[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Page 1841]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        SHIRLEY CHISHOLM TRIBUTE

  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, today I pay tribute to a devoted public 
servant and a former Member of the U.S. Congress, Shirley Chisholm. As 
a passionate activist, the first African-American woman to be elected 
to Congress, as well as the first African-American to seek the 
Presidential nomination from a major political party, Congresswoman 
Chisholm was a person of exceptional courage and profound impact. She 
will be missed.
  Before her election to the New York State Legislature in 1964, she 
was a dedicated educator in New York City, serving as a teacher as well 
as a daycare director. Elected to national office in 1969, 
Congresswoman Chisholm worked for both gender and racial equality. She 
was cofounder of New York NOW, the first chapter of the National 
Organization for Women. In 1969, she became a founding member of the 
Congressional Black Caucus, and in 1971 she cofounded the National 
Women's Political Caucus.
  She continued her fight for minority representation when she sought 
the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in 1972. 
Although many criticized her campaign as a futile effort, she 
tenaciously continued her fight for the nomination and laid the 
groundwork for future minorities to run for the Presidency. In her own 
words, she ``ran for the Presidency, despite hopeless odds, to 
demonstrate sheer will and refusal to accept the status quo.'' And 
indeed she was instrumental in opening the door for women and 
minorities to enter Presidential races in the future. As she noted in 
her autobiography, ``The Good Fight,'' ``the next time a woman runs or 
a black, a Jew or anyone from a group that the country is `not ready' 
to elect to its highest office, I believe he or she will be taken 
seriously from the start. The door is not open yet, but it is ajar.''
  Throughout her lifetime, Shirley Chisholm worked to open doors for 
women and minorities inside and outside of the political arena, and in 
the process gained the respect and acknowledgement of even her most 
ardent political foes. By remaining loyal to her own beliefs and 
steadfastly working to accomplish her goals, Shirley Chisholm truly was 
what the title of her autobiography declared: ``unbought and 
unbossed.''
  Her vision, her ideals, and her courage are certainly not to be 
forgotten. I extend my deepest sympathies to her family and friends.

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