Schroeder, Patricia (1940–)

American politician. Name variations: Pat Schroeder. Born Patricia Scott, July 30, 1940, in Portland, Oregon; dau. of Bernice Lemoin Scott (elementary schoolteacher) and Lee Combs Scott (pilot and aviation insurance adjuster); University of Minnesota, BA, 1961; Harvard Law School, JD, 1964; certification from Colorado Bar, 1964; m. James W. Schroeder, Aug 18, 1962; children: Scott William Schroeder (b. 1966); Jamie Christine Schroeder (b. 1970).

US representative, advocate for families and women, who used her position on the House National Security Committee to challenge assumptions about spending priorities to see if money could be saved from military spending and used for other purposes; practiced law and taught law at Denver area schools (1964–72); won 2 primary and 12 general elections for Congress (1972–96); served on House National Security Committee (formerly House Armed Services Committee, 1973–96), House Judiciary Committee (1980–96), and House Post Office and Civil Service Committee (1973–94); served as co-chair, Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues (1979–95), deputy whip, Democratic Caucus (1987–96), and chair, House Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families (1991–93); formed exploratory presidential campaign committee, raised $1 million in 3 months (1987); retired undefeated from Congress (1996); by the time of her retirement, was the longest-serving woman in Congress, widely respected not only for her efforts on behalf of women and children, but for her shrewd study of arms control and economics; became president and chief executive of Association of American Publishers (1997). Inducted into National Women's Hall of Fame (1995).

See also memoirs Champion of the Great American Family: A Personal and Political Book (Random House, 1989) and 24 Years of House Work … and the Place is Still a Mess (McMeel, 1998); and Women in World History.