In 1972 Colorado elected Patricia Schroeder to the House of Representatives. I was so happy. She was anti-Vietnam war and a liberal. When asked how she as a mother of two young children could serve in the House, she replied, “I have a brain and a uterus and I use both.” She and Ron Dellums, a liberal member of Congress from Oakland (yes, I campaigned for him) were both made members of the Armed Services Committee. Prior to that the Committee was noted for its conservative positions. They were a breeze of fresh air.
She wrote a book about her experiences entitled “24 Years of House Work...and the Place is Still a Mess.” Incidentally, when she ran the first time in 1972 the FBI had placed her under surveillance
After she left Congress she became the President of the Association of American Publishers. In that position she opposed Googles’s effort to digitize books, saying that Google was trying to freeload on the talent of authors. She won a settlement in which Google was forced to compensate writers.
She remained active in progressive social causes until her death. What a wonderful woman.
Some information for this was taken from the obit written by Katharine Q. Seelye that appeared in the New York Times. The hero-worship is all mine.
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