I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5065 

To provide for the issuance of a semipostal in order to afford a convenient 

means by which members of the public may contribute towards the 

acquisition of works of art to honor female pioneers in Government 

service. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 30, 2006 

Ms. KAPTUR (for herself, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mrs. MALONEY, Ms. 

DELAURO, Ms. SOLIS, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, 

Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Ms. PELOSI, Ms. LEE, Ms. CORRINE

BROWN of Florida, Ms. WATERS, Ms. NORTON, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, 

Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. CASE, Mr. REHBERG, and Mr. OWENS) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Government 

Reform, and in addition to the Committee on House Administration, for 

a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide for the issuance of a semipostal in order to 

afford a convenient means by which members of the 

public may contribute towards the acquisition of works 

of art to honor female pioneers in Government service. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Honoring Female Con3 gressional Pioneers Act of 2006’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds as follows: 

6 (1) The 70 women currently serving in the 

7 House of Representatives owe a debt of gratitude to 

8 all of their foremothers who broke down barriers 

9 both in their election to, and in the important legis10 lative work they accomplished as Members of, the 

11 House of Representatives. 

12 (2) Four women in particular stand out for 

13 their status as the ‘‘first’’ women in certain cat14 egories. 

15 (3) In 1916, Jeannette Rankin broke new 

16 ground by becoming the first woman elected to the 

17 House of Representatives, representing the State of 

18 Montana, first from 1917 to 1919 and later from 

19 1941 to 1943. 

20 (4) Jeannette Rankin’s first election was all the 

21 more remarkable, considering that it came 3 years 

22 before women’s suffrage was a legally guaranteed 

23 right throughout the United States. 

24 (5) Jeannette Rankin directly contributed to a 

25 woman’s right to vote when she introduced a resoluVerDate Aug 31 2005 18:41 Apr 04, 2006 Jkt 049196 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5065.IH H5065

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1 tion in 1919 to support a women’s suffrage amend2 ment to the Constitution of the United States. 

3 (6) Jeannette Rankin remained true to her 

4 pacifistic ideals both by voting against the declara5 tions of World War I and World War II—and in 

6 fact was the only Representative to vote against the 

7 declaration of World War II—and by working tire8 lessly to promote peace during her years outside of 

9 Congress. 

10 (7) In 1924, Mary Teresa Norton became the 

11 first Democratic woman elected to the House of 

12 Representatives—and one of a small number of 

13 women during that period who were elected in their 

14 own right and not to replace their husbands—rep15 resenting New Jersey’s Twelfth Congressional Dis16 trict from 1925 to 1951. 

17 (8) Mary Norton served as the chair of the 

18 Committee on the District of Columbia from 1931 to 

19 1937, effectively governing the city which at that 

20 time had no municipal government of its own. 

21 (9) In 1934, Mary Norton became the first 

22 woman to chair a major political party in a State as 

23 head of the New Jersey State Committee. 

24 (10) Mary Norton was instrumental in the 

25 drafting and passage in 1938 of a major piece of 


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1 President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal: the 

2 Fair Labor Standards Act, which established a min3 imum wage, a maximum workweek, overtime pay, 

4 and a prohibition on child labor. 

5 (11) In 1964, Patsy Takemoto Mink became 

6 the first Asian-American woman elected to the 

7 House of Representatives, representing Hawaii’s 

8 Second Congressional District from 1965 to 1977 

9 and again from 1991 until her death in 2002. 

10 (12) Patsy Mink secured an assignment to the 

11 Committee on Education and Labor, for which her 

12 previous expertise and interests made her well-suit13 ed, and used her time on that Committee to intro14 duce the first child care bill, as well as bills to pro15 vide for bilingual education, student loans, special 

16 education, and the Head Start program. 

17 (13) Patsy Mink gained passage in 1965 of leg18 islation to support the construction of schools in the 

19 Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. 

20 (14) Patsy Mink established the Democratic 

21 Women’s Caucus in 1995 and served as its first 

22 chair. 

23 (15) In 1968, Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm 

24 made history by becoming the first African-Amer25 ican woman elected to the House of Representatives, 


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1 representing New York’s Twelfth Congressional Dis2 trict until her retirement in 1983. 

3 (16) Shirley Chisholm was a founding member 

4 of the Congressional Black Caucus, a fierce advocate 

5 for women’s rights and democracy, and a staunch 

6 opponent of the Vietnam War. 

7 (17) Shirley Chisholm was an outspoken advo8 cate for equal rights, early childhood education, fair 

9 labor standards, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. 

10 holiday effort. 

11 (18) Shirley Chisholm further cemented her 

12 place in history when she became the first African13 American person to seek a major political party’s 

14 nomination for President in 1972. 

15 (19) There is a real need to honor these women 

16 and others like them more often in our Nation’s ar17 tistic and cultural venues. 

18 SEC. 3. SPECIAL POSTAGE STAMP. 

19 In order to afford the public a convenient means by 

20 which to contribute towards the acquisition (for public dis21 play in the United States Capitol and other appropriate 

22 locations) of works of art honoring Jeannette Rankin, 

23 Mary Teresa Norton, Patsy Mink, Shirley Anita St. Hill 

24 Chisholm, and other female pioneers in Government serv25 ice, the United States Postal Service shall provide for the 


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1 issuance and sale of a semipostal in accordance with sec2 tion 416 of title 39, United States Code, subject to the 

3 following: 

4 (1) DISPOSITION OF AMOUNTS RECEIVED.—All 

5 amounts becoming available from the sale of the 

6 semipostal shall be transferred by the Postal Service 

7 to the Capitol Preservation Commission and the 

8 House Fine Arts Board (which is hereby authorized 

9 to accept any such amounts) under such arrange10 ments as the Postal Service and those entities shall 

11 by mutual agreement establish in order to carry out 

12 the purposes of this Act. 

13 (2) NO EFFECT ON AUTHORITY TO ISSUE

14 OTHER STAMPS.—No semipostal issued pursuant to 

15 this Act shall be taken into account for purposes of 

16 applying any numerical limitation established under 

17 section 416(e)(1)(C) of such title 39. 

18 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

19 For purposes of this Act— 

20 (1) the term ‘‘semipostal’’ has the meaning 

21 given such term by section 416(a)(1) of title 39, 

22 United States Code; 

23 (2) any determination of the ‘‘amounts becom24 ing available’’ from the sale of the semipostal shall 


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1 be made in accordance with section 416(d) of such 

2 title 39; 

3 (3) the term ‘‘Capitol Preservation Commis4 sion’’ means the United States Capitol Preservation 

5 Commission, established by section 801 of Public 

6 Law 100–696 (40 U.S.C. 188a); and 

7 (4) the term ‘‘House Fine Arts Board’’ means 

8 the House of Representatives Fine Arts Board, es9 tablished by section 1001 of Public Law 100–696 

10 (40 U.S.C. 188c). 

Æ 


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