[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 511]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      CONGRATULATING NANCY PELOSI

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Stark) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, as dean of the California delegation, I often 
wonder what it gets one besides old age and the infirmities that come 
with that, but I must say that it is a great pleasure today as dean 
because I have the honor to recognize officially the true 
accomplishment of the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi) as she 
takes over the position of minority whip and becomes the highest-
ranking woman ever in the U.S. House of Representatives. I offer my 
congratulations to her and her family on this tremendous achievement.
  Our State is proud of Nancy, as are all the women and men throughout 
the country. Nancy's a trail blazer for women and for our State, but 
she is not the first. She joins a long line of women leaders from the 
State of California.
  Throughout American history, California has sent more women to 
Congress than any other State. The first woman, Mae Ella Nolan, was 
elected to replace her late husband and sworn in January of 1923, 
shortly before I got here.
  In 1925 California elected Florence Prag Kahn, the State's second 
woman to serve in the House. She served for 12 years in the House and 
was the first Jewish woman to serve in Congress.
  In January of 1945, Helen Gahagan Douglas became the third California 
woman and, of course, as my colleagues know, set the foil for our 
former President, Mr. Nixon.
  In 1972, the year that I was first elected, California elected its 
fourth woman member, Yvonne Brathwaite Burke. Congressman Brathwaite 
had her own couple of firsts. She was the first African American woman 
to represent California and also was the first woman to give birth to a 
child while serving in Congress.
  So California has a rich tradition of sending women to Washington, 
D.C. In my 30 years I have been proud to serve with several women 
leaders from our great State. The gentlewoman from California (Ms. 
Pelosi), however, has risen to the top, the best of the best.
  The occasion we mark today raises the bar for women and men 
everywhere. She has succeeded through the power of her ideas and the 
strength of her convictions. She will be a formidable and fabulous 
whip. She will even be able to keep me in line; and I congratulate her 
and I applaud her, and I am proud to call her my colleague and friend.

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