Honoring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor

HONORING JUSTICE SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR -- (House of Representatives - March 01, 2006)

Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I am very proud to join my colleagues today to honor a woman who not only contributed immensely to American jurisprudence, but also showed tremendous courage and perseverance in finding her way to the top of the legal field at a time when the legal field was virtually closed to women.

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor graduated magna cum laude in 1950 with a bachelor's degree in economics from Stanford University, my alma mater. In just 2 years, instead of the usual 3 years, Justice O'Connor graduated third in her class at Stanford Law School in 1952 at a time, as the chairman has said, when only 4 percent of law school graduates were women.

Despite her impressive law school record and obvious talent, Justice O'Connor could not find a single law firm that would give her a job after graduation, but that did not deter her. She heard that San Mateo County in California, the county just to the north of my home, had once hired a female attorney and so she decided to go there in search of her first legal job, but she learned that there was not enough funding in place or a place in the office for her to work.

That did not deter her. She wrote a long letter explaining why she should be hired and offered to start work for free. She placed her desk in the same area where the secretaries sat. She got the job and before long a paid position opened up and she took it.

Justice O'Connor's perseverance did not end there. She went on to become an assistant attorney general for Arizona. She was appointed and later elected to the Arizona State senate, elected as a county judge, and appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals.

Justice O'Connor has been a leader for women in many ways. She became the first woman to serve as the majority leader of the Arizona State senate and the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, paving the way and opening the door for the next generation of women to substantively participate in the field of law. In fact, I feel, as a lawyer myself, a debt of gratitude to Justice O'Connor for the groundbreaking path that she laid for all of us who followed.

But let us not forget that she was not only a symbol of hope for aspiring women lawyers all around the Nation, but she has also been a powerful contributor to our American jurisprudence, often the pivotal fifth vote on some of the most important issues in modern American history that came before the U.S. Supreme Court.

I strongly urge my colleagues in the House to unanimously approve this resolution honoring this extraordinary woman, and I look forward to a unanimous vote of support by the House of Representatives.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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