SENATE MEMORIAL 92

51st legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2013

INTRODUCED BY

Mary Kay Papen

A MEMORIAL

HONORING NEW MEXICO FEMALE ELECTED OFFICIALS AND DECLARING MARCH 8, 2013 "INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY" IN THE SENATE.

     WHEREAS, international women's day, March 8, has been celebrated around the world since 1909 and in the United States since 1977; and

     WHEREAS, this year's international women's day theme is "The Gender Agenda: Gaining Momentum"; and

     WHEREAS, on that day, thousands of events inspiring women and celebrating their achievements will be held throughout the world; and

     WHEREAS, the first Hispanic female legislators in the United States served in New Mexico's territorial legislature, beginning in 1895; and

     WHEREAS, following New Mexico's statehood in 1912, Representative Bertha Paxton became the first woman elected to the New Mexico legislature in 1923; and

     WHEREAS, Soledad Chacon, whose secretarial term ran from 1923 through 1926, was New Mexico's first female secretary of state and the first female acting governor in the United States; and

     WHEREAS, in 1925, Louise Coe became the first woman elected to the New Mexico senate and, in 1935, became the first female senate pro tempore in New Mexico and in the United States; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico Representatives Fedelina Gallegos and Porfirria Hidalgo Saiz, who both served from 1931 to 1932, were the first Hispanic female legislators in the United States; and

     WHEREAS, in 1941, New Mexico Representative Concha Ortiz y Pino became the first female majority whip in the United States; and

     WHEREAS, in 1947, Georgia Lee Witt Lusk of New Mexico's first district became the first woman from New Mexico to serve in the United States house of representatives; and

     WHEREAS, in 1959, Virginia Klinekole became the first female president of the Mescalero Apache Tribe; and

     WHEREAS, in 1972, Consuela Jaramillo Kitzes Burrell became New Mexico's first Hispanic female state senator; and 

     WHEREAS, Pauline Eisenstadt became the first woman to serve in both New Mexico legislative chambers, having served in the house of representatives from 1985 to 1992 and in the senate from 1997 to 2000; and

     WHEREAS, Lynda Morgan Lovejoy, who became the first Native American woman in the New Mexico house of representatives in 1989, later served in the New Mexico senate and is the first Native American woman to serve in both chambers; and

     WHEREAS, Debbie Jaramillo became the first female mayor of the city of Santa Fe in 1994; and

     WHEREAS, Representative Sheryl Williams Stapleton became the first African American woman to serve in the New Mexico house of representatives in 1995; and

     WHEREAS, Gloria Tristani, who in 1997 was appointed to the federal communications commission, became the first Hispanic woman elected to the state corporation commission in 1995; and

     WHEREAS, Mary Jane M. Garcia became the New Mexico senate's first Hispanic female majority whip in 1996; and

     WHEREAS, Patricia Madrid became New Mexico's first female attorney general in 1998; and

     WHEREAS, Heather Wilson, from New Mexico's first district, became the first female veteran in the United States house of representatives in 1998; and

     WHEREAS, Diane Denish became New Mexico's first female lieutenant governor, having served two terms from 2003 to 2011; and

     WHEREAS, in 2011, Susana Martinez became the first female and Hispanic governor in New Mexico and in the United States; and

     WHEREAS, in 2013, Michelle Lujan Grisham, from New Mexico's first district, became the first Hispanic woman in the United States house of representatives; and 

     WHEREAS, one hundred twenty women have served in the New Mexico house of representatives and twenty-eight women have served in the senate; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico is distinguished for having many political female "firsts";

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that all New Mexico women who have been elected to and served in political office be honored; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Friday, March 8, 2013, be recognized as "International Women's Day" in the senate; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the commission on the status of women, the New Mexico women's forum, the state historian and the cultural affairs department.

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