Vote Delay Is Day of Jubilation for Democratic Congresswomen : Causes: They view their anger as bringing the nation’s attention to sexual harassment. Their Republican counterparts see it as bittersweet victory.
WASHINGTON — For most women members of Congress who have struggled to advance the causes of women, Wednesday was a day of jubilation: a fistful of angry female lawmakers had helped stop cold the scheduled vote on the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas over allegations of sexual harassment, and put the sensitive issue on the lips of nearly every worker in America.
But for women lawmakers who also are Republicans, Wednesday’s victory has been a bittersweet affair: Their loyalty to President Bush and to a nominee who shares many of their views barred their participation in one of the most decisive victories that the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues has had to date.
“Upon reflection, yesterday was an extraordinary day,†said Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles). While the Thomas nomination may not be defeated because of one single issue, “a thousand nicks†is what will forward the agendas of women.
But Republican members of the Caucus for Women’s Issues, many of them also fervent champions of women’s causes, are not expected to deliver any of those nicks.
As Rep. Patricia Schroeder (D-Colo.), who co-chairs the caucus, began gathering forces for the bid to delay Thomas’ confirmation, she asked Republican members of the caucus to sign a letter to Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell (D-Me.). The Republican women demurred, and Democratic women decided that they would be most effective in arguing for further investigation of the charges if they appealed to their Senate Democratic counterparts alone.
“The Republicans weren’t going to buck the Senate on this,†said Schroeder. “We knew that and concluded that we had to work Democrat-to-Democrat.â€
Although they stood on the sidelines of Tuesday’s march, Republican women members of Congress Wednesday applauded the sensitizing effect that the debate over sexual harassment will have on men and women nationwide. Still, several women lawmakers said that they would not have joined their Democratic colleagues, even if asked.
“In a partisan situation like this, it’s difficult to know how to handle the issue,†said Rep. Marge Roukema (R-N.J.), a leading proponent of women’s and family issues on Capitol Hill. “That does not mean we cannot be effective in using discreet channels to influence our leadership on this and things of this nature. That was the reason I did not take overt action.â€
But Roukema added that another consideration stayed her hand. As the principal Republican sponsor of the family and medical leave bill, which President Bush has threatened to veto, Roukema said she needs to build support among House Republicans and acceptance at the White House. It would not have been wise, she said, to risk that support Tuesday by joining Democrats, who were perceived as fighting to sink the nomination of Thomas.
“I have other fights on my hands,†Roukema added.
By contrast, Democratic women Wednesday came out fighting for their agenda with renewed zeal in the wake of the Senate’s decision to delay the Thomas confirmation vote. Schroeder introduced the Women’s Economic Equity Act, a measure to counter pay and other inequities between men and women in the workplace.
Schroeder said that the bill has languished for 10 years and added that it is not entirely accidental that its sponsors chose Wednesday to press anew for its passage.
“Hopefully, we’ve got people listening a little more carefully than they were before,†said Schroeder. “It looked like a good day to say that women are not treated equitably in the workplace. This idea that a woman can just walk away from sexual harassment is wrong: It is just not an equal playing field out there in the workplace.â€
But the bipartisan sponsorship of the Women’s Economic Equity Act underscores a crucial point, said several of the Democratic women who helped block the Thomas vote Tuesday. If the causes of women are to be advanced, the women lawmakers on the front lines of that fight said they must work first to increase their numbers, and save the partisan sniping for later.
“We all did what we did in our way,†said Rep. Barbara Boxer (D-Greenbrae) of the behavior of Democratic and Republican congresswomen. “We are members of Congress and we do belong to different parties, but the outcry in the public was among women.
“And one thing I know is that there just aren’t enough women on Capitol Hill to represent the women in our democracy and there should be more. If there were, then the seriousness and scope of these issues would be better understood.â€
COMPANIES RESPOND: Many firms in state are taking complaints of sexual harassment seriously. D1
Women in U.S. Government
The Bush Administration has more women in top jobs than did the administrations of Ronald Reagan or Jimmy Carter. In his first two years, President Bush named 185 women to full-time presidential appointments, compared with 101 for Carter and 105 for Reagan.
Still, women remain far outnumbered by men in both elected and appointed posts. Here are some of the top-ranking women in the Administration and in the higher levels of government:
U.S. Senate / Two females out of 100 senators: Nancy Landon Kassebaum (R-Kan.) Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.)
Cabinet Rank / Two females out of 17: Trade Representative Carla A. Hills Labor Secretary Lynn Martin
U.S. House of Representatives / Twenty-eight females out of 435 representatives: Helen Delich Bentley (R-Md.) Barbara Boxer (D-Greenbrae) Beverly B. Byron (D-Md.) Barbara-Rose Collins (D-Mich.) Cardiss Collins (D-Ill.) Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) Joan Kelly Horn (D-Mo.) Nancy L. Johnson (R-Conn.) Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) Barbara B. Kennelly (D-Conn.) Marilyn Lloyd (D-Tenn.) Jill Long (D-Ind.) Nita M. Lowey (D-N.Y.) Jan Meyers (R-Kan.) Patsy T. Mink (D-Hawaii) Susan Molinari (R-N.Y.) Constance A. Morella (R-Md.) Mary Rose Oakar (D-Ohio) Elizabeth J. Patterson (D-S.C.) Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) Marge Roukema (R-N.J.) Patricia Schroeder (D-Colo.) Louise M. Slaughter (D-N.Y.) Olympia J. Snowe (R-Me.) Jolene Unsoeld (D-Wash.) Barbara F. Vucanovich (R-Nev.) Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles)
In the California Delegation Boxer Pelosi Waters
Others in the Administration
Assistant to the President (the highest rank for senior staff): One female out of 15 people--Edith E. Holiday.
Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter
Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond. In your inbox three times per week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
