Washington, D.C. – Council for a Livable World’s PeacePAC announced today that it had named former Colorado Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder to become its new Chair. Schroeder succeeds the late Father Robert F Drinan, who passed away in January after a long and distinguished career in public service.
PeacePAC is the electoral arm of Council for a Livable World that helps elect U.S. House of Representatives candidates who support sensible national security policies. In the 2006 election cycle, PeacePAC supporters contributed $600,000 to progressive House candidates.
Schroeder represented Colorado’s First Congressional District (Denver) from 1973 to 1997. During her tenure in the House, she was a key leader on national security issues.
She also became the Dean of Congressional Women, co-chaired the Congressional Caucus on Women's Issues for 10 years, and served on the House Judiciary Committee, the Post Office and Civil Service Committee, and was the first woman to serve on the House Armed Services Committee.
Guy Stevens, Director of PeacePAC, commented: “We are extremely honored to have a woman of Patricia Schroeder’s extraordinary talent and experience chairing PeacePAC. She is the perfect fit to carry on Father Drinan’s important legacy.�
After leaving Congress, Schroeder spent time teaching at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. She currently serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Association of American Publishers and on the boards of the Marguerite Casey Foundation and the American Bar Association's Center for Human Rights Executive Committee. Schroeder works extensively with various advisory committees dealing with literacy and issues affecting children and women.
Stevens added: “The Council is strengthening its Colorado connection. Both Council Chairman Senator Gary Hart and Schroeder represented Colorado in Congress. We are excited about extending our ties to Colorado and other states of the Rocky Mountain West, which have taken on a new importance in national electoral politics.�
Schroeder originally hails from Portland, Oregon. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Minnesota and went on to Harvard Law School, where she was one of only 15 women in a class of more than 500 men. She is the author of two books, Champion of the Great American Family (Random House, 1989) and 24 Years of House Work…and the Place Is Still a Mess (Andrews McMeel, 1998), and is in the National Women’s Hall of Fame and the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame.
