[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 159 (Friday, September 29, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4803-S4804]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      REMEMBERING DIANNE FEINSTEIN

  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I first saw Dianne--and I see people 
like the Speaker Emerita and so many of her friends and family that 
knew her long before Senator Padilla--but 1992, the Year of the Woman, 
the national convention--my first national convention, a young lawyer--
and there she was on the stage with Senator Boxer in that 
groundbreaking year.
  When I think of Dianne, as I have heard from my colleagues, I think 
about the dignity she brought to this place; about how she would dig 
into every single issue, the independent thought, the trailblazing.
  She came into politics as a mayor and in the most tragic of 
circumstances. She was a city council member. There was an 
assassination, and there she is thrust on the national stage. As 
Senator Padilla talked about, she always put California first.
  I remember, at one point when we were debating and speaking out on a 
national election and someone said something about another candidate 
having been the mayor of a tough town. I remember Dianne saying: You 
don't know what a tough town is until you are mayor of San Francisco.
  The way she would dig into the issues was probably my most memorable 
moment. She invited me to stay overnight at her house after an event; 
and I got up early in the morning and she called me, summoned me into 
her room. She was sitting straight up with these big fuzzy slippers on, 
on a Saturday morning, reading a 200-page bill, the Patent Reform Act, 
and she started quizzing me--we were both on the Judiciary Committee at 
the time, the only women on the Judiciary Committee--on the details 
about the bill. That was Dianne. She did her homework.
  She came into politics at a time when there weren't many women 
leaders. The way she achieved her goals

[[Page S4804]]

and passed bills and did what she wants was not because she was just--
they were just going to accept her as she was at that moment in time. 
It was the hard work. It was the relationships. It was the leaderships.
  When I heard about the seersucker suit, I had the same experience. I 
am brandnew in the Senate. I don't have much resources. And Dianne 
calls to get my measurements. That actually happened. And she got me 
one of those suits as well.
  When I talk to young women about them getting involved in politics 
these days, a lot of them shy away from it. We still aren't where we 
are supposed to be with the numbers. One of the reasons they give is 
the attacks; they can't handle the negativity. When I think of Dianne, 
she just kept her head high. I literally think of her posture. She kept 
her head high. She walked through every storm. Things would fall on the 
side, but she had a mission and her mission would be whatever was her 
responsibility of that day. Whether it was the Patent Reform Act, 
whether it was getting her groundbreaking report done on torture, 
whether it was the work she did in leading the historic legislation on 
the assault weapons ban, she kept her head up high and she led. That 
was her instinct. No matter what happened in this place, no matter what 
clothes changed, no matter who changed, she always led. And we will 
miss her today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.

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