Transcript of Pelosi Remarks at Portrait Unveiling of Late Congresswoman Patsy Takemoto Mink, Marking Fifty Years Since the Enactment of Title IX

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Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi hosted the unveiling of a portrait of the late Congresswoman Patsy Takemoto Mink, the first woman of color elected to Congress and a driving force behind enacting Title IX fifty years ago today, in Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol. Below are the Speaker's remarks:

Speaker Pelosi. Good morning, everyone. As Speaker of the House, it is my honor to welcome all of you to celebrate Congresswoman Patsy Takemoto Mink: a trailblazing elected official, a legendary, legendary champion of equality and our beloved colleague and friend. Some of us had the honor and privilege of serving with her.

Indeed, the portrait we will unveil today is a beautiful tribute to an all American hero. And let us thank the U.S. Army Band "Pershing's Own" Chorus for the beautiful performance, befitting the patriotism of Patsy Mink. Thank you, wherever they are, thank you so much.

It is a thrill that we are joined here today by Patsy's dear daughter, Dr. Wendy Mink. And let us welcome the iconic Billie Jean King back to the Capitol. We honored and celebrated her during this year's Women's History Month, and we're glad to do so again.

And thank you to my colleagues here: CAPAC Chair Judy Chu, Education and Labor Chair Bobby Scott, House Administration Chair Zoe Lofgren and the delegation for Patsy's home state, Senator Mazie Hirono, our former colleague here in the house, Senator Brian Schatz, Congressman Ed Case and Congressman Kai Kahele. I invite them all to join us for the unveiling of the portrait.

Shall we?

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Thank you, Billie Jean, for honoring us with your presence – and that Ilana is here with us as well is a personal joy to us. Thank you, Billie Jean, for your beautiful, beautiful remarks about our heroine, Patsy Mink.

It was my magnificent privilege to serve with [Patsy Mink] in the Congress. Bobby Scott served with her on the Committee – Mr. Chairman served with her on the Committee, and that was a very special honor. And thank you, Mazie, for mentioning George Miller, who chaired the Committee at that time.

Her personal story is incredibly inspiring. You've heard some of it here. After rising from her middle, humble roots – and she would talk to us about being in the sugar cane fields and the rest of that. That had an impact on sugar policy in the Congress for years to come. As you know, she overcame prejudice and discrimination to earn admission to the University of Chicago Law School. Imagine, imagine that that prestigious law school – becomes the first woman of color, as has been mentioned again and again, to become a Member of Congress.

During her [two] twelve-year tenure[s] on Capitol Hill, she offered bold, progressive – she was a champion of early education, leading the enactment of Head Start, bilingual education opportunities, special education programs and more. And authoring an historic child care bill – and as Bobby, Chairman, mentioned, [the] child care bill passed both Houses of the Congress only to be vetoed by then-President Nixon.

We all know she was a force of nature in delivering Title IX, and she defended it too. In 1975, she led the charge against an effort to exempt athletics from Title IX. After she had to leave Washington to care for Wendy, who had been in a car accident, she was able to put off the fight for another day – through her sheer power of persuasion.

Now, remember how early this was. There were very, very few women in Congress – hardly ever, any had served. And Carl Albert was the Speaker – this even predates Tip O'Neill. So this goes back a long way. And yet by force of her personality, the power of her brilliance, her persuasiveness, nobody could ever say no to Patsy Mink. That's just the way it was. You could, but you'd be wasting time because eventually, you'd be saying ‘yes.'

I should resist this in the interest of time, but I always love telling the story of: she said to me – like in 2000, this was – she said, ‘I need you to come to Hawaii to speak at my dinner to make sure nobody runs against me in the primary.' I said, ‘Well, when is it Patsy? I'd be so honored.' Well, the day it was I had my town hall meetings on Saturday and my town hall meetings on Sunday. So I said, ‘Patsy, I'm really sorry but I have a weekend of town meetings.' This is pre – way pre-COVID when we had lots of town hall meetings. And she said, ‘Well, what time are your town meetings?' I told her it began in the morning. And she said, ‘Here's what you're going to do. You're going to have your town hall meetings in the morning, you're going to get the afternoon flight to Honolulu. You're going to come, you're going to speak, you're going to get the red-eye back, and you're going to be there for your town hall meetings on Sunday.'

Who could say no to Patsy Mink?

[Laughter]

And it was my honor to do so. It's the first time I ever went to Hawaii without one toe touching the sand or the water or the rest. But again, her contribution on Title IX is historic. And not only historic – it's personal in the lives of women and girls in our country and their families. Again, she triumphed.

With this portrait, the extraordinary courage of Patsy Mink will be known to all who come to the Capitol. Women and girls – and that's what I love about it – will know about her and that – her relentless fighting spirit. Patsy Mink made an enormous difference for women and girls in our nation. Thanks to Patsy Mink, so many women and girls will have a springboard for success. Indeed, Title IX – well, let me just say, Edith Green in the House was part of it. And Birch Bayh, I want to mention Birch Bayh was very much a part of it in the Senate. And those of you who were involved in this, or its history, know of that very well.

So again, she was a leader, a pioneer, a collaborator, a cooperator. And she always did it with this beautiful smile – while she dissected your arguments on the other side. Right, you remember that? And we always wondered how she could do that with such a beautiful smile.

It is our hope that this portrait will inspire us to carry on her fight, not only to defend Title IX, but to build on its success and to build a fairer future for generations of women and girls to come. Because when women succeed, America succeeds! Patsy believed that. We do, too.

Thank you again to Dr. Wendy Mink for being here. But more importantly for sharing her mother with the Congress, with the country, with the world. Your generosity made – is a part of the difference that Patsy Mink [made]. And again, thank you all for joining us today for today's special, special celebration.

Thank you so much.

[Applause]

***

This is just a closing now. I should have started with aloha. Say ‘aloha' again. Aloha.

Crowd. Aloha.

Speaker Pelosi. Aloha, Patsy Mink. And her portrait.

Thanks to our speakers this morning for offering your heartfelt and brilliant, inspiring remarks. With great pride this spectacular work of art will join the Congress' Firsts series. Let us acknowledge the gifted artist Sharon Sprung, whose outstanding work already hangs in the halls of Congress. Sharon, will you stand, please?

Thank you so much.

[Applause]

Sharon also painted the portrait of Jeanette Rankin, another first: the first woman to ever serve in the Congress of the United States.

And then, Patsy joins another first with this: Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman to serve. So this is a series of firsts – first to come here and all the courage and confidence that that takes. But also for the contribution that they made. But all of these women have met both of those tests.

Thank you all for joining us this morning. Aloha. Thank you, Patsy Mink, for your great leadership. Thank you, all.

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