WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) issued the statement below on the death of Senator Dianne Feinstein: 

“Senator Feinstein was a monumental figure in Congress and served as a trailblazer for so many other women to serve in the Senate and the halls of government at every level across the country.

I remember first meeting Dianne when in 1992, otherwise known as the Year of the Woman for the record number of women elected to Congress that year. I was a young lawyer and I was at my first national political convention - I saw her speak and I knew anything and everything was possible. 

She came into leadership at a time when there were hardly any female leaders on a national stage, and in that way she broke ground for many of us. 

Throughout her career she drove change. A champion of the first ever assault weapons ban and the Violence Against Women Act, Senator Feinstein was steadfast in her commitment to keep Americans safe, and I was proud to have the opportunity to work closely with her in my effort to close the boyfriend loophole to keep guns out of the hands of convicted domestic abusers

Some of my earliest memories of Dianne as a Senator are of how kind, dignified, and detail oriented she was. Senator Feinstein was known for her commitment to reaching across the aisle to find common ground. She understood that the best solutions to the challenges our nation faces could be reached through collaboration, and that there is so much more that unites us than divides us.  

There are a lot of young women considering running for office now, but our numbers are still not where they should be. Part of the reason is because you can take a lot of hits and face negativity. Despite this, Dianne would always keep her head held high and walk right through any storm. She did that because she saw her work as a calling and whatever she was doing that day as her mission. 

Senator Feinstein worked to the end, casting her last vote yesterday. John and I are keeping Senator Feinstein’s family and the people of California, who she was devoted to until the very end, in our prayers.”

###