Bob Collins
Sen. Amy Klobuchar is among several women getting some CBS News admiration today for straightening out the old-boy’s club — the Senate.
Twenty women now serve in the U.S. Senate; that’s a record number.
“Together there’s a lot of trust,” Klobuchar said. “We don’t have much trust right now among members of Congress but we have it with the women senators.”
Are women more effective politicians because they’re women?
“We are working mothers, many of us, too, and I think we’re very results-oriented,” (Sen. Kelly) Ayotte said.
And the data backs that up. Over the last seven years, female senators introduced more legislation than their male counterparts, were more bipartisan — cosponsoring more bills from the opposite party — and had more of their bills enacted by the entire Senate.
None of them were surprised by the data.
“We had to prove ourselves maybe a little more than the guys did, and I think that shows,” Klobuchar said.
“You can’t get one thing done yourself and so a natural coalition for me is all the other women in the Senate,” Capito added.
What would life be like with more women in the Senate?
“There would be a lot less of this backstabbing and, just the sort of hateful language and things,” Klobuchar said.
