EMILY's List
Here's to 80: EMILY's List passes a historic milestone
By Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro on 07/17/2009 @ 09:20 AM
First, I would like to extend a warm and generous welcome to my new colleague in the House, Judy Chu of California. I look forward to having Judy in our caucus, and I am sure she will bring a strong voice to Congress and continue the progressive legacy of her predecessor, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis. It’s always great to have another Democrat and another woman joining our ranks on Capitol Hill.
Congresswoman Chu will be the 80th woman in the House of Representatives who was elected with the help of EMILY’s List. This is a remarkable milestone. I have served in the House of Representatives since 1990, and can tell you first hand -- the transformation over even the past twenty years in terms of opportunity for female candidates has been extraordinary. When I ran for office in 1990, 77 women sought seats in the House and Senate. In 2008, 133 women ran for seats in the House alone.
Looking back over this 80th victory, and speaking as a former executive director of the organization, I want to say I am exceedingly proud of the hard work put forth by EMILY’s List over the years. Without EMILY’s List, this progress simply would not have been possible.
I am reminded of a quote by the famous progressive children’s rights activist, Grace Abbott. Speaking of her lifelong crusade to improve the lot of the nation’s children, she said never to let short-term setbacks cause them to falter. “There will, I warn you, be discouragements and disappointments,” she said. “But the cause of children must triumph ultimately. The important thing is that we should be on our way. Perhaps you may ask, ‘Does the road lead uphill all the way?’ And I must answer, ‘Yes, to the very end.’ But if I offer you a long, hard struggle, I can also promise you great rewards.”
In this cause, and the cause of EMILY’s List -- getting more women into public office -- we have seen both a long, hard struggle and great rewards. Grace Abbott herself played a key role in the struggle -- she was the first woman nominated to a Cabinet post, as Herbert Hoover’s Secretary of Labor. (The first woman to hold a Cabinet post was Frances Perkins, Secretary of Labor for FDR.) We have come a long way from 1916, when Jeanette Rankin was elected America’s first congresswoman, and even from the 1960’s, when congresswomen of color like Patsy Mink and Shirley Chisholm shattered both gender and racial barriers in their historic elections.
And we have come a long way since 1985, when 25 women met in the home of Ellen Malcolm and pledged to raise money for pro-choice Democratic women. Since then, our caucus has been made eighty stronger by the efforts of EMILY’s List. And, trust me, these amazing women have made a real difference on the Hill.
Rep. Louise Slaughter of New York is the first woman to chair the House Rules Committee, and has served admirably in that position. Rep. Diana DeGette of Colorado has been a fierce advocate for choice, and led the fight to overturn President Bush’s limits on stem cell research. Rep. Nydia Velazquez of New York, America’s first Puerto Rican Congresswoman, is chairwoman of both the House Small Business Committee and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus with distinction. And with Nancy Pelosi, the nation’s first female Speaker of the House, at the helm, these women are leading the way to a more progressive America.
But, our work is not done. As Grace Abbott reminded us, our struggle really is “uphill all the way.” If we are to continue moving forward and making change, we need more women like Slaughter, DeGette, and Velazquez in the House. Since 1985, EMILY’s List has been the organization supporting these women and making sure they are elected -- It is critical that we continue to support them.
Here’s to the first 80, and here’s to many more.
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