In 1917 Montana Representative Jeannette Rankin was elected as the first woman to the United States Congress, setting a precedent for the record level 101 women who currently serve in the 113th Congress.  Of these current Congresswomen women, 24 were elected on November 6, according to womenincongress.house.gov and the National Journal.

According to what Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill stated in a speech on January 3 at her inauguration, it is important for the female population of the United States to have equal quantative representation to men in government.
“I don’t think we should be satisfied until we have the same number of women in the Senate that represent the percentage of the population that are women, so we still have a long way to go,” Senator McCaskill said.
The record level of women in Congress has sparked much discussion amongst the Speech and Debate team at Convent of the Sacred Heart.
“The strong female presence is expected to have serious impact in more female-related issues, such as women in the work force,” junior, Sacred Heart Speech and Debate Congresswoman Stephanie Mellert said.
The women elected to serve in US Congress have plans to impact legislation over a range of issues.  According to the November 6 article “Nebraska, Senate” in the National Journal, newly elected Nebraskan Senator Deb Fisher plans to focus her influence on education, infrastructure, public safety, and in providing easily accessible help for the needy.
According to the November 7 National Journal article, “Arizona, 1st House District,” Representative Ann Kirkpatrick plans to focus her attention more on minority groups, such as Native Americans.
“It’s important that women are in Congress because they offer a different opinion and perspective on the world,” Stephanie said.  “They add diversity to an otherwise strongly male-dominated sphere in other countries, as well as in different branches of our own government.”
The women elected have a purpose, and embody the idea that Congress should be run on merit and determination.
“I believe that the most educated, the most experienced, and most adept people for the job should hold the positions in office, regardless of their gender.  Whether they be men or women, we want to have the people who are best for the job making decisions for our country,” sophomore Jennifer Esposito said.
 
– Bianca Chiappelloni, Staff Writer