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




                       HONORING GERALDINE FERRARO

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
New York (Mrs. Maloney) for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise with the New York delegation to 
honor the memory and many contributions of one of our favorite 
daughters, Geraldine Ferraro. Last Thursday, New Yorkers poured out in 
great numbers to honor her at her funeral. Her three children--Donna, 
Laura, and John, Jr.--spoke eloquently and movingly in support and love 
of their late mother. And at the funeral and speaking in a eulogy 
beautifully for her, Vice President Mondale, Secretary of State 
Madeleine Albright, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, 
Congresswoman Jane Harman, Senator Mikulski, and former President 
Clinton.
  It would have thrilled her to see four women precede a President in 
eulogizing and speaking about her, two of whom were Secretaries of 
State, because it was her life that helped inspire and move women 
forward in our national life, not only in politics but in every area--
business, finance. All areas of American life, Geraldine Ferraro 
inspired with her life and her historic run for Vice President of the 
United States.
  With her passing, America lost a leader who was as wise as she was 
warm; a trailblazer who broke down barriers for women. For women 
everywhere, not just in the United States but across the world, 
Geraldine Ferraro was a champion and a heroine. For me, personally, she 
was a dear, dear friend and a mentor.
  What seemed to non-New Yorkers as a feisty and fast-talking woman 
seemed to us as just another mom from Queens. She inspired us with her 
personal story.
  The daughter of Italian immigrants, raised by her seamstress mother 
after her father died at 8, she became a public school teacher, a 
lawyer--one of just two women in her law class--and a Member and leader 
of Congress, elected in 1978. She also, after her historic run, became 
a commentator on television, a delegate to the United Nations. She 
headed the World Conference in Beijing in 1995, and I was proud to be 
part of her delegation at the World Conference on Women.
  Last August, on her 75th birthday, we renamed the Post Office in Long 
Island City in her honor. It used to be in her district; it is now in 
mine. And I was honored to be able to author the legislation and work 
with my New York colleagues and others to pass it. And she was so 
thrilled at that naming to see so many of her friends, not only from 
New York and her district but across the country, come in one place to 
honor her.
  Later that day, which happened to also be Women's Equality Day, she 
rang the bell at the New York Stock Exchange in honor of the progress 
for women.
  I know that a post office is only the start of the memorials to this 
wonderful, charming, talented trailblazer who continued blazing trails 
her entire life. I met with her shortly before she died, and she had a 
list of constituents she wanted helped and causes she wanted completed.
  We do stand on her shoulders and women like her who came before us.
  I will never forget, as an eager, young delegate to the 1984 
Democratic National Convention, and I can tell you firsthand that 
Geraldine Ferraro thrilled us when she took the stage as the first 
woman ever nominated by a major political party to be its candidate for 
Vice President of the United States.

                              {time}  1030

  It was absolutely electrifying. She changed my life, and she changed 
the lives of women everywhere. She changed the aspirations of women and 
how they view themselves.
  I will never forget being on the floor. Many of the men gave their 
delegate card to the women delegates who were part-time delegates. So 
the floor was filled with women. People were handing out cigars saying, 
``It's a woman.'' And when she went to the floor, there was literally 
applause for over 10 minutes.
  I shall miss her dearly and shall honor her passing by redoubling my 
efforts to complete her unfinished work to pass the ERA. It is time to 
enshrine in our Constitution the high principle of gender equality that 
Geraldine Ferraro so courageously stood for in her life.
  Geraldine, we will miss you, we honor you, and we thank you for your 
many, many contributions to American life.

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