Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi

Resolution Honoring Corinne "Lindy" Claiborne Boggs on the Occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the Founding of the Congressional Women's Caucus


July 22, 2002


I am so pleased to be part of this effort honoring an outstanding woman who has been such an important role model for me and for so many women in political life, Ambassador Lindy Boggs.

Lindy Boggs had a career of "firsts." To name a few: She was the first women elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana; the first woman to chair a national political convention; the first woman to serve as ambassador to the Holy See - and what a great ambassador she was

Each one of these "firsts" helped clear the path for women to take on leadership roles and to make our voices heard.

Though of course, she wasn't in on the actual vote, I have no doubt that I have Lindy Boggs to thank for privilege of being the highest-ranking woman ever in congressional leadership.

I also have no doubt that if you asked Lindy about her life of public service, you would never hear about all those "firsts."

What Lindy cared about were the accomplishments - not what she symbolized, but what she had done.

Here too, the list is long.

She was instrumental in ensuring that women had access to credit. She fought for civil rights, pay equity for women, protection of the exploited and assistance to the underprivileged.

Her leadership of the Women's Caucus created a powerful bipartisan force for creating policy on issues of concern to not just women, but all Americans - issues like Social Security, pensions and education.

Her most important, I think she would say, was raising her three children. I think her son, Tom Boggs, said it best at a family celebration when he toasted her as: "Mother, campaign manager, mother, consummate hostess, mother, civil rights advocate, mother, congresswoman, grandmother, conventions chairman, mother, author, great grandmother, ambassador, mother."

To that I would add one more title: Teacher.

She taught so many of us here in Congress, not just about the ins-and-outs and arcane goings on of this august body. She taught us what mattered, and how to make those things happen.

I'd like to leave you with two of those lessons, two of the best pieces of advice I have ever gotten.

The first, she passed on to me from her husband, the late House Majority Leader Hale Boggs.

The advice was: "Never fight any fight as if it's your last fight."

No matter how right you think you are, no matter how passionate or angry, you always take off your gloves and shake hands after it's over and come out fighting on the next round.

The second piece of advice that I will always treasure is: "Know thy power."

Lindy taught me this before I became a Member of Congress. She was speaking to a group of women and she told us that everyone, women, children, workers, people, we should all know our power, because Congress will always respond to the voices of the American people.

It is easy to get caught up in "Potomac Fever" and believe the power to make decisions rests in the hands of the small group of us who are allowed to cast the actual votes in Congress.

But that is not true. The power is in the hands of the people. Nothing is more eloquent to a member of Congress than the voice of his or her own constituents. We work for them.

Thanks to Lindy, the power is increasingly in the hands of women as well as men.

For that, and for so much more, I thank you.

I am proud to have this opportunity to honor Lindy Boggs.

Everyone who ever served with her was privileged to call her a colleague.

Yes, she is a gem. And she truly deserves the title "the gentlewoman from Louisiana."