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For Immediate Release
Office of Mrs. Bush
November 8, 2002

Remarks by Mrs. Laura Bush in Telephone Conversation with Ms. Effie Hobby, Connecticut Resident Who Has Voted in Every Election Since 1920, When Women Gained Voting Rights

10:52 A.M. EST

MRS. BUSH: Effie, are you there?

MS. HOBBY: Yes, I'm here.

MRS. BUSH: Good. This is Laura Bush. And I'm so excited to call you and thank you for voting every year, every election since you started voting, since women first got the right to vote.

MS. HOBBY: Who am I talking to?

MRS. BUSH: You're talking to Laura Bush.

MS. HOBBY: My goodness. Happy birthday.

MRS. BUSH: Oh, why, thank you very much. Thanks for that. I'm so excited to get to talk to you, after you've had so many birthdays.

MS. HOBBY: I surely have. (Laughter.)

MRS. BUSH: Can you remember what it was like when you first voted, when women first got to vote in the United States?

MS. HOBBY: Surely.

MRS. BUSH: Surely. Did most women show up at the polls.

MS. HOBBY: No.

MRS. BUSH: No.

MS. HOBBY: It's so exciting, though.

MRS. BUSH: I'm sure it was really exciting. I got to stand on the steps of the Texas Governor's Mansion on the 75th anniversary of women suffrage, with my mother and my daughters. And that was really fun, to think about how women first started to vote in the United States, and to get to be there with my mother, who was a little girl when that happened, and my daughters, who I hope will carry on the family tradition of voting at every election.

Why do you think it's so important for women to vote?

MS. HOBBY: Sorry?

MRS. BUSH: Why do you think it's important.

MS. HOBBY: Why I do?

MRS. BUSH: Yes, for women to vote.

MS. HOBBY: I think they should -- I think maybe they're going a little too far, but I think it's a good idea. (Laughter.)

MRS. BUSH: Absolutely, because they have that right. What's the secret to your long life?

MS. HOBBY: Heritage.

MRS. BUSH: Heritage. That's probably also the secret to your long history of voting, too, is it?

MS. HOBBY: Yes.

MRS. BUSH: Did your parents always vote?

MS. HOBBY: Republican.

MRS. BUSH: They always voted Republican?

MS. HOBBY: I vote Republican always, nationally.

MRS. BUSH: Well, I appreciate that.

MS. HOBBY: After that, I think whoever I think is --

MRS. BUSH: Yes, the best man for the local races?

MS. HOBBY: That's it.

MRS. BUSH: And I understand you voted for our good friend, John Rowland, too, for governor.

MS. HOBBY: There was no question -- (Laughter.)

MRS. BUSH: That's great. Well, Effie, thank you. It's such a pleasure for me to get to talk to you.

MS. HOBBY: It's amazing for me to talk to you. I never expected this, for sure. (Laughter.)

MRS. BUSH: Well, you're a very, very good model for all the rest of us, for all women in America, that you've been voting since the very first time, the very first year of women's suffrage, and that you've always voted.

MS. HOBBY: Give your husband my regards, and tell him I wish I always agreed with him.

MRS. BUSH: Okay, I sure will. Thank you so much, Effie, and congratulations on so many years of voting.

MS. HOBBY: Thank you very much.

MRS. BUSH: Bye. Lots of love.

MS. HOBBY: Thank you.

MRS. BUSH: Bye-bye.

END 10:55 A.M. EST