Longest-serving female senator in US history passes away

The New York Times on September 29 quoted a family member of Senator Dianne Feinstein as saying that the Democratic congresswoman from California passed away on the evening of September 28, at the age of 90.

Nữ thượng nghị sĩ phục vụ lâu nhất trong lịch sử Mỹ từ trần - Ảnh 1. — Senator Dianne Feinstein has died at the age of 90

Feinstein's health has declined in recent years and she has had memory problems. The problems have worsened in recent months when Senator Feinstein contracted shingles, which caused serious complications and left her using a wheelchair in Congress.

Nữ thượng nghị sĩ phục vụ lâu nhất trong lịch sử Mỹ từ trần - Ảnh 2. — Sen. Dianne Feinstein in a wheelchair at the Capitol in May

Feinstein grew up in San Francisco and graduated from Stanford University. In 1969, she was elected to the San Francisco County Board of Supervisors and became its president in 1978. That same year, she became mayor of San Francisco and was elected to the U.S. Senate in a special election in 1992, becoming California's first female senator. She was re-elected five times, making her the longest-serving female senator in U.S. history. Feinstein was also the first woman to chair the Senate Rules Committee and the Senate Intelligence Committee.

In February, Ms. Feinstein announced that she would not run for re-election next year.

Nữ thượng nghị sĩ phục vụ lâu nhất trong lịch sử Mỹ từ trần - Ảnh 3. — Dianne Feinstein in 2010

Anti-Gun Career

According to Reuters, Senator Feinstein's political career was shaped by guns. She became mayor of San Francisco in 1978 after her predecessor George Moscone and a colleague on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors were assassinated.

The horrific memories never faded, and Feinstein later drafted the federal ban on military-style assault weapons, which took effect from 1994-2004.

Nữ thượng nghị sĩ phục vụ lâu nhất trong lịch sử Mỹ từ trần - Ảnh 4. — Feinstein speaks about the CIA's 2014 detention and interrogation program report

Feinstein led an effort to enact tougher gun laws, including an assault weapons ban, after the 2012 Connecticut elementary school shooting that left 26 people dead. The bill faced opposition from Republicans and gun rights groups and failed in the Senate.

During her tenure as chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee (2009-2015), Feinstein's committee released a report describing the CIA's secret detention and interrogation program, which included torture of terrorist suspects after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

She called the CIA's actions a stain on American values and history. "History will judge us by our commitment to a just society governed by the rule of law and our willingness to face the ugly truth and say 'never again,'" Feinstein said.

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