Record for longest-serving woman in the House of Representatives breaks this weekend
WASHINGTON — Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, says she knows what it’s like to feel unheard.
When she first arrived on Capitol Hill 35 years ago, the male-dominated House of Representatives would often not call the House to order — a courtesy extended to members so their speeches can be heard — for her or any of the 23 other women serving in Congress. As women at the podium addressed the chamber, men on the House floor would often continue speaking to each other.
“In those days, when a woman went to the floor to speak, it took almost a decade before they would even listen,” she said in a sit-down interview this week with NBC News. “The House wasn’t called to order.”
But earlier this week, that same chamber dedicated floor time between votes to celebrate Kaptur, who on Sunday will become the longest serving woman in the House of Representatives — breaking a record that had stood for nearly 60 years.
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Though she says the barriers between men and women in the workplace have broken down, and credits the #MeToo movement with spurring cultural change, Kaptur says a requirement still exists for women “to doubly prove” themselves on the job. But after more than three decades in Washington, she says, she's noticed one big shift: Now, congressmen listen when she speaks.
They aren't alone. “As I’ve said so many times, if you want to save yourself some time, do what Marcy asks you to do the first time around,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said on the House floor Wednesday.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/record-longest-serving-woman-house-representatives-breaks-weekend-n857456
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