Political Quotes

“in November of 2003, I was honored to join with the Senator from Maine, Ms. Collins, in speaking on the Senate floor about the need for a national museum honoring the contributions of women in American history. Senator Collins and I took turns addressing the accomplishments of pioneering women from our respective States, who were breaking through glass ceilings long before society acknowledged that they even existed. One of the women I discussed was Sadie Brower Neakok, an Inupiaq Eskimo woman, from Barrow on Alaska's North Slope. Sadie has the distinction of being the first woman to serve as a magistrate in the State of Alaska. Four years before the United States passed its landmark civil rights act, an Eskimo woman was sitting on the bench in the State of Alaska. But her life was remarkable in so many other respects. For one thing, she was appointed in 1960, a year after Alaska was admitted to statehood and long before women, not to mention Alaska Native women, came to realize that a career in the law was even an option. She continued in that role for nearly 2 decades. Second, she was not trained as a lawyer. She was trained as an educator at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Yet when Sadie took the bench everyone knew she meant business. You should know that in the early days, the bench was Sadie's kitchen table. She was tough on offenders, but equally tough on Government officials when asked to enforce unjust laws and regulations.”