PRINTER'S NO. 3938
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
1031
Session of
2015
INTRODUCED BY DEAN, DiGIROLAMO, TOOHIL, SNYDER, McCARTER, ROZZI,
COHEN, BOBACK, VEREB, FREEMAN, SCHLEGEL CULVER, STURLA,
SCHLOSSBERG, CORBIN, YOUNGBLOOD, PASHINSKI, MILLARD, BARBIN,
KINSEY, DAVIS, COOK-ARTIS, KIRKLAND, READSHAW, CALTAGIRONE,
HARHAI, DONATUCCI, MAHONEY, D. COSTA, MARKOSEK, ACOSTA,
BULLOCK, THOMAS, ROSS, KIM, GROVE, GOODMAN, PAYNE, GINGRICH
AND HENNESSEY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35,
SEPTEMBER 27, 2016
A RESOLUTION
Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the first woman elected to
the Congress of the United States, the Honorable Jeannette
Rankin of Montana.
WHEREAS, Jeannette Rankin's life was filled with
extraordinary achievements, including being the first woman
elected to Congress, one of the few suffragists elected to
Congress and the only member of Congress to vote against United
States participation in both World War I and World War II; and
WHEREAS, Rankin served two nonconsecutive terms from 1917 to
1919 and 1941 to 1943; and
WHEREAS, Upon her first election in 1916, she observed, "I
may be the first woman member of Congress, I won't be the last";
and
WHEREAS, Rankin, the eldest daughter of a rancher and a
schoolteacher, was born on June 11, 1880, near Missoula,
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Montana, and was graduated from Montana State University in 1902
and attended the New York School of Philanthropy; and
WHEREAS, Rankin joined the women's suffrage movement, which
achieved its goal in Washington State in 1910, and her speaking
and organizing efforts helped Montana women gain the vote in
1914; and
WHEREAS, On August 29, 1916, Rankin secured the Republican
nomination for one of Montana's two at-large congressional
seats; and
WHEREAS, Rankin ran as a progressive, pledging to work for a
constitutional women's suffrage amendment and emphasizing social
welfare issues; and
WHEREAS, She was a committed pacifist opposing United States
participation in World War I; and
WHEREAS, Placing second in a three-way race, Rankin won one
of the two at-large congressional seats in Montana, running a
nonpartisan campaign in a democratic state during a period of
national hostility and mistrust toward parties in general; and
WHEREAS, This was the first opportunity for Montana women to
vote in a Federal election with Rankin acknowledging this moment
in a public victory statement saying, "I am deeply conscious of
the responsibility resting upon me"; and
WHEREAS, On that evening, Congress met in a joint session to
hear President Woodrow Wilson ask Congress to declare war on
Germany and "make the world safe for democracy"; and
WHEREAS, Rankin voted no and said during her floor speech,
"I want to stand by my country, but I cannot vote for war"; and
WHEREAS, As the first woman member of Congress, Rankin was on
the front lines of the national women's suffrage fight; and
WHEREAS, During the fall of 1917, she advocated for the
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creation and was subsequently appointed to the Committee on
Woman Suffrage; and
WHEREAS, During Rankin's second term, as it had been 24 years
earlier, the threat of war loomed large; and
WHEREAS, After the debate on the resolution authorizing
United States participation in World War II, Rankin stated, "As
a woman I can't go to war, and I refuse to send anyone else";
and
WHEREAS, The resolution passed 388 to 1 with Rankin being the
only "no" vote; and
WHEREAS, Later in life, Rankin became an outspoken anti-war
protestor of the Vietnam War, leading a new generation in a
march on Washington, D.C., to deliver a petition to then House
Speaker John McCormack; and
WHEREAS, On Rankin's 90th birthday in 1970, she was honored
with a reception for her lifetime achievements at the Rayburn
Office Building in Washington, D.C.; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives celebrate the
100th anniversary of the first woman elected to the Congress of
the United States, the Honorable Jeannette Rankin of Montana;
and be it further
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives commemorate the
life of Jeannette Rankin for all her accomplishments as an
advocate for peace and social welfare and leader of the women's
suffrage movement in the United States.
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