[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 16204-16205]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



           TRIBUTE TO THE LATE GOVERNOR JOAN FINNEY OF KANSAS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DENNIS MOORE

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, August 2, 2001

  Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to former 
Governor Joan Finney of Kansas, who passed away on July 28th in her 
hometown of Topeka.
  Governor Finney was an extraordinary woman, a pioneer, a populist, 
and my friend.

[[Page 16205]]

  Governor Finney served the people of Kansas for sixteen years as our 
elected State Treasurer and then was elected as the first woman 
Governor of Kansas, defeating her two predecessors in that office while 
on her way to achieving that goal.
  Joan Marie McEnroy Finney was born on February 12, 1925. Her father 
abandoned her pregnant mother and two older sisters in 1924, and her 
mother raised the three girls by teaching piano, voice and harp. 
Governor Finney herself was an accomplished musician and often played 
her harp at political and social events. She graduated from Manhattan 
High School in 1942 and earned a bachelor's degree in economic history 
from Washburn University in Topeka in 1978. Her political career began 
in 1953 when U.S. Senator Frank Carlson of Kansas hired her as a 
secretary in his Washington, D.C., office. She returned to Topeka where 
she worked for Carlson until he retired in 1969; in the following year 
Finney was appointed Shawnee County Election Commissioner, where she 
served until 1972.
  In 1972, Finney sought the Republican nomination for U.S. Congress in 
the Second District of Kansas. Two years later, she switched parties 
and was elected State Treasurer as a Democrat, winning re-election 
three times. I first got to know her when we were both statewide 
candidates on the Kansas ballot in 1986; I lost and she won. I know 
from firsthand experience on the campaign trail with her that she 
possessed an amazing ability to remember names and personal details 
about virtually every Kansan she encountered.
  In a recent interview with the Topeka Capital-Journal, former Kansas 
Democratic Party Chairman Jim Parrish noted that Finney had switched 
parties because of the way the Republican Party in Kansas had treated 
her:

       She was told generally by the party that, ``We're not ready 
     for a woman.'' . . . I remember her telling me she counselled 
     with Frank Carlson before she did it, and then proceeded to 
     make the change. I go all the way back to the 1974 
     treasurer's campaign with Joan Finney, and there's not a 
     stronger, more determined woman in all of Kansas political 
     life, ever. And among women I would say she stands tall in 
     terms of being able to set her sights on an objective and go 
     for it in a world where, when she started, it wasn't 
     particularly easy for women.

  The Kansas City Star had it right recently, when they wrote:

       People credited Finney's success to her campaign style, 
     kidding that she had crossed every creek in Kansas. And she 
     was the master one-on-one politician, grasping a voter's hand 
     in both of hers. She saw herself as a populist who listened 
     to everybody.

  The Associated Press quoted Republican State Senator David Adkins of 
Leawood, Kansas, as saying,

       You had to see Joan Finney work a bean feed to understand 
     her appeal. She would walk in and she already knew half the 
     people there, and the other half, before she left they would 
     think she was their best friend.

  Her good friend, Kansas Senate Democratic Leader Anthony Hensley hit 
the nail on the head when he said,

       She literally went door-to-door all of her political 
     career. She'd walk in the parades, speak at the chili 
     suppers, campaign in bowling alleys and grocery stores, just 
     picking up bits and pieces from the people.

  In 1991, the Kickapoo Tribe of Kansas gave her the name White Morning 
Star Woman after she became the first governor to issue an official 
proclamation to recognize the sovereignty of American Indian tribes. 
The state's four tribes and Indian leaders nationwide admired Governor 
Finney for supporting tribal efforts to open casinos on reservations as 
an income source for them and for being sympathetic to their efforts to 
assert their sovereignty.
  As Governor, she appointed women to an unprecedented number of top 
jobs in state government. On average, at least half of her cabinet 
members were women, and her staff of advisors was almost exclusively 
female. As Kansas Insurance Commissioner Kathleen Sebelius recently 
commented,

       I don't think there's any question that Joan Finney was one 
     of the most remarkable politicians I've ever known. She 
     changed the face of politics in this state and made it 
     possible for women like me to be seriously considered for 
     statewide office. She pushed women along every step of the 
     way.... She has an impressive place in American history and 
     an incredible place in Kansas history.

  During her four years as Governor, the state rewrote its law for 
distributing money to public schools, revised its abortion law, 
overhauled its workers' compensation system, re-enacted a capital 
punishment law, and signed four compacts that allowed Indian tribes in 
northeast Kansas to open casinos. Legislators rejected her proposals to 
amend the state constitution to provide for public initiatives and 
referendums. Finney also took credit for opening international markets 
to dozens of Kansas businesses due to a series of international trade 
missions she undertook.
  Most importantly, though, Joan Finney will be remembered as a true 
populist leader in the finest sense of the word. As she said to the 
Topeka Capital-Journal shortly before her election as Governor:

       I believe the people should be supreme in all things. Even 
     if I don't agree and the majority want a certain issue and 
     believe in a certain issue, I accept that and I will stand by 
     the people.

  Governor Finney was a genuine Kansas pioneer, particularly for women 
in public life. She truly loved people and the people of Kansas loved 
and respected her. As Commissioner Sebelius noted,

       She had the heart of a true Kansan--someone with strong 
     values, ideals and pride. We should all be so lucky to live 
     like that.

  We may never see another leader in our state with her determination, 
self-confidence and independent spirit, and that truly is our loss.
  Governor Joan Finney is survived by her husband, Spencer Finney, and 
their three children, Sally Finney, Dick Finney, and Mary Holladay. I 
join with them in mourning the loss of this unique, incredible woman.

                          ____________________