Cathy McMorris Rodgers is the highest-ranking female Republican in the House of Representatives yet she is hardly a household name.
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Among the discussion, or rather arguments, in a GOP House divided by an ideological fight, Republicans seldom agree on anything these days. Last week, Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., did come to terms on the decision to have Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., issue a follow-up statement to President Obama’s State of the Union address.
Rodgers has not been just coasting by behind the scenes. She is one of the most active members in the House — and Washington’s 5th District voters would agree.
Her reputation as a doer and a humble background have the potential to garner support for a party that desperately needs a credible backer. Rodgers is known for passing legislation in regard to agriculture, rural health care, hydropower and veterans. Simple as that: She knows how to represent people without getting tied down in the politics, a refreshing sight to Americans.
The Rodgers life story is nothing short of the American Dream. During the 1850s, her ancestors traveled on the Oregon Trail to their final destination of Walla Walla, Washington. Her mother’s side of the family became rooted in forestry while her father’s focused on agriculture.
If you saw Rodgers as a teenager, chances are that it would have been while working alongside her parents and younger brother in the fields of the family farm Peachcrest Fruit Basket Orchard and Fruit Stand in Kettle Falls, Wash.
Rodgers chose to move 2,500 miles away from the Pacific Northwest to study pre-law at Pensacola Christian College on the Florida panhandle. She was the first person in her family to graduate from college and then earned her executive MBA at the University of Washington.
The self-made businesswoman kept a love for the land in her heart. Rodgers continued to work on her family’s orchard farm in between statehouse legislative sessions.
Both of those vocational backgrounds created a congresswoman who is dedicated to issues and industries that determine the welfare of her constituents. She has acted on promises made to voters on the campaign trail by earning placements on relevant committees and caucuses, thus winning her a stake hold in topics that matter most to her constituents.
Of 72 bills signed into law last year, Rodgers penned two, both directly affecting eastern Washingtonians.
Even as a young legislator in the statehouse, she supported legislation that cut about $70 million a year aside for buying wildlife habitats of endangered species.
Decisions like those have earned her chair positions on Improving the National Environmental Policy Act, Congressional Military Family Caucus, Woman’s Caucus, Neuroscience and Lumber.
Follow-through with leadership responsibilities like those gave her more credibility. After serving as vice-chair for the House Republican Conference, she was nominated to chair, fourth in line of command.
Rodgers was also appointed to House Energy and Commerce Committee, where she has had success in drafting and passing bills that are tied to her district and others that rely heavily on her strong voice for environmental, economic and energy issues.
All of those accomplishments have not stopped her from creating a family.
Rodgers became the first woman in Congress to give birth three times since taking office in 2004.
As a result of trisomy 21 that her son Cole was born with, Rodgers co-founded a Down Syndrome Caucus.
While it has been a long 20 years since she started a career in state public office, Rodgers looks like she is only just getting started.