Political Quotes

“Illinois and the Nation recently mourned the loss of Emily Taft Douglas, former Representative from Illinois and widow of Senator Paul Douglas of Illinois, who passed away on Jan. 28 in White Plains, NY, at the age of 94. Emily Taft Douglas was elected to an Illinois at-large congressional seat in 1944 and served during the 79th Congress. History will record the fact that she was the first woman to precede her husband in service in the Congress. Years later, Paul Douglas was fond of saying that the only reason he was elected to the Senate was that people confused his name on the ballot with Emily's. She served on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, was an active proponent of post-war U.N. relief programs, and immediately after the war travelled throughout the devastated precincts of Europe. In the House of Representatives, she introduced legislation for library bookmobiles to serve rural areas, and her bill ultimately passed Congress as the Hill-Douglas Act following Paul Douglas' election to the Senate in 1948.”