Louisa Swain Federal Office Building

Floor Speech

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Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 2126) to designate the Federal Office Building located at 308 W. 21st Street in Cheyenne, Wyoming, as the ``Louisa Swain Federal Office Building'', and for other purposes.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: S. 2126

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. LOUISA SWAIN FEDERAL OFFICE BUILDING.

(a) Designation.--The Federal Office Building located at 308 W. 21st Street in Cheyenne, Wyoming, shall be known and designated as the ``Louisa Swain Federal Office Building''.

(b) References.--Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, or other record of the United States to the Federal Office Building referred to in subsection (a) shall be deemed to be a reference to the ``Louisa Swain Federal Office Building''.

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Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia. 2126.

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Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of S. 2126, which names the Federal office building located at 308 West 21st Street in Cheyenne, Wyoming, as the Louisa Swain Federal Office Building.

In 1869, Wyoming became the first State or territory in the U.S. to continuously recognize women's voting rights as equal to the voting rights of men. Louisa Swain was the first woman to vote under that law. When she cast her vote in the general election of 1870, she was 70 years old. It would be another 50 years before women's voting rights were recognized in the rest of the country.

Swain, born in Norfolk, Virginia, was orphaned by the age of 10. She married and moved to Baltimore, where she and her husband raised four children before moving to Wyoming. Shortly after voting in the 1870 election, Swain and her husband returned to Baltimore, where Swain died in 1878.

S. 2126 was sponsored by Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis and Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen, and cosponsored by Maryland Senator Ben Cardin and Wyoming Senator John Barrasso. In October 2008, Congress passed a resolution making September 6, 2008 ``Louisa Swain Day.''

Madam Speaker, I am proud to support and highlight the history of voting rights in this country. I support this legislation and I encourage my colleagues to join me.

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Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation in the spirit of voting rights in this country, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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