By all accounts, Sen. Tammy Duckworth is a glass ceiling-shattering American hero. After a stellar military career and a stint in Congress, she’s now made history as the first United States senator to ever give birth while holding office. Sen. Duckworth wanted to continue representing her constituents in the U.S. Senate, so she wanted to bring her infant daughter to work and that meant the need to occasionally bring her to the Senate floor for votes. One small problem: the Senate rules forbade it. That is, until yesterday, when the Senate changed the rules to accommodate Sen. Duckworth and her infant. But it didn’t happen without some concern from the older, white male contingent that dominates the U.S. Senate. Here’s a sampling, from the Associated Press:
“I’m not going to object to anything like that, not in this day and age,” said Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., father of three and grandfather of six. He then noted that a person can stand in the door of the cloakroom, a lounge just off the chamber, and vote. “I’ve done it,” he said. Allowing babies on the Senate floor, he said, “I don’t think is necessary.”
Interesting idea, Sen. Roberts, but there is one problem: the cloakroom isn’t wheelchair accessible and Sen. Duckworth lost both legs and sustained injuries to one of her hands during a combat mission when she was a U.S. Army helicopter pilot, and a rocket-propelled grenade hit her helicopter. She frequently uses a wheelchair to get around.
Next!
Sen. Orrin Hatch, the father of six, grandfather of 14 and great-grandfather of 23, said he had “no problem” with such a rules change. “But what if there are 10 babies on the floor of the Senate?” he asked.
Someone get Orrin Hatch a fainting couch, stat! It’s taken nearly 250 years to reach the point where one U.S. senator gives birth in office, and this could lead to a baby blizzard. Don’t worry, senator. If there ever comes a day when there are 10 women in the U.S. Senate of childbearing age, they’ll find a way to work it out. Because women get it done!
And then there was this exchange:
Just after the unanimous vote, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said it would do the tradition-bound Senate some good to see “a diaper bag next to one of these brass spittoons, which sit on the floor, thank goodness, never used.”
Oklahoma Republican James Inhofe took issue with that, saying: “They don’t use diaper bags anymore. They’re disposable diapers.”
What does Sen. Inhofe think diaper bags are?
Even with their objections, the Senate did eventually unanimously vote to change the rules and Sen. Duckworth thanked her colleagues and began laying out Maile Pearl’s first outfit for the Senate floor, which Duckworth made certain would meet the dress code.