ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, June 12, 1996 TAG: 9606120057
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: CURT ANDERSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
THE 24TH WOMAN ever to serve in the Senate was sworn in Tuesday.
Sheila Frahm, who moved from Kansas farm life to politics, stepped Tuesday into the giant shoes left by Bob Dole and became the 24th woman ever to serve in the Senate.
``Nobody is going to fill Bob Dole's shoes. But I look forward to representing Kansas,'' said Frahm, a former state lieutenant governor and legislator from rural Colby, Kan.
With her hand on a family Bible, Frahm was sworn in by Vice President Al Gore in the Senate chamber. Dole, Kansas Gov. Bill Graves, Sen. Nancy Kassebaum and three of the four Kansas House members were on hand.
``All that I am and all that I will become, I owe to Kansas,'' Frahm said in a statement. ``I hope my service always reflects the values of the state I call home.'' Graves appointed Frahm to the Senate last month when Dole said he would resign to campaign for president full time.
There are nine women in the Senate, five Democrats and four Republicans. Kansas becomes the second state, after California, to have a pair of female senators.
Frahm, 51, turned to politics 20 years ago while she was part of a farm family, first serving on the Colby School Board, then moving up in 1985 to the Kansas School Board. She served two terms in the state Senate, then ran successfully on a ticket with Graves for lieutenant governor in 1994.
She calls herself conservative, but places her politics between the moderate Kassebaum and the more conservative Dole.
``I recognize and believe that government cannot solve every problem, nor should it attempt to,'' she said. ``Government is but one tool for citizens to use as we seek to improve our quality of life.''
In an interview Tuesday, Dole said Frahm has a difficult task ahead in learning the ropes of the Senate while preparing for the Aug. 6 Republican primary in Kansas. She faces Rep. Sam Brownback in the race for the GOP nomination to fill the remaining two years of Dole's term.
``She's got to organize an office, raise money, run back and forth,'' Dole said. ``She's going to get a lot of frequent-flier miles here in the next 60 days.''
LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Sheila Frahm, raised in a Kansas farm family,by CNBstarted her political career 20 years ago on local and state school
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