Women in Congress, 1917-2017: Biographical and Committee Assignment Information, and Listings by State and Congress
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Women in Congress, 1917-2017: Biographical and Committee Assignment Information, and Listings by State and Congress ,name redacted, Information Research Specialist ,name redacted, Specialist on the Congress May 8, 2017 Congressional Research Service 7-.... www.crs.gov RL30261 Women in Congress, 1917-2017 Summary One hundred nine women currently serve in the 115th Congress: 88 in the House, including Delegates and the Resident Commissioner for Puerto Rico (65 Democrats and 23 Republicans), and 21 in the Senate (16 Democrats and 5 Republicans). This is similar to the previous record from the 114th Congress (108 women initially sworn in, and 1 House Member subsequently elected). The first woman elected to Congress was Representative Jeannette Rankin (R-MT, 1917-1919, 1941-1943). The first woman to serve in the Senate was Rebecca Latimer Felton (D-GA). She was appointed in 1922 and served for one day. A total of 325 women have been elected or appointed to Congress, 211 Democrats and 114 Republicans. Of these women, 275 (178 Democrats, 97 Republicans) have been elected only to the House of Representatives; 38 (24 Democrats, 14 Republicans) have been elected or appointed only to the Senate; and 12 (9 Democrats, 3 Republicans) have served in both houses. These figures include six non-voting Delegates, one each from Guam, Hawaii, the District of Columbia, and American Samoa, and two from the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as one Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico. Of the 50 women who have been elected or appointed to the Senate, 14 were first appointed and five were first elected to fill unexpired terms. A total of 41 African American women have served in Congress (2 in the Senate, 39 in the House), including 21 serving in the 115th Congress. Thirteen Hispanic women have been elected to the House, and one to the Senate; 11 serve in the 115th Congress. Thirteen Asian Pacific American women have served in Congress (10 in the House, one in the Senate, and two in both the House and Senate), including 11 in the 115th Congress. In the 115th Congress, three women chair House committees, one woman chairs a Senate standing committee, and one woman chairs a Senate select committee. This report includes biographical information, including the names, committee assignments, dates of service, listings by Congress and state, and (for Representatives) congressional districts of the 325 women who have been elected or appointed to Congress. It will be updated when there are relevant changes in the makeup of Congress. For additional information, including a discussion of the impact of women in Congress as well as historical information, including the number and percentage of women in Congress over time, data on entry to Congress, comparisons to international and state legislatures, tenure, firsts for women in Congress, women in leadership, and African American, Asian Pacific American, and Hispanic women in Congress, see CRS Report R43244, Women in Congress: Historical Overview, Tables, and Discussion, by (name redacted) and (name redacted) . Congressional Research Service Women in Congress, 1917-2017 Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Tables and Data ............................................................................................................................... 2 Alphabetical Listing, Including Dates of Service and Committee Assignments ............................. 3 Tables Table 1. Women in Congress, 65th - 115th Congresses, by Congress ............................................. 84 Table 2. Women in Congress, 65th - 115th Congresses, by State or Territory ............................... 106 Table 3. Total Number of Women in Each Congress: 1917-2017 ................................................ 111 Contacts Author Contact Information ......................................................................................................... 113 Congressional Research Service Women in Congress, 1917-2017 Introduction Three hundred twenty-five women have been elected or appointed to Congress.1 Jeannette Rankin (R-MT) has the distinction of being the first woman elected to serve in Congress. On November 9, 1916, she was elected to the House of Representatives as Montana’s Representative-at-Large to the 65th Congress (1917-1919).2 These 325 women who have served in Congress3 include 211 Democrats and 114 Republicans; 275 (178 Democrats, 97 Republicans) women who have been elected only in the House of Representatives, including 7 (4 Democrats, 3 Republicans) women who have served as Delegates or Resident Commissioners in the House;4 38 (24 Democrats, 14 Republicans) women who have been elected or appointed only in the Senate; 12 (9 Democrats, 3 Republicans) women who have been elected or appointed in both houses. One hundred nine women serve in the 115th Congress: 21 in the Senate (16 Democrats and 5 Republicans), and 88 in the House (65 Democrats and 23 Republicans). Four of the women who serve in the House are Delegates, representing the District of Columbia, Guam, American Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin Islands; three are Democrats, and one is Republican. Another woman, a Republican, is the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico. Not including Delegates and the Resident Commissioner, women currently hold 83 (19.1%) seats in the House of Representatives and 21 (21%) seats in the Senate, totaling 104 (19.4%) of the 535 voting seats in the 115th Congress. Including Delegates and the Resident Commissioner, women currently hold 88 seats in the House of Representatives, increasing the total to 109 seats (20.1%) in the entire Congress. This report includes biographical information, including the names, committee assignments, dates of service, listings by Congress and state, and (for Representatives) congressional districts of the 1 For additional information on the women who have served in Congress, please refer to “Women in Congress”, http://history.house.gov/Exhibition-and-Publications/WIC/Women-in-Congress/. This website is maintained by the U.S. House of Representatives’ Office of the Historian and Office of Art and Archives and is frequently updated. 2 Rep. Rankin served from 1917 to 1919 and from 1941 to 1943. Rep. Rankin was also the only Member of Congress to vote against America’s entry into both World Wars. 3 Throughout this report, House and Senate totals each include one woman elected but not sworn in or seated due to the House or Senate being out of session. Both women are included in various official congressional publications, including, for example, the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (http://bioguide.congress.gov), “Women in Congress” (http://history.house.gov/Exhibition-and-Publications/WIC/Women-in-Congress) and “Senators of the United States 1789-present: a chronological list of senators since the First Congress in 1789,” maintained by the Senate Historical Office (http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/chronlist.pdf). 4 The total number of female Members of the House includes one Delegate to the House of Representatives from Hawaii prior to statehood, one from the District of Columbia, one from Guam, two from the U.S. Virgin Islands, one from American Samoa, and one Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico. Congressional Research Service 1 Women in Congress, 1917-2017 325 women who have been elected or appointed to Congress. It will be updated when there are relevant changes in the makeup of Congress. For additional information, including a discussion of the impact of women in Congress as well as historical information, including the number and percentage of women in Congress over time, data on entry to Congress, comparisons to international and state legislatures, tenure, firsts for women in Congress, women in leadership, and African American and Asian Pacific American women in Congress, see CRS Report R43244, Women in Congress: Historical Overview, Tables, and Discussion, by (name redacted) and (name redacted) Tables and Data The list and tables that follow provide information on women Members of Congress, including the dates they were first elected or appointed, the Congresses in which they served, the committees on which they served, and, where relevant, the committees they chaired or served on as ranking Member. Table 1 lists all the women who have served in each Congress, by Congress. Table 2 lists the women Members of Congress, by state. Table 3 provides the total number of women in each Congress. Most of the data presented are from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-present, available at http://bioguide.congress.gov; various editions of the Congressional Directory; a broad range of Congressional Quarterly and Leadership Directories Inc. publications; and the Women in Congress website, at http://womenincongress.house.gov, maintained by the House of Representatives’ Office of the Historian and the Office of Art and Archives, Office of the Clerk. The 115th Congress committee assignments sources are the House, Official Alphabetical List of the Members with Committee Assignments in the 115th Congress, available from the Clerk of the House’s website at http://clerk.house.gov/committee_info/oal.aspx; and Senate, Committee Assignments of the 115h Congress, available at the Senate website at http://www.senate.gov/general/committee_assignments/ assignments.htm. The names and jurisdiction of House and Senate committees