III 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 687 

Honoring the life and legacy of Coya Knutson. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 10, 2020 

Ms. SMITH (for herself and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

SEPTEMBER 30 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 29), 2020 

Committee discharged; considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Honoring the life and legacy of Coya Knutson. 

Whereas Cornelia Genevive Gjesdal ‘‘Coya’’ Knutson was 

born on August 22, 1912, in Edmore, North Dakota; 

Whereas Coya Gjesdal graduated from Concordia College in 

Moorhead, Minnesota, with majors in English and Music 

and a minor in Education; 

Whereas Coya Gjesdal married Andy Knutson in 1940 and 

later adopted a son; 

Whereas Coya Knutson was involved in her community, working as a teacher, volunteering, establishing a medical clinic, and serving on the Red Lake County Welfare Board; 

Whereas Coya Knutson was elected to the House of Representatives of Minnesota in 1950; 


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SRES 687 ATS 

Whereas State Representative Knutson supported health and 

education initiatives and sponsored the first clean air bill 

in Minnesota, which prohibited smoking in some public 

places; 

Whereas, in 1954, Coya Knutson won a seat in the House 

of Representatives of the United States, despite having 

lost the nomination of her party to a man; 

Whereas Coya Knutson became the first woman elected to 

Congress from Minnesota; 

Whereas Congresswoman Knutson became the first woman to 

be appointed to the Committee on Agriculture of the 

House of Representatives; 

Whereas Congresswoman Knutson sponsored legislation that 

eventually led to expanded school lunch assistance, the 

first Federal student loan program, and the first appropriations for research on cystic fibrosis; 

Whereas Congresswoman Knutson’s husband did not support 

her career and reportedly wrote a public letter in 1958 

ordering her to return to Minnesota to ‘‘make a home for 

[her] son and husband’’; 

Whereas the story of the letter was taken up by the national 

press, with newspapers across the United States running 

the headline ‘‘Coya, Come Home’’; 

Whereas Coya Knutson lost reelection in 1958 to a man 

whose campaign slogan was ‘‘A Big Man for a Man-Sized 

Job’’; 

Whereas Coya Knutson eventually divorced her husband, 

moved permanently to Washington, DC, and was appointed by President Kennedy to be the liaison officer in 

the Office of Civil Defense at the Department of Defense, 

where she served until 1970; 


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SRES 687 ATS 

Whereas Coya Knutson retired from politics and moved back 

to Minnesota to live with her son and his family until her 

death in 1996 at 82 years of age; and 

Whereas Coya Knutson was a trailblazer and an inspiration 

who was devoted to her community, State, and country: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate honors the life and legacy 

2 of Coya Knutson, whose dedication to overcoming excep3 tional odds and devotion to the well-being of the United 

4 States shall serve as an inspiration for generations of indi5 viduals in the United States. 

Æ 


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