[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 5099-5100]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     MEMORIAL FOR GERALDINE FERRARO

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
New York (Mrs. McCarthy) for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. McCARTHY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I also am part of the New 
York delegation, and I want to talk about Geraldine Ferraro. My good 
colleague, Carolyn Maloney, basically laid out her life and all the 
good things that she did. I guess I want to talk about what she meant 
to so many of us that weren't even in politics back then.
  I think the first time that I ever saw Geraldine or heard of 
Geraldine was when she was announcing that she was going to be running 
for Vice President. So all these things from last week, when we were 
notified that Geraldine had passed away, many of us wanted to go back 
to New York for the funeral. Unfortunately, our business here kept us 
here so we couldn't go back. We're kind of used to that.
  A lot of times it is said you can spend a lifetime here in Congress, 
but 2 minutes after you die they will say, ``Who was that?'' But that's 
not Geraldine. Geraldine was someone that was a force. Again I say in 
1984, like most Americans, I took notice of Geraldine Ferraro when she 
did accept the Democratic nomination for Vice President at the national 
convention in San Francisco.
  She struck me as a unique figure on TV, a woman in a male-dominated 
profession. She had a smile. She had confidence. When she got onto that 
stage, you just knew this radiance that came out of her. For myself, I 
was not in politics, didn't follow politics too well, but she certainly 
gave a strong impression to me.
  Her message was also full of hope. I happen to believe that, 
especially when we say to people, ``If we can do this, we can do 
anything.'' I am one of those people that believe that. I am here in 
Congress. Everybody said I couldn't do that. Somehow I got here. 
Somehow I have stayed here. Somehow I keep fighting for my constituents 
back at home.
  She inspired women to get involved. She inspired them to get involved 
in politics, whether at the staff level or as a candidate. And while I 
understood the importance of the event, I had no idea that I would be 
standing here praising this woman that I first saw on TV. As I said, I 
had no political ambitions. I was a nurse, just several miles away from 
the city where Geraldine was. Like most Americans, I did vote and I 
followed the news, but I never thought I would get involved in 
politics.
  Fast forward 12 years, it's mid 1996, and I'm still a nurse in Nassau 
County and still not thinking about politics whatsoever. Something 
happened to my life, as it does to so many other lives. An event 
happens, and all of a sudden you change and become an activist. Gun 
violence was unfortunately the issue that hit my family and many 
families on the Long Island Railroad. My husband was killed. My son was 
seriously wounded. I decided that I was going to do something about it. 
Geraldine Ferraro, the person that I saw on TV, called me. She said, 
``Carolyn, you should really think about running for Congress.'' There 
were other people

[[Page 5100]]

calling me, too. And I'm thinking, ``I'm a nurse. What do I know about 
politics?''
  But you know what? If I was going to try and do something, then I had 
to run. Everybody told me I was going to lose. Maybe I would have. But 
I didn't. I won. But Geraldine was always there to give advice. Just 
because you're a woman doesn't mean you can't be tough. Just because 
you're a woman, you can be tough and you can be gentle, and you have to 
use that to get legislation done.
  Well, here I am in Congress, and I am proud to be following in the 
footsteps of Geraldine Ferraro. I wouldn't use the words, the kind 
words that people use for her on myself like ``pioneer'' or 
``trailblazer.'' I actually followed Geraldine and her advice to come 
to Washington and try to make a difference.
  Like so many women in New York politics today, Geraldine helped me as 
I went through from private citizen to candidate to public official. 
She opened so many doors for me, introducing me to people that I needed 
to meet. She was well known for this, for spending as much energy 
helping lift up others and having another woman follow.
  We will all remember you, Geraldine. I will always remember you. God 
bless you. We do remember you. Thank you.
  Again I thank my colleagues, Charlie and Carolyn and Peter, for 
arranging this moment we could pay tribute to Geraldine.
  With only 17 percent of members of Congress being women, we still 
have a long way to go when it comes to equality in representation.
  But certainly we couldn't be where we are today if it weren't for 
Geraldine.
  I for one am looking forward to making a living tribute to Geraldine, 
to take her philosophy of helping others, of lifting people up the 
ladder behind you, as I continue my career here.
  Thank you very much.

                          ____________________