Breakfast at Maloney’s

A couple of weeks ago, some of the Feministing crew had the opportunity to meet with Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) for breakfast to chat about her past and current work, including her recent re-introduction of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). And she was awesome.

Not only has Congresswoman Maloney represented my district for the past 18 years (big ups to Astoria), but has led the way for tons of legislation that has made an incredible impact, between authoring what some say is the most important anti-rape legislation in the country that addressed the country’s backlog of rape kits, to adding an amendment to the foreign aid bill that secured $60 million in funding for programs for Afghan women and girls.

And that’s just the tip of the ice burg. In short, this lady has been pretty busy the last few decades — but it hasn’t been easy. When Samhita asked her how she maintains with all of the obstacles, delays and a-holes that make it only harder to get critical legislation passed, I loved her response:

Because it’s thrilling. Nothing is more exciting or rewarding than public service.

Rock on, Congresswoman. Look out for more info on the ERA as the campaign develops.

P.S. Her intern Ilyssa Meyer was also pretty bad-ass. We’ll be looking out for big things from her too.