Patty Murray

Patricia Lynn Murray (née Johns; born October 11, 1950) is an American politician and retired educator serving as the senior United States senator from Washington since 1993. She is a member of the Democratic Party. She currently serves as President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate, making her the institution's presiding officer in the absence of the Vice President and leaving her fourth in the presidential line of succession after President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.

Patty Murray (2013)

Quotes

• We haven't [helped pay for schools, roads and even day care centers]. How would they look at us today if we had been there helping them with some of that rather than just being the people who are going to bomb in Iraq and go to Afghanistan?
  • Quoted in December 2002 [1]

• For millions of American women, reading the news this morning was like stepping into a time machine and going back 50 years, seeing the headlines and the photos of this all-male panel in the House talking about a woman's right to access birth control, and no women on the panel. It turns out the chairman of the House oversight committee decided he was not going to allow a young woman who had been asked by the minority to testify and tell her story--actually of a friend who had lost an ovary because of her lack of contraception coverage. So this 19-year-old woman was left to watch, like the rest of us, as all five men addressed the committee about how they supported efforts to restrict access to care. I am sure by now many of my colleagues here have seen this picture of this all-male panel, the picture that says a thousand words. It is one that most women thought was left behind when pictures only came in black and white.
  • Quoted in the Congressional Record, 17 February 2012, United States Senate, Page S882 - S885. See link at: www.gpo.gov. text based version.

• I’m honored to officially become the President Pro Tempore of the Senate today.

It’s not lost on me the significance of what it means to be the first woman to serve in this role. This is another sign that slowly but surely, Congress is looking more like America.

• With no Speaker, line of succession is again two women (0January 3, 2023)

External links

• U.S. Senator Patty Murray official U.S. Senate website
• Patty Murray for Senate campaign website