Zoe Lofgren: “this is a very sad day. I remember when I first met Patsy and saw Patsy. It was in 1970, and I was on the staff of…”

“this is a very sad day. I remember when I first met Patsy and saw Patsy. It was in 1970, and I was on the staff of then-Congressman Don Edwards, and I thought this was really somebody, this was really somebody; and I watched her and I watched her on the ERA, and I never dreamed that many years later after she had gone back to Hawaii and come back to the House that I would get to serve with her, and I really value the years I served with Patsy. I knew her really as just a tireless champion for the underdog. She believed in the power of education, and she fought to make sure that every person had the opportunity to do more in life because they had an education. I remember participating in a Special Order with Patsy before the August recess, and we think about title IX rightly about sports; but really Patsy and I were talking about the other aspect of title IX when there were limits, there were quotas on how many women would be admitted to a college, and there were courses of study that women were not allowed to take. So I know I benefited personally from what Patsy did on title IX and my daughter still benefits from what Patsy did. Patsy made her mark and she changed America. There are not very many women in the House who are lawyers. Patsy was one of them, and she had a fine legal mind. She was someone who I always listened to when she had advice to give. She was not afraid to lead. And petite as she was, she was always big enough to share the limelight.”