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IN MEMORIAM OF SUSAN SCANLAN, ADVOCATE FOR WOMEN
______
HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY
of new york
in the house of representatives
Thursday, July 29, 2021
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Madam Speaker, I rise today in remembrance of Susan Scanlan, the longtime president of the Women's Education and Research Institute (WREI) at the Women's Congressional Policy Institute. Susan passed away peacefully on July 16, 2021. She is known for her steadfast commitment to women's issues and her work in bringing exceptional women into professional roles here in Washington.
Susan was born in Philadelphia, where her father relocated while working during World War II. The family returned to Virginia in 1949 where they settled in Alexandria, where she attended Linconia Elementary and then W.T. Woodson High School before pursuing her collegiate education. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Sweet Briar College with a masters in modern languages from Tulane University, Susan began her career on Capitol Hill as legislative director for Representative Charles Wilson (TX-02), authoring legislation that admitted women to United States Military Academies.
Susan helped found the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues in 1977 and made WREI into an effective policy arm addressing issues crucial to women. In 1980, Susan wrote a proposal that would change the lives of more than three hundred women: to establish the Congressional Fellowships on Women and Public Policy at WREI. Since her proposal, hundreds of extremely driven, intelligent, and service-minded women have been sent to multitudes of congressional offices.
After she served as director of the caucus for five years, she pursued a new role as the Director of WREI's Congressional Fellowships program. Over three-hundred women from all backgrounds of America have been nurtured by this program, which placed them in congressional offices to pursue their passions for public service. After a brief hiatus to pursue other opportunities she returned to WREI as president in 2000. In recognition of her deep care for women and our nation's servicemembers, she was named by President Clinton to the Advisory Committee on Employment and Training for Veterans at the Department of Labor. Her dedication to her principles and values was on display even further in 2003 by her receipt of the Women's Leadership Award from the International Women's Democracy Center, which was also co-awarded to then-United States Senator John Kerry. In November 2005, Susan was selected to become chair of the National Council of Women's organizations, a coalition consisting of over two-hundred progressive groups and representing over eleven million American women and their interests. She was a frequent presence on national media, calling out those who placed discrimination and sexism over equality and fairness for all peoples.
Without Susan's forethought and leadership in establishing the Congressional Fellowships, the Congress may never have been graced by the presence of such brilliant young women. Particularly, Susan provided my office with seventeen fellows since I first came to Congress, including Shvedova Nadezhda (1994-1995), Lisa Maatz (1997-
1998), Megan Gordon Don (1998-1999), Megan Sullivan (1999-2000), Kimberly Mason (2001), Christi Corbett (2004), Karen Persis (2005), Anthea Watson Strong (2006), Bethany Sousa (2007), Allison Adams-Alwine
(2009), Pamela O'Leary (2008), Elizabeth Darnall (2010), Julie Feeney
(2011), Aimee Phelan (2015), Meenal Khajuria (2012), Nina Anand (2014), and Anna Le (2018). Many of the fellowship's over three hundred alumnae have gone on to pursue fantastic and storied careers in academia, business, medicine, law, nonprofit work, and continued public service through their state legislatures and the Congress.
I will always remember Susan fondly for guiding our House and I to these extraordinary women, for her fierce advocacy throughout the years on the issues of particular importance to women, and her enduring commitment to her own principles and values--no matter the obstacle. Though she is gone from our lives now, her legacy lives on in the people whose lives she graced with her presence.
Madam Speaker, I thank Susan for everything she gave me, Congress, and our Nation. May she rest well.
____________________
SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 133
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