  It was at that courthouse in downtown Greensboro where Gertrude 
famously said: ``It is so obvious that to treat people equally is the 
right thing to do.''
  I recently had the pleasure of attending the unveiling of a monument 
in her honor and a mile marker at the Guilford County Courthouse 102 
years after Gertrude formed the North Carolina League of Women Voters.
  I also want to honor Eliza Jane Pratt. In 1946 she became the first 
woman elected to the U.S. Congress from North Carolina, breaking down 
the centuries' old barrier women had to overcome in politics. Prior to 
her election to Congress, Congresswoman Pratt served as a legislative 
aide to the four Congressmen who preceded her in representing the 
district. She was known for having an impressive understanding of her 
constituents' needs and the district.
  Finally, I want to recognize Congresswoman Eva Clayton, the first 
Black woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from North 
Carolina. Congresswoman Clayton put the interests of her rural 
communities above all else as she fiercely advocated for the Black 
farmers that her district and the State relied upon.
  These women were firsts in North Carolina politics, but they were 
certainly not lasts. Today, I stand before you, Mr. Speaker, as one of 
the five women representing North Carolina in the House of 
Representatives. The legacies of the women who came before us cleared a 
path for other women to legislate, represent, and advocate for their 
communities in Congress.
  This Women's History Month, let's honor the legacies of those who 
came before us by committing to build a better and more equitable 
future for the next generation of girls and women.
  Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. I thank Representative Manning so much for 
that eloquent presentation, and I just want to thank the gentlewoman 
for sticking around and believing that someday we would get around to 
her.
  Mr. Speaker, I am so delighted to introduce a new Member from 
California. She has succeeded our former colleague, Karen Bass, who is 
now the mayor of Los Angeles. When Karen Bass left, she told us: Don't 
worry, don't bother trying to miss me, because I am sending in the best 
and the brightest from my community, and she is going to hit the ground 
running.
  She certainly has been a great colleague.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. 
Kamlager-Dove).
  Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE. I thank Representative Moore for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise with all of these other fabulous women in 
Congress to celebrate female trailblazers in Congress. I am going to 
speak to many of those trailblazers who hail from California. This is a 
shout-out to some bad sisters.
  I am here to honor former Representative Karen Bass, the now-mayor of 
Los Angeles. Mr. Speaker, you have to love the people if you want to 
lead people, and Mayor Karen Bass loves Los Angeles. Stepping into her 
shoes in Congress has been an incredibly humbling journey.
  Ms. Bass has a long history of public service working in the 
California State Assembly before coming here to Congress. In fact, she 
was the first female speaker--let alone the first Black woman--but the 
first female speaker of the California State Assembly--an incredibly 
powerful body. California, after all, is the fifth largest economy in 
the world.
  When she was first elected to the assembly, she was the only Black 
woman in the entire State legislature. She then came to Congress and 
eventually served as the chair of the mighty, moral Congressional Black 
Caucus from 2019 to 2021 before launching her mayoral campaign.
  Mayor Karen Bass is a champion for the people in every single way, 
leading the charge on foreign diplomacy, criminal justice reform, 
foster youth, and environmental justice. Karen Bass worked and works in 
a quiet, forceful, and bipartisan way, and Ms. Bass found results for 
the people while she was here in Congress.
  Following in her footsteps, I support the same issues that matter to 
Angelenos and Americans across the country.
  It is important to note that her work ethic stems from her own 
journey. She was a caretaker, she was a nurse, she was a nurturer, and 
she was a problem solver. She started her journey, actually, as a 
nurse. She eventually became a social worker. She got her degree in 
that. Then she started Community Coalition, a nonprofit organization 
that rose from the ashes of the 1992 riots focused on equity, access, 
and opportunity.
  Karen Bass is now the first female mayor of Los Angeles, and she is 
the second African American to hold the position since the founding of 
the city. She continues to break boundaries and passionately serve the 
people addressing critical issues now with laser-like focus, issues 
like homelessness, affordable housing, and increasing opportunity for 
all.

  Mayor Karen Bass is bringing a new direction to Los Angeles with a 
vision that advances equity and progress for the people. So I am proud 
not just to

[[Page H1400]]

call her my mayor, but a friend, a mentor, and a guiding light in the 
fight for justice.
  I would be remiss as a Californian if I also didn't pay homage to 
fellow trailblazers like former Congresswoman Yvonne Brathwaite Burke. 
She was a Congresswoman who dared to be the first woman in Congress to 
have and raise a child while in Congress.
  Former Congresswoman Diane Watson also served in this very seat and 
was a staunch advocate for education. She fought against xenophobia, 
and she was a vocal leader on issues related to reparations for 
descendants of African-American slaves.
  I have to say that I come from a lineage of Black women in this seat, 
Black women who can't be beat.
  They are sheroes mostly because they are ordinary women who dared and 
continue to dare to do extraordinary things sometimes just by showing 
up, standing tall, leading with constitution, and not taking ``no'' for 
an answer.
  I am proud to be part of this group of women that celebrates the 
power--the female power--that comes to us in Congress in these hallowed 
Halls.
  Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative 
Congresswoman Kamlager-Dove. Let me just say I knew all of those women 
from California, and they were California dreams, all of them. I 
remember when Ambassador Diane Watson became an ambassador, wherever 
she would take you, she would never ever, ever meet a stranger.
  She could stay up all night and all day. I don't know where she got 
the energy from, but she was a people person. When she left, she told 
us: Don't worry, I am sending you someone great, and she gave us Karen 
Bass . Just like Karen Bass said: Don't worry, I am sending you someone 
great, and we got Representative Kamlager-Dove. We are very, very 
pleased.
  I am so delighted to introduce our next speaker. I met her when she 
was a candidate. I knew immediately that she would win her race in Ohio 
because of her determination and her resolve to do it. She didn't have 
a lot of people at that time who were saying: Oh, yeah, come on. She 
didn't have a big fundraising base. But I knew that she was resolute to 
get here. Already she is speaking up, asking questions, and taking 
names.
  Mr. Speaker, this is not the last time you will see Representative 
Emilia Sykes, so let me be the first to introduce you to her.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Sykes).
  Mrs. SYKES. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Moore for organizing 
this Special Order hour so that we can recognize women who have led the 
way who are trailblazers, history makers, glass breakers, and overall 
fantastic human beings.
  You may know or you may not know, Mr. Speaker, that Ohio has elected 
13 women to Congress. These women have been incredible role models and 
leaders for girls and women as well as boys and men across this 
country, but particularly for us in Ohio.
  I am going to take a few moments today just to talk about a few of 
those women, just about eight of them, starting in 1977 with the first 
Democratic woman elected to Congress from Ohio. Her name was Mary Rose 
Oakar. She, at the age of 36, was one of the youngest women ever 
elected to Congress and the first Arab-American woman ever elected to 
Congress in the United States.
  Mr. Speaker, the next Democratic woman elected to Congress, you know 
her, we all serve with her, she is the dean of the Ohio delegation and 
the longest-serving woman in Congress, Marcy Kaptur. She has been 
called the queen of the Great Lakes because of her advocacy. But there 
is nothing you can mistake about Congresswoman Kaptur that would make 
you think that she did not believe strongly in the people of Toledo and 
the people of northwest Ohio.
  Our third Democratic woman from Ohio was none other than Stephanie 
Tubbs Jones, the first Black woman elected from the State of Ohio.
  Unfortunately, Congresswoman Tubbs Jones lost her life in 2008, but I 
got to know her and my family got to know her very well. Her spirit and 
her passion were unmatched. The people of Cleveland were the people 
whom she always, always championed.
  Something that she said stuck out to me. I want to read it to you 
here, Mr. Speaker, because this is a great reminder for all of us who 
serve in this hallowed institution. She said that if they--our 
constituents--are willing to stand at the polls for countless hours in 
the rain, then I should surely stand up for them here in Congress.
  The fourth woman from Ohio I would like to acknowledge is 
Congresswoman--now judge of the Ninth District Court of Appeals--Betty 
Sutton. She was the youngest woman elected, and I am honored to take 
her seat, Ohio's 13th District in Congress. Betty Sutton was not only a 
Member of Congress, now the judiciary, but also local city, county, and 
State elected office.

                              {time}  2015

  Following Betty Sutton, I am going to acknowledge Marcia Fudge, a 
woman who certainly needs no introduction, who now serves as the 
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Congresswoman, now 
Secretary, Fudge served the House from northeast Ohio honorably for 
seven terms, and we are grateful for her new position where she leads 
this Nation in affordable housing for all people, no matter where they 
may reside across the country.
  Mary Jo Kilroy, the Congresswoman from central Ohio served one term, 
and she was a vocal supporter of the Affordable Care Act. It is a 
fitting tribute to talk about her today, considering it is the 13th 
anniversary of that bill passing. She was instrumental in a very 
important vote ensuring healthcare for people across this Nation.
  The first Democratic minority leader in the Ohio House you may not 
know, Mr. Speaker, was none other than Joyce Beatty. She was the former 
CBC chair, most recently serving, and someone who I was able to follow 
in the Ohio legislature. She is a towering figure here in Congress, and 
we are so excited to have her as a leader in central Ohio.
  Shontel Brown, who won not one, not two, but three elections in a 
very short amount of time to make sure that folks knew how serious she 
was about representing the people of northeast Ohio. She came from 
Warrensville Heights City Council to the Cuyahoga County Council to 
becoming the first Black woman to lead the Cuyahoga County Democratic 
Party.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, I am number 13, Emilia Sykes, representing the 
13th Congressional District of Ohio and Ohio's 13th female Member 
elected to Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, as I close my remarks, I remind those who may be 
watching that none of us would be here, none of the women that we have 
talked about, without the gracious and tenacious activities of the 
suffragettes who made sure that we even had the right to vote so we 
could stand here in Congress to advocate for our communities.
  I always like to talk about Sojourner Truth. Although she was not a 
Member of Congress and although she was not a person from Ohio, she 
gave a very important speech in my district, Ohio 13, called Ain't I a 
Woman. At the end of that speech, she reminded us that if the first 
woman that God ever made was strong enough to turn this world upside 
down, then all these women together ought to be able to get it right 
side up again.
  That is the legacy of the women from Ohio and throughout the Nation 
who have served in this Congress have done, get this world right side 
up again.
  Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Sykes for 
that very enlightening presentation of the 13 women who have been 
elected to Congress from the great State of Ohio.
  Mr. Speaker, we have spoken about most of the women that we have on 
this poster board here. We named this little session ``A Dozen Women 
and Then Some'' because, as you have heard this evening, there are 
many, many, many more women that we could have talked about but we 
could not squeeze it all into one hour.
  I would be remiss if I did not mention a couple of other women. 
Senator Tammy Baldwin from Wisconsin. Senator Tammy Baldwin served in 
this body before she was elected to the State senate. She was the first 
openly LGBTQ person to be elected to Congress. Being her authentic 
self, not shying away from who she was, and still she was elected to 
the United States Senate, to the U.S. Congress.

[[Page H1401]]

  Before then, ladies and gentlemen, Tammy Baldwin served on the county 
board in Madison, Wisconsin, and before that she was appointed to the 
Common Council to fill an aldermanic vacancy because of someone's 
absence, and didn't have to face the voters because that is just how 
much they trusted Tammy Baldwin.
  Tammy Baldwin has a resume that is too long to share with you this 
evening, but let me tell you some of the things that I rejoice about. 
Tammy Baldwin was the key legislator that put the provision into the 
Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare, to allow parents to keep 
their children on their insurance plan until they were age 26.
  She did that because of her own lived experience as a person who was 
in the custody of her grandparents, and her grandparents were unable to 
put her on their insurance. They had to pay out of pocket thousands and 
thousands of dollars while Tammy Baldwin was in the hospital for 
months. It is that lived experience that gave Tammy Baldwin a passion 
for healthcare that she brought here to this body.
  Now millions of young people who are struggling to get an education, 
to go to college, who perhaps don't have careers that have come 
together yet, can have health insurance because of the Affordable Care 
Act. We can thank Tammy Baldwin for that.
  Tammy Baldwin was also able just recently to pass a bill that was 
signed into law to provide for same-sex marriage, something that has 
been a controversial issue in Congress for years, but Tammy Baldwin 
with her very soft demeanor and very understated presentation was able 
to bring together. I thank Tammy Baldwin for being who she is.
  Another person who was not an openly gay person was Barbara Jordan, 
but Barbara Jordan really spoke truth to power during the Nixon 
administration. Unlike what we have gone through recently, her service 
on the Judiciary Committee at that time was one of the most powerful 
voices that enabled the country to realize that they needed to end this 
Presidency on a bipartisan basis. Mr. Speaker, I thank Barbara Jordan 
for speaking truth to power.
  A person who just passed away recently was Pat Schroeder. I mean, she 
was Ms. Feminist. She was someone who kept things on boiling hot all 
the time in this body. She was very antiwar, and she ran on an antiwar 
platform. She ran on a platform of providing childcare for women, and 
far before it was talked about, she spoke out on the environment.
  She was one of the first people to actually have very small children 
when she was elected, and someone asked her, ``Pat, how can you raise 
children and be a Congresswoman?'' She said, ``Well, you know, I have 
got a uterus and a brain, and I use them both.''

  She spent 24 years in the House from Colorado. She was the first 
person to help get family and medical leave passed, and I think that 
that was probably her signature achievement in this body. After she 
left, she wrote a book, ``24 Years of House Work . . . and the Place Is 
Still a Mess.'' We ought to lean into Pat Schroeder and get busy 
cleaning up the House.
  Geraldine Ferraro was another Member of this body; and, of course, 
she was the first woman who was a Vice Presidential nominee. She was 
yet another woman who dared to step into spaces where women had never 
tread. I thank Geraldine Ferraro for her fierce belief in women.
  I would be remiss if I did not mention a few women who are still 
serving in this body. One is Representative Sharice Davids. Sharice 
Davids is one of the first Native American women, alongside Deb 
Haaland, elected to this body. When I met Deb Haaland when she was 
running for Congress, after I hugged her, I looked at her and said: Why 
the heck did it take you so long to get here?
  The voices of native people were desperately needed in this space. 
Deb Haaland, who is now our Secretary of the Interior and the first 
native person who has been a Secretary of the Interior, is one of the 
people who has filled a huge void with regard to protecting the 
sovereignty of the first peoples of these United States, and I am 
grateful for their presence.
  I also am very grateful for our finally electing Muslims to this 
body. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota are 
important voices, particularly since there is so much debate around the 
world about Muslims and their trustworthiness, reliability, and 
religious beliefs.
  They have shown us that Muslims care very, very deeply about America. 
There are no two people in this body who care more about America than 
Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar. Ilhan Omar was not only an immigrant, she 
was a refugee to this country. She is someone who loves America because 
we opened the door of opportunity for her, and she has insights that 
none of us can see because of the space that she has occupied.
  Mr. Speaker, I give honor to all of these women, and of course I 
adore Marcy Kaptur. I think Representative Sykes made a great tribute 
to Marcy Kaptur, but I would be remiss if I did not tell you how she 
has influenced me. I love Lake Michigan, which I represent in 
Wisconsin, and no one is more adamant about protecting this great 
resource, our Great Lakes, than Marcy Kaptur.
  We have 20 percent of the world's freshwater, more valuable than oil 
and gas, which people spend so much time protecting, but we have got 
Marcy Kaptur to protect the greatest resource that this country has.
  Before I close, I just want to mention one other person on here that 
we have not talked about today, and that is Nancy D'Alesandro Pelosi. 
As you know, Nancy was the first woman Speaker of the House of 
Representatives, and I would argue that history will designate her as 
the best Speaker ever. I was elected to Congress the term before she 
became Speaker.
  By the time Barack Obama was elected, the first Black President of 
the United States, I still couldn't pick myself up off the floor, I was 
just so overwhelmed by what it meant to have this mother and 
grandmother be able to deal with all of the different factions in the 
Democratic Caucus and to bring them all together to accomplish our 
purposes here. I mean, we had the Blue Dogs, the progressives, and the 
New Dems, and Nancy D'Alesandro Pelosi was the person who could get the 
vote. You don't bring bills to the floor unless you have got the vote, 
and Nancy was able to do it.

                              {time}  2030

  One of her greatest achievements was the Affordable Care Act, the so-
called ObamaCare. The Affordable Care Act has provided 20 million 
people who were formerly uninsured with affordable, comprehensive 
healthcare.
  I know President Barack Obama gets credit for that, but Nancy is the 
one that got the votes. Nancy D'Alesandro Pelosi got the votes for the 
ACA. It was difficult.
  This signature accomplishment is right up there with the passage of 
Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security. This safety net program will 
be Nancy Pelosi's greatest legacy. After she accomplished her greatest 
legacy, she wouldn't stop. She kept going.
  She shepherded the American Rescue Plan, which got many people shots 
in arms during a pandemic. She shepherded the American Rescue Plan that 
kept people from being evicted from their homes, saved small 
businesses, and saved our economy.
  Thank you, Nancy Pelosi.
  It was such a great accomplishment, but she didn't stop then. She got 
the bipartisan infrastructure bill passed in a hugely divided Congress. 
This bill provided the greatest investment in clean energy that the 
world has ever seen. It put us on track for meeting our climate goals 
by 2030. Nancy D'Alesandro Pelosi presided over that accomplishment.
  The Inflation Reduction Act supports our environment, but not only 
that. It provides billions of dollars of relief by finally allowing 
this Congress to negotiate drug prices for Medicare. One of the biggest 
expenses this country has is Medicare, a signature program that 
supports our seniors. While everyone is complaining about how we are 
going to continue to fund Medicare, this Inflation Reduction Act gives 
the ability to do what you do in capitalist countries.
  If this were IBM, Dell, Starbucks, Amazon, or any other large 
corporation that purchased as much healthcare for their employees as 
the United States of America does through Medicare, the VA, and 
Medicaid, they

[[Page H1402]]

would be able to sit down and negotiate drug prices based on the 
critical mass of people they are serving.
  We have lost billions of dollars protecting a rich pharmaceutical 
industry where Americans have paid five or six times as much for the 
same drug as people in Canada, France, or other places pay because we 
were unwilling to deny the fat cats and the shareholders of that 
company undue remittance.
  Nancy D'Alesandro Pelosi, Speaker Emerita--I ran into Nancy in the 
bathroom right after she had given up the gavel and yielded to Hakeem 
Jeffries to be our new leader, and I said, ``How are you doing, 
Nancy?'' She said: I am free.
  She didn't leave. She is still a Member of this body, still providing 
advice and counsel to our leadership. She didn't leave here in 
disgrace. She is leaving with a storied legacy of being a great leader.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank you and all the staff who has been here to 
listen to the powerful story of women.
  When women lead, America is great.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________