Senate Resolution Honors Geraldine Ferraro

On March 29, the Senate approved, by unanimous consent, a resolution (S. Res. 114) honoring former Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro, the first female candidate for vice president, and extending the condolences of the Senate on her death.

Sponsored by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), the resolution contains a number of findings, including:

• Congresswoman Ferraro worked her way through law school at Fordham University, at a time when very few women did so;
• She then joined the Queens County District Attorney’s Office, where she supervised the prosecution of a variety of violent crimes, including child and domestic abuse;
• In 1978, New York’s Ninth Congressional District in Queens elected Congresswoman Ferraro to the U.S. House of Representatives, where she was one of only 16 women members of the House;
• When she was nominated as the running mate of Vice President Walter Mondale in the 1984 presidential race, Congresswoman Ferraro became the first woman ever chosen to run on the national ticket of either of the two major political parties of the United States; and
• Congresswoman Ferraro’s candidacy continues the progress begun by women who achieved political firsts before her and helped to tear down barriers to the full and equal participation of women in national politics.

The resolution also states that “the Senate pays tribute to Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro’s work to improve the lives of women and families not only in the Ninth Congressional District of New York, whom she represented so well, but also the lives of women and families all across the United States.”