On Thursday, January 25, the Polish Club at the University of Texas Austin in conjunction with the Strauss Center, the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies, the Center for European Studies, the Liberal Arts Honors Program, the Department of Government, and International Relations & Global Studies hosted Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) for a showing of the documentary, “Freedom Means Never Surrender,” followed by moderated Q&A. Congresswoman Kaptur, the longest serving Congresswoman in history, Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the House Ukraine Caucus, and Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the House Poland Caucus, helped produce the documentary, which follows the story of Polish citizens surviving World War II and immigrating to America.

Biography

Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur represents Ohio’s Ninth Congressional District, and is currently serving her seventeenth term in the U.S. House of Representatives. She is the senior-most woman in the House and the longest-serving woman from Ohio in history. Congresswoman Kaptur ranks among the most senior Members of the 115th Congress.

After graduating from St. Ursula Academy, she became the first member of her family to attend college, earning a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Wisconsin (1968) and later a Master’s degree in urban planning from the University of Michigan. After working for 15 years as a city and regional planner, primarily in Toledo and Chicago, she accepted an appointment as a domestic policy advisor to President Jimmy Carter. During his Administration, she helped maneuver 17 housing and neighborhood revitalization bills through Congress. In 1981, while pursuing a doctorate in urban planning and development finance at MIT, she was recruited by the Lucas County Democratic Party to run for Congress against a first-term Republican.

In Washington, Kaptur fought vigorously to win a seat on the House Appropriations Committee. Today she is the ranking member on the Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, which is fitting given that the Ninth District hugs the Lake Erie coastline from Cleveland to Toledo. Congresswoman Kaptur also is the first Democratic woman ever to serve on the powerful Defense Subcommittee. There, she is a strong advocate for national security, energy independence and adequate support for the armed forces. She is also a member of the Interior Subcommittee where she fights for clean water programs that protect our Great Lakes. Earlier in her congressional career, she served on the Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee as well as the Banking Committee. She served on the Budget Committee as recently as the 112th Congress

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