 |
Senate Women
Bipartisan Power
Workshop
November 15, 2012
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison
(R-Texas): front right
Sen. Olympia Snowe
(R-Maine): rear four from right
|
Impenetrable internal divisiveness undermines provisions of Constitution, business of American
people
Excerpting, editing, re-reporting by
Carolyn Bennett
Atmosphere of polarization, ‘my way
or the highway’ ideologies have become pervasive in campaigns, in governing
institutions ─ Outgoing Senator Snowe
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas)
FAREWELL
“As I exit the Senate,
I am aware that we are divided as a legislative body and as a country. I do not
think we have different goals--not here, and not in America--but we do have
different ways of reaching them.
“Congress suffers a great deal of criticism for partisan
acrimony. But while we may disagree politically and air our opposition in this
Chamber, it is the conversation behind the scenes that cements and defines our
relationships. I will leave the Senate knowing I have worked with men and women
of great patriotism, intellect, and heart on both sides of the aisle.
“… We seconded one another at times and engaged in rigorous
debate in others but the American people should know that, either way, we are
collegial and we all understand that our States have different needs and there
will be differences in priorities.
“But in the Senate, an adversary today will be an ally
tomorrow. It is a rare occasion for acrimony to turn personal.
“It [is] my parting
hope that this collegiality will not be lost.
“When our committees function, we pass bills in vigorous
markups, we put the bills in shape for floor debate. If they do not go through
committees and are not allowed floor amendments, the quality of the legislation
suffers and mistakes are often made. What differentiates the U.S. Senate from
the House is open debate and open amendments.”
As is the intent of the Constitution of the United States, “protecting
the rights of the minority assures that every Senator’s voice is heard and
every State represented in the Senate is heard.”
K
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ay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) served in the U.S. Senate from
1993 until this year (January 3, 2013). She
held positions of temporary co chair of the Republican National Convention in 1992;
Republican Conference vice chair (2000-2007); Republican Policy Committee chair
(2007-2009); deputy permanent chair of the Republican National Convention in 2004.
She was not a candidate for reelection to the Senate in 2012.
Before elections to the Senate, Kathryn Ann Bailey (Kay)
Hutchison was Texas state treasurer (1990-1993), vice chair of the National Transportation
Safety Board (1976-1978); bank executive and general counsel; businesswoman; a television
reporter; a member of the Texas House of Representatives (1972-1976).
She took her academic credentials at the University of Texas
(Austin) and University of Texas Law School (1967). Kay Bailey Hutchison was born
in Galveston, Texas (July 22, 1943).
Bibliography: Women in
Congress, 1917-2006: “Kathryn Ann (Kay)
Bailey Hutchison” prepared under the direction of the Committee on House
Administration by the Office of History and Preservation, U.S. House of
Representatives. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 2006. HUTCHISON,
Kathryn Ann Bailey (Kay, 1943 - )
Senator Olympia Jean Snowe (R-Maine)
PARTING WORDS
Quoted in Maine news sources, Senator Snowe said, “There is
no reason that we should be in the economic doldrums we are in today but we
have wasted precious time over the last few years by engaging in this political
combativeness for the purpose of gaining political leverage in the next
election.
“An atmosphere of polarization and ‘my way or the highway’
ideologies have become pervasive in campaigns and in our governing institutions
and, realistically, “I do not expect the partisanship of recent years in the
Senate to change over the short term,” said outgoing Senator Olympia Snowe.
“We should individually and collectively be embarrassed by
what is occurring here.
“Political heavyweights are more interested in taking jabs
at each other through press releases and floor speeches than they are in coming
together and doing even the most basic legislative work [and] my concern is that
this is going to create generation upon generation of lawmakers who think this
is the only way to conduct themselves. But there is another way and there are
some of us who still remember it.
“I don’t want to be part of the problem,” Senator Snowe
said. “I want to be part of the solution and I just didn’t see it changing from
the inside.”
“It is time for change in the way we govern and I believe that outside the United States Senate there are unique opportunities to build support for that change.
“I intend to help give voice to my fellow citizens who
believe as I do that we must return to an era of civility in government driven
by a common purpose to fulfill the promise that is unique to America.”
O
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lympia Snowe served in the U.S. Senate from 1995 until this
year (January 2013).
Before elections to the U.S. Senate (1994-2012, she was not
a candidate for reelection to the House in 1994 or to the Senate in 2012), she
served in the U.S. House of Representatives from January 3, 1979 until January
3, 1995. In the 108th and 109th Congresses, she was chair of the Committee on
Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
In her years preceding the U.S House and Senate, Olympia
Jean Snowe was a member of the Maine House of Representatives (1973-1976) and
the Maine State Senate (1976-1978); delegate to the Maine State Republican
convention and Republican National Convention (1976); member of the Auburn
board of voter registration (1971-1973); and was a businesswoman.
She took her academic credentials at the University of Maine
(Orono, 1969). Olympia Snowe was born Olympia Jean Boucles in Augusta (Kennebec
County), Maine (February 21, 1947).
Bibliography: Women in
Congress, 1917-2006: ” Olympia Snowe” prepared under the direction of the
Committee on House Administration by the Office of History and Preservation,
U.S. House of Representatives. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office,
2006. SNOWE, Olympia Jean (1947 - )
Sources and notes
HUTCHISON
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), FAREWELL TO THE
SENATE -- (Senate - December 19, 2012), Congressional Record, 112th Congress
(2011-2012),
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?r112:51:./temp/~r1125CW5MQ:e0:
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=h001016
Kay Bailey Hutchison urges common ground in Senate farewell
speech
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/headlines/20121220-kay-bailey-hutchison-urges-common-ground-in-senate-farewell-speech.ece
SNOWE
“Olympia Snowe Says Good-Bye to US Senate” (WABI-TV5 News
Desk) January 4, 2013, http://www.wabi.tv/news/36521/olympia-snowe-says-good-bye-to-us-senate
“Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe Says Goodbye” 12/13/2012 Reported By: Jay Field
http://www.mpbn.net/News/MaineNewsArchive/tabid/181/ctl/ViewItem/mid/3475/ItemId/25203/Default.aspx
http://thecommongood.net/2012/12/senator-olympia-snow-farewell/
“Sen. Olympia Snowe’s
full statement ─ U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe issued this statement this afternoon saying
that she will not seek re-election,” February 29, 2012, Portland Press Herald
http://www.pressherald.com/news/Sen-Olympia-Snowes-full-statement.html
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=S000663
Image: Mikulski, Senate Women Gather for Traditional,
Bipartisan Power Workshop November 15, 2012: WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Barbara A.
Mikulski (D-Md.), Dean of the Senate women, today hosted her traditional,
bipartisan Senate Women Power Workshop for the newly elected women Senators.
The Workshop is an opportunity for Senator Mikulski and the Senate women to
discuss everything from how to set up their offices to getting on the power
committees that make them effective advocates for their states, using the
Senate rules to achieve their objectives and building coalitions to get things done
in the Senate.
In addition to Senator Mikulski, participants included
Senator-Elect Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Senator
Susan M. Collins (R-Maine), Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Senator-Elect
Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Senator-Elect Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Senator-Elect
Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), Senator Amy
Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Senator Lisa Murkowski
(R-Alaska), Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Senator Olympia J. Snowe
(R-Maine), Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Senator-Elect Elizabeth Warren
(D-Mass.). http://www.mikulski.senate.gov/media/pressrelease/11-15-2012-2.cfm
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison: front right
Sen. Olympia Snowe: rear four from right
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Bennett's books are available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY] • See also: World Pulse: Global Issues through the eyes of Women: http://www.worldpulse.com/ http://www.worldpulse.com/pulsewire http://www.facebook.com/#!/bennetts2ndstudy
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