'I'm excited': Hollywood star rallies around new national landmark with support from both parties
FIRST ON FOX: It's not easy in today's political climate to get Democrats and Republicans into a friendly, collaborative space together.
But that's exactly what happened this week when Lynda Carter, star of the 1970s ABC hit "Wonder Woman," joined a bipartisan reception on Capitol Hill aimed at getting the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum built.
"It's often said that certain kinds of men built America. And that is not exactly the truth, because we were there," Carter told Fox News Digital in an interview during the event. "Most people don't know about our stories, about the women of America that helped to build our great nation. Those are the stories that I'm excited to have you hear about."
Despite a bustling day of events Monday, a day before President Donald Trump's speech to a joint session of Congress, more than two dozen lawmakers found time to stop by a modest room on the first floor of the U.S. Capitol, where Carter was engaging with others in a bid to get the museum built.
Funding for the women's museum was appropriated in 2020 and signed into law during Trump's first term.
Now, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., is leading a bill to actually give the museum a spot along the National Mall so it can finally be built.
"We're very fortunate to be here with a bipartisan effort. And we have 80 co-sponsors of our legislation, both Democrats and Republicans," Malliotakis told Fox News Digital.
"It's very important, so we can share the stories of the women who have come before us," she added before listing famous females like Rosie the Riveter, a group of Black nurses who worked with tuberculosis patients in the 1900s, known as the Black Angels, and former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
And their effort is getting recognized by the very top levels of Congress.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., briefly stopped by the event and spoke with attendees, at one point appearing cheerful during a conversation with Carter.
Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was also at the event, as were both male and female members of Congress on both sides of the aisle.
"This is the second and final step of the process," Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., who is co-leading the effort, told Fox News Digital. "Obviously, it's an important one, because this is the site selection. The hard part was getting it authorized, that's already done."
Former Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., who has championed women's rights for decades, said she had spoken with Johnson during the event and "it seemed like he was gonna look for the votes."
"I know how effective he is," Maloney praised. "We're gonna get it done this time."
Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., another Democrat leading the effort in Congress right now, affirmed: "We are going to get it done."
Dingell did not hesitate when asked whether she was confident about whether the project could be completed despite the current political environment.
"It has to," she said.
It was an evening of bipartisanship for Carter as well, a noted Democrat who campaigned for former Vice President Kamala Harris' 2024 campaign.
She credited both Republicans and Democrats, however, for coming together on the issue of the museum.
The event culminated with the co-chairs of the bipartisan Women's caucus – Malliotakis, along with Reps. Monica De La Cruz, R-Texas, Emilia Sykes, D-Ohio, and Janelle Bynum, D-Ore. – presenting Carter with a frame memorializing her contributions to women in the Congressional Record.
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