Contents

• Introduction
• How Women Enter Congress: Regular Elections, Special Elections, and Appointments
• Women in Congress as Compared with Women in Other Legislative Bodies
• International Perspective
• State-House Perspective
• Female Election Firsts in Congress
• Records for Length of Service
• Women Who Have Served in Both Houses
• African American Women in Congress
• Asian Pacific American Women in Congress
• Hispanic Women in Congress
• American Indian (Native American) Women in Congress
Women Who Have Served in Party Leadership Positions
• Women and Leadership of Congressional Committees
• Women in Congress: Examinations of their Role and  Impact

Summary

A record 115131 women currently serve in the 115^116th Congress: 92. There are 106 women serving in the House (including Delegates and the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico; 67), 91 Democrats and 2515 Republicans) and 23. There are 25 women in the Senate, (17 Democrats and 68 Republicans). This surpasses the previous record from the 114^th Congress (108 women initially sworn in, and 1 House Member subsequently elected).

The .

These 131 women surpass the previous record of 115 women at the close of the 115^th Congress. The numbers of women serving fluctuated during the 115^th Congress; there were 109 women initially sworn in, 5 women subsequently elected to the House, 2 appointed to the Senate, and 1 woman in the House who died in office.

A total of 332365 women have ever been elected or appointed to Congress, including 215247 Democrats and 117118 Republicans. These figures include six nonvoting Delegates (one each from Guam, Hawaii, the District of Columbia, and American Samoa, and two from the U.S. Virgin Islands), as well as one Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico. Of these,

• 280 (181309 (211 Democrats, 9998 Republicans) women have been elected only to the House of Representatives.;
• 40 (25 Democrats, 15 Republicans) women have been elected or appointed only to the Senate;
• 12 (916 (11 Democrats, 35 Republicans) women have served in both houses;
• 4247 African American women have served in Congress (2 in the Senate, 4045 in the House), including 2225 serving in the 115^116th Congress;
• 13 Asian Pacific American women have served in Congress (10 in the House, 1 in the Senate, and 2 in both the House and Senate), including 1110 in the 115^116th Congress; and
• 1320 Hispanic women have been elected to the House, and 1 to the Senate; 11 serve in the 115^th Congress.

In the 115^th Congress, two women currently chair House committees (an additional female chair stepped down), one woman chairs a Senate standing committee, and one woman chairs a Senate select committeeserved in Congress (including 1 in the Senate), including 15 in the 116^th Congress; and

This report includes historical information, including the number and percentage of women in Congress over time,; means of entry to Congress,; comparisons to international and state legislatures,; records for tenure,; firsts for women in Congress,; women in leadership, and; African American, Asian Pacific American, and HispanicHispanic, and American Indian women in Congress,; as well as a brief overview of research questions related to the role and impact of women in Congress. Table A-1 in the AppendixThe Appendix provides details on the total number of women who have served in each Congress, including information on changes within a Congress. The report may reflect data at the beginning or end of each Congress, or changes during a Congress. See the notes throughout the report for information on the currency and coverage of the datanumbers in the report may be affected by the time periods used when tallying any particular number. The text and notes throughout the report provide details on time periods used for the tallies and the currency of the information.

For additional biographical information—including the committee assignments, dates of service, listings by Congress and state, and (for Representatives) congressional districts of the 332365 women who have been elected or appointed to Congress—see CRS Report RL30261, Women in Congress, 1917-20182019: Service Dates and Committee Assignments by Member, and Lists by State and Congress, by [author name scrubbed] and [author name scrubbed].

A total of 332Jennifer E. Manning and Ida A. Brudnick. Introduction Including the first woman to serve in 1917, a total of 365 women have been elected or appointed to serve in the U.S. Congress. TheThat first woman, was Jeannette Rankin (R-MT), who was elected on November 9, 1916, to the 65^th Congress (1917-March 4, 1919).

Table 1 details this service by women in the House, Senate, and both chambers.¹

The 115^th Congress began with 109 women, and 115 women currently serve (one woman was subsequently elected to the House in June 2017, one woman was appointed to the Senate in December 2017, one woman in the House died in March 2018, one woman was appointed to the Senate in April 2018, one woman was elected to the House in April 2018, and three women were elected to the House in November 2018)116^th Congress began with 131 women. Table 2 shows that

• women account for 20.623.7% of voting Members in the House and Senate (110127 of 535);
• women account for 21.324.2% of total Members in the House and Senate (115131 of 541, including the Delegates and Resident Commissioner);
• women account for 20.023.4% of voting Representatives in the House (87102 of 435); and
• women account for 20.9 24.0% of total Members in the House (92106 of 441, including the Delegates and Resident Commissioner); and 25.0% of the Senate.

This report includes historical information, including the (1) number and percentage of women in Congress over time; (2) means of entry to Congress; (3) comparisons to international and state legislatures; (4) records for tenure; (5) firsts for women in Congress; (6) African American, Asian Pacific, and Hispanic American, and American Indian women in Congress; and (7) women in leadership. It also provides a brief overview of research questions related to the role and impact of women in Congress.

For additional biographical information—including the names, committee assignments, dates of service, listings by Congress and state, and (for Representatives) congressional districts of the women who have served in Congress—see CRS Report RL30261, Women in Congress, 1917-20182019: Service Dates and Committee Assignments by Member, and Lists by State and Congress, by [author name scrubbed] and [author name scrubbed]Jennifer E. Manning and Ida A. Brudnick.

Since the 65^th Congress (1917-1918), the number of women serving in Congress hasgenerally increased incrementally, and on a few occasions, decreased. In an exception to these incremental changes, the elections in 1992, which came to be known popularly as the "Year of the Woman," represented a jump in the number of women in Congress.² As a result of this 1992 election, whereas the 102^nd Congress (1991-1992) concluded with 34 women, on the first day of the 103^rd Congress (1993-1994), the number of women in Congress increased 58.8%, to 54 women.³ More recently, the 115^th Congress concluded with 115 women, and on the first day of the 116^th Congress, the number of women in Congress increased 13.9%, to 131 women.⁴ Figure 1 shows the changes in the number of women serving in each Congress. For a table listing decreased. The largest increase occurred in the 103^rd Congress (1993-1994), when the total number of women in the House and Senate serving at one time rose from 32 in the 102^nd Congress to 54, an increase of nearly 69%. The 1992 election came to be known popularly as the "Year of the Woman" due to the large electoral increase of women in Congress.²

Figure 1 charts the changes in the number of women serving in Congress. For a table showing the total number of women who have served in each Congress, including information on turnover within a Congress, please see Table A-12 in the AppendixAppendix.

Figure 1. Number of Women by Congress: 1917-2017 2019 Data for the 115116th Congress are for the beginning of the Congress

Source: "Women in the U.S. Congress 2017" fact sheet,2019" and "History of Women in the U.S. Congress," Center for American Women and Politics, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University, http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/women-us-congress-2019 and http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/history-women-us-congress. Figure compiled by CRS. Notes: Delegates and the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico are not included in the data. The fact sheet indicates that data in the "table for Congresses prior to the current one shows maximum number of women elected or appointed to serve in that Congress at one time. Some filled out unexpired terms and some were never sworn in."

Figure 2 shows the percentage of women in the House, Senate, and total each Congress since the first woman was elected in 1917 (not including nonvoting Members).

Figure 3 shows that from the 1^st Congress (1789) through the beginning of the 115^th Congress (2017), women number

Figure 2. Percentage of Women by Congress: 1917-2017 Data for the 115division of men and women in Congress historically and in the 116th Congress. Figure 2. Women as a Percentage of Total Members Since 1789 andin the 116th Congress Numbers for the 116th Congress are for the beginning of the Congress

Source: "Women in the U.S. Congress 2017" fact sheet, Center for American Women and Politics, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University. Figure compiled by CRS. Notes: Delegates and the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico are not included in the data. The fact sheet indicates that data in the "table for Congresses prior to the current one shows maximum number of women elected or appointed to serve in that Congress at one time. Some filled out unexpired terms and some were never sworn in."

Figure 3. Women as a Percentage of Total Members Since 1789 and in the 115th Congress Numbers for the 115th Congress are for the beginning of the Congress

Source: House of Representatives, Total Members of the House and State Representation, last Updated January 3, 2019, http://history.house.gov/Institution/Total-Members/Total-Members/. This states: "Since the U.S. Congress convened on March 4, 1789, 12,343 individuals have served as Representatives, Senators, or in both capacities. There have been 10,360 Members who served only as Representatives, 1,305 Members who served only in the Senate, and 677 Members with service in both chambers. The total number of Representatives (including individuals serving in both bodies) is 11,037." See also Senate Historical Office, Senators of the United States, 1789-present, available at http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/chronlist.pdf; and House of Representatives, Total Members of the House and State Representation, Last Updated January 3, 2017, http://history.house.gov/Institution/Total-Members/Total-Members/. This information is updated once per Congress. Notes: The House and Senate totals each include one woman who was elected but never sworn in. Delegates and the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico are not included in the data.

As seen in Figure 43, 49 states (all except Vermont),³5 4 territories (American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands), and the District of Columbia have been represented by a woman in Congress at some time since 1917.⁴

Four states (Alaska, Mississippi, North Dakota, and Vermont) have never elected a woman to the House. Eighteen states have never been represented by a female Senator. Fourteen states have been represented by one female Senator, 1012 have sent two, and 6 states have sent three. Twenty states have never been represented by a female Senator.

Figure 43. Number of Women in the House and Senate by State, District, or Territory, 1917-Present Inclusive through April 13, 2018; NumbersJanuary 3, 2019; numbers include Delegates and the Resident Commissioner

Source: CRS summary, based on House of Representatives, Women in Congress, available at http://history.house.gov/Exhibition-and-Publications/WIC/Women-in-Congress/. Notes: The 1216 women who have served in both the House and Senate are counted in each tally. Also counted are one woman from South Carolina (House) and one woman from South Dakota (Senate) who were elected but never sworn in due to the House or Senate being out of session. One woman from Arizona was sworn into the House in May 2018 and is not yet reflected in this map.

How Women Enter Congress: Regular Elections, Special Elections, and Appointments

Pursuant to Article I, Section 2, clause 4 of the U.S. Constitution, all Representatives enter office through election, even those who enter after a seat becomes open during a Congress.⁵7 By contrast, the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution, which was ratified on April 8, 1913, gives state legislatures the option to empower governors to fill Senate vacancies by temporary appointment.⁶

The 5256 women who have served in the Senate entered initially through three different routes

• 31:34 entered through regularly scheduled elections,
• 1617 were appointed to unexpired terms, and
• 5 were elected by special election.⁷9

As Figure 54 shows, approximately 69% 70% (39) of all women who have served in the Senate initially entered Senate service by winning an election (regular or special). Approximately 3130% of women Senators entered the Senate initially through an appointment.

Of the 16 women who were appointed to the Senate, 4 have served more than one year, with 3 of those women serving in more than one Congress. Half of the appointed female Senators subsequently did not seek election. Two were defeated for their party nomination, one was defeated in a general election, one was elected in a special election for the remainder of the term but was not a candidate for a full term, and three were elected to full terms. Four women who were initially appointed to the Senate serve in the 115^th Congress, including two who took the oath of office in 2018.

Since the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1913, nine years prior to the first appointment of a woman to fill a Senate vacancy, 198200 Senators have been appointed.⁸10 Of these appointees, 92% (18291.5% (183) have been men, and 8.5% (17% (16) were women.⁹

Figure 54. Women's Initial Entrance to the Senate: Regular Elections, Special Elections, and Appointments to Unexpired Terms Inclusive through April 13, 2018 January 3, 2019

Source: Figure compiled by CRS based on descriptions in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (http://bioguide.congress.gov/biosearch/biosearch.asp).

Women in Congress as Compared with Women in Other Legislative Bodies

International Perspective

The current total percentage of voting female representation in Congress (20.623.7%) is slightly lower than averages of female representation in other countries. According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), as of January 1, 20172019, women represented 2324.3% of national legislative seats (both houses) across the entire world. In the IPU database of worldwide female representation, the United States ranks 104^{ties for 78th} worldwide for women in the lower chamber. The Nordic countries (Sweden, Iceland, Finland, Denmark, and Norway) lead the world regionally with 41.742.3% female representation in national legislatures.¹⁰ Rwanda and Bolivia have the only national legislatures in the world with a majority of women holding seats in the lower (or only) chamber.¹¹

State-House Perspective

The percentage of women in Congress also is lower than the percentage of women holding seats in state legislatures. According to the Center for American Women and Politics, in 2017, "1,830, or 24.8%,2019, "2,117, or 28.7% of the 7,383 state legislators in the United States are women. Women currently hold 441504, or 22.425.6%, of the 1,972 state senate seats and 1,389613, or 25.729.8%, of the 5,411 state house or assembly seats."¹²13 Across the 50 states, the total seats held by women range from 11.1% in Wyoming to 40.0% in Vermont.¹³

Since the beginning of the 92^nd Congress (1971-1972), the first Congress for which comparative state legislature data are available,¹⁴15 the total percentage of women in state legislatures has eclipsed the percentage of women in Congress (see Figure 65). The greatest disparity between the percentages of female voting representation in state legislatures as compared with Congress occurred in the early 1990s, when women comprised 6.0% of the total Congress in the 102^nd Congress (1991-1992), but 18.3% of state legislatures in 1991. The gap has since narrowed.

Figure 65. Women in Congress and State Legislatures: 1971-2017 2019 Data for the 115116th Congress are for the beginning of the Congress

Source: Data for women legislators as a percentage of total state legislators derived from Fact Sheet, "Women in State Legislatures 20172019," and "History of Women in the U.S. Congress," Center for American Women and Politics, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University. Figures compiled by CRS. Notes: Data include upper and lower chambers. Delegates and the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico are not included in the data. The fact sheet for Congress indicates that the "table for Congresses prior to the current one shows maximum number of women elected or appointed to serve in that Congress at one time. Some filled out unexpired terms and some were never sworn in." Data for the 115116th Congress are for the beginning of the Congress.

Female Election Firsts in Congress

• First woman elected to Congress. Representative Jeannette Rankin (R-MT, 1917-1919, 1941-1943).
• First woman to serve in the Senate. Rebecca Latimer Felton (D-GA) was appointed in 1922 to fill the unexpired term of a Senator who had died in office. In addition to being the first female Senator, Mrs. Felton holds two other Senate records. Her tenure in the Senate remains the shortest ever (one day), and, at the age of 87, she is the oldest person ever to begin Senate service.
• First woman to succeed her spouse in the Senate and also the first female initially elected to a full six-year term. Hattie Caraway (D-AR, 1931-1945) was first appointed in 1931 to fill the vacancy caused by the death of her husband, Thaddeus H. Caraway (D-AR, House, 1913-1921; Senate, 1921-1931), and then was subsequently elected to two six-year terms.
• First woman elected to the Senate without having first been appointed to serve in that body and first woman to serve in both houses of Congress. Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME) was elected to the Senate and served from January 3, 1949, until January 3, 1973. She had previously served in the House (June 3, 1940, to January 3, 1949).
• First woman elected to the Senate without first having been elected to the House or having been elected or appointed to fill an unexpired Senate term. Nancy Landon Kassebaum (R-KS, 1979-1997).
• First woman elected Speaker of the House. As Speaker of the House in the 110^th and 111^th Congresses (2007-2010), Nancy Pelosi held the highest position of leadership ever by a woman in the U.S. government.

She was elected Speaker again at the beginning of the 116^th Congress. Records for Length of Service

• Longest total length of service by a woman in Congress. Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), who served from January 3, 1977, to January 3, 2017, holds this record (40 years, 10 of which were spent in the House). On March 17, 2012, Senator Mikulski surpassed the record previously held by Edith Nourse Rogers (R-MA).
• Longest length of service by a woman in the House. On March 18, 20192018, currently serving Representative Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) surpassed the record previously held by Representative Rogers. Representative Kaptur has been serving in the House since January 3, 1983 (36 years). Representative Rogers served in the House for 35 years, from June 25, 1925, until her death on September 10, 1960.
• Longest length of service by a woman in the Senate. Senator Mikulski also holds the record for length of Senate service by a woman (30 years). In January 2011, she broke the service record previously held by Senator Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME), who served 24 years in the Senate and 8.6 years in the House.

Women Who Have Served in Both Houses

TwelveSixteen women have served in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME) was the first such woman, as well as the first woman elected to the Senate without first having been elected or appointed to fill a vacant Senate seat. She was first elected to the House to fill the vacancy caused by the death of her husband (Clyde Smith, R-ME, 1937-1940), and she served from June 10, 1940, until January 3, 1949, when she began her Senate service. She served in the Senate until January 3, 1973.

African American Women in Congress

Twenty-twoAfrican American Women in Congress Twenty-five African American women serve in the 115^116th Congress, including 2 Delegates, a record number. The previous record number was 2021, including 2 Delegates, serving at the end of the 114^115th Congress.

A total of 4247 African American women have served in Congress.¹⁵16 The first was Representative Shirley Chisholm (D-NY, 1969-1983). Senator Carol Moseley-Braun (D-IL, 1993-1999) was the first African American woman to have served in the Senate. The African American women Members of the 115^116th Congress are listed in Table 3.

Asian Pacific American Women in Congress

ElevenTen Asian Pacific American women, a record number, serve in the 115^116th Congress.¹⁶17 Patsy Mink (D-HI), who served in the House from 1965 to -1977 and again from 1990 to -2002, was the first of 13 Asian Pacific American women to serve in Congress. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) is the first Asian Pacific American woman to serve in both the House and Senate.

Hispanic Women in Congress

FourteenTwenty Hispanic or Latino women have served in Congress, all but one in the House, and 11 of them15 of them, a record number, serve in the 115^116th Congress. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL, 1989-present2018) is the first Hispanic woman to serve in Congress, and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV, 2017-present) is the first Hispanic woman Senator.¹⁷18

American Indian (Native American) Women in Congress

Representatives Sharice Davids (D-KS) and Deb Haaland (D-NM), both first elected to the 116^th Congress, are the first female enrolled members of federally recognized tribes to serve in Congress.

Women Who Have Served in Party Leadership Positions¹⁸

A number of women in Congress, listed in Table 6, have held positions in their party's leadership.¹⁹ Former20 House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) heldholds the highest position of leadership ever held by a woman in the U.S. government ever held by a woman. As Speaker of the House in the 110^th and 111^th Congresses, she was116^th Congress, she is second in the line of succession for the presidency. She also served as Speaker in the 110^th and 111^th Congresses. In the 108^th, 109^th, and 112^th-115^th Congresses, she was elected the House Democratic leader. Previously, Representative Pelosi was elected House Democratic whip, in the 107^th Congress, on October 10, 2001, effective January 15, 2002. She was also the first woman nominated to be Speaker of the House. Senator Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME), chair of the Senate Republican Conference from 1967 to 1972, holds the Senate record for the highest, as well as first, leadership position held by a female Senator. The first woman Member to be elected to any party leadership position was Chase Going Woodhouse (D-CT), who served as House Democratic Caucus Secretary in the 81^st Congress (1949-1950).

Women and Leadership of Congressional Committees

As chair of the House Expenditures in the Post Office Department Committee (67^th-68^th Congresses), Mae Ella Nolan was the first woman to chair any congressional committee. As chair of the Senate Enrolled Bills Committee (73^rd-78^th Congresses), Hattie Caraway was the first woman to chair a Senate committee. In total,

• 2026 women have chaired a House committee (including select committees); 14;
• 13 women have chaired a Senate committee (including select committees);
• 1 female Senator has chaired two joint committees (related to her service on a standing committee); and
• 2 female Representatives have chaired a joint committee.²⁰

21In the 115^116th Congress, there are currently fournine committees led by women: twofive standing committees in the House, one standing committee in the Senate, and one select committee in the Senate. An additional House committee chair served until January 11, 2018House, one select committee in the Senate, and one joint committee.

Women in Congress: Examinations of their Role and  Impact

As the number of women in Congress has increased in recent decades, and following the large increase in women following the 1992 elections in particular, numerous studies of Congress have examined the role and impact of these women.

Central to these studies have been questions about

• the the following:The legislative behavior of women in Congress, including whether the legislative behavior of female Members differs from their male counterparts. For example, what has the increase in women in Congress meant for descriptive representation (i.e., when representatives and those represented share demographic characteristics, such as representation of women by women) and substantive representation (i.e., representation of policy preferences and a linkage to policy outcomes)?²¹22 This also includes examinations of whether women Members sponsor more "women's issues bills"²²23 or speak more frequently on the House floor about women.²³24 These examinations also include questions regarding whether there are any differences in roll call voting behavior between men and women Members of Congress, with a focus on successive Members in the same district, in the same party, or in the chamber overall.²⁴
25
• theThe "effectiveness" of female legislators, particularly in comparison to male legislators. These studies have examined bill sponsorship and cosponsorship; women's success in shepherding sponsored bills or amendments into law; committee work; success in securing federal funds; consensus building activities and efforts to form coalitions; effectiveness while in the majority and minority; and their impact on the institution overall.²⁵
26
• theThe path that leads women to run for office, comparative success rates of female compared with male candidates, and career trajectory once in Congress.²⁶27 This includes professional backgrounds and experience, barriers to entry, and fundraising;²⁷28 the so-called widow effect, in which many women first secured entry to Congress following the death of a spouse;²⁸29 and reelection efforts and influences on decisions regarding voluntary retirement or pursuing other office.²⁹

30Appendix. Total Number of Women Who Served in Each Congress

Author Contact Information

Acknowledgments

Linda Carter, Elli Ludwigson, and Cara Warner provided assistance. [author name scrubbed]Colleen J. Shogan, formerly deputy director and senior specialist, and [author name scrubbed]Susan Navarro Smelcer, formerly an analyst on the Federal Judiciary, were former coauthors of this report.

Footnotes