Eleanor Holmes Norton: “I thank my friend, the gentlewoman from New York. Her persistence has been indomitable; and without that persistence, we…”

“I thank my friend, the gentlewoman from New York. Her persistence has been indomitable; and without that persistence, we certainly would not be on the floor today. But I also want to thank the Majority leadership who have permitted this bill to come forward on suspension, and I particularly thank the gentlewoman from Wyoming for her leadership. The remarks of the gentlewoman from Minnesota were unfortunate. You would think you were voting on a museum. My colleagues, this is not a bill for a museum. This is a bill for a commission to study whether there should be a museum and under what circumstances. It is unfortunate, indeed, to criticize a bill for a study, the outcome of which we have no idea, except for the following: The appointees to this commission will come from the leadership of this House and the minority in this House and from the leadership in the Senate and the minority in the Senate. It seems to me it would be very difficult for this bill to be converted into not a study of whether the history of women in the United States should be commemorated but a study of current women's issues that are highly controversial. To have a museum featuring controversial issues of the day flies in the face of what women's history has been about. That is for this House. That is not for a museum.…”