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105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. RES. 150

To express the sense of the Senate that if a new $1 coin is minted, the

Secretary of the Treasury should be authorized to mint and circulate

$1 coins bearing a likeness of Margaret Chase Smith.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

NOVEMBER 9, 1997

Ms. SNOWE submitted the following resolution, which was referred to the

Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

RESOLUTION

To express the sense of the Senate that if a new $1 coin

is minted, the Secretary of the Treasury should be authorized to mint and circulate $1 coins bearing a likeness

of Margaret Chase Smith.

Whereas in 1940, Margaret Chase Smith became a Member

of the House of Representatives, commencing 32 years of

public service to the State of Maine and to the United

States:

Whereas Margaret Chase Smith was elected to the Senate in

1948, becoming the first woman to be elected to the Senate, as well as the first woman to be elected to both the

House of Representatives and the Senate;

Whereas on June 1, 1950, Margaret Chase Smith delivered

an address entitled ‘‘Declaration of Conscience’’, which
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•SRES 150 IS

was a defense of the basic principles of Americanism, including the right to criticize, the right to hold unpopular

beliefs, the right to protest, and the right to independent

thought;

Whereas Margaret Chase Smith was the first woman to become the ranking member of a congressional committee;

Whereas Margaret Chase Smith was the first woman to serve

on the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee

on Appropriations of the Senate;

Whereas in 1964, Margaret Chase Smith was the first

woman to have her name placed in nomination for the

presidency by either major political party;

Whereas Margaret Chase Smith was the first civilian woman

to sail on a United States destroyer during wartime;

Whereas Margaret Chase Smith was the first woman to break

the sound barrier in a United States Air Force F–100

Super Sabre;

Whereas until 1981, Margaret Chase Smith held the all-time

consecutive rollcall voting record of the Senate, totalling

2,941 votes over 13 years;

Whereas Margaret Chase Smith died at the age of 97, and,

during her lifetime, was given 95 honorary degrees and

was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by

President Bush in 1989;

Whereas Margaret Chase Smith was a teacher, a telephone

operator, a newspaperwoman, an office manager, a secretary, a wife, a Congresswoman, and a Senator;

Whereas Margaret Chase Smith was a leader, a Nation’s conscience, a visionary, and a woman of endless firsts;
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•SRES 150 IS

Whereas the achievements of Margaret Chase Smith are an

inspiration to millions of young girls and women, showing

that through the use of one’s talents, abilities, and energies that opportunities for women do exist and that the

door to elected office can be open to all women; and

Whereas Margaret Chase Smith served with pride and humility, and her epitaph aptly reads, ‘‘She served people.’’;

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that if a new

2 $1 coin is minted, the Secretary of the Treasury should

3 be authorized to mint and circulate $1 coins bearing a

4 likeness of Margaret Chase Smith.

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