•HRES 695 IH 
Whereas Betty Friedan, during her tenure as president of 
NOW, encouraged President Lyndon Johnson in 1967 to 
sign Executive Order 11375 to bar gender discrimination 
in Federal employment and in employment by Federal 
contractors and subcontractors; this Executive Order 
11375 expanded the scope of Executive Order 11246, 
which was signed in 1965 and barred discrimination on 
the basis of race, color, religion, or national origin; 
Whereas Betty Friedan, during her tenure as president of 
NOW, worked towards the elimination of sex discrimina-
tion in the airline industry, in which prior to 1968, al-
most all stewardesses were women, and were usually fired 
when they married or reached 32; 
Whereas Betty Friedan helped lead the NOW Women’s 
Strike for Equality on August 26, 1970, in New York 
City in which hundreds of thousands of women and some 
men marched on the 50th anniversary of women earning 
the right to vote with the ratification of the 19th Amend-
ment; 
Whereas Betty Friedan helped establish the National Asso-
ciation for the Repeal of Abortion Laws in 1969, now 
known as NARAL Pro-Choice America, a leading na-
tional advocacy group dedicated to protecting the right to 
privacy and reproductive freedom; 
Whereas Betty Friedan, with Congresswoman Bella Abzug 
and Gloria Steinem, helped establish the National Wom-
en’s Political Caucus in 1971, a group dedicated to in-
creasing women’s participation in the political process 
and promoting pro-choice women candidates for elected 
and appointed offices at all levels of government regard-
less of party affiliation; 
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•HRES 695 IH 
Whereas Betty Friedan continued to write influential books 
throughout her life, including ‘‘It Changed My Life: 
Writings on the Women’s Movement’’, published in 1976, 
‘‘The Second Stage’’, published in 1978, ‘‘The Fountain 
of Age’’, published in 1994, ‘‘Beyond Gender: The New 
Politics of Work and Family’’, published in 1997, ‘‘Life 
So Far: A Memoir’’, published in 2000; 
Whereas Betty Friedan contributed to the academic world as 
a Visiting Distinguished Professor at the University of 
Southern California, New York University, University of 
California at Los Angeles, George Mason University, and 
as an Adjunct Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Inter-
national Center for Scholars; and most recently, she 
served as Distinguished Visiting Professor at Cornell 
University, School of Industrial and Labor Relations and 
Director of the New Paradigm Program at the Institute 
for Women and Work; 
Whereas Betty Friedan advocated on behalf of women as well 
as the elderly, children and working families throughout 
her life; 
Whereas Betty Friedan helped change the way women and 
men thought about gender roles at a time of important 
political and social change in the United States; 
Whereas Betty Friedan helped give a voice to thousands of 
women and helped them realize their immense potential 
to contribute to the business, educational and political 
realms, as well as family life; 
Whereas Betty Friedan helped launch the women’s rights 
movement that left an enduring mark on many of the ad-
vancements toward gender equality in the last 50 years, 
including pay equity, child care for working women, in-
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