Women Versus the Radical Right Agenda:
Read how women are fighting the GOP, especially the Contract With America, at Women Leaders Online .

What the Republican Party Has Done for You Lately:
Twelve important messages to American women from the Republican Party.

Biographies of Women in Congress:
The University of Maryland provides complete biographies of all the women in the 104th Congress.

Voices of Women:
Voices of Women is the "nerve center" for women's thought on the Web. Read up.

NOW is the Time:
N.O.W. always has a lot to say, especially when it comes to the Republican Agenda. Take a look at their politics page.

The dark days roll on for the Republican party. The GOP Congress continues to founder in the polls. The party's presidential nominee, Bob Dole, is taking an early beating at the hands of Bill Clinton. Now, from within all their headaches, a new worry has emerged among Republican leaders as they plan for the November election. It's called the "gender gap," and the problem is that Democrats enjoy much greater support among women than Republicans. A recent Washington Post poll found 61 percent of registered women supporting Clinton, and just 31 percent for Dole -- the gap is about 20 points less among men. In response, leading Republican women in Congress are stepping forward to soften their party's image, and to do a little Democrat-bashing along the way. House women, in particular, have begun dogging Democrats around every corner. In recent weeks they have waged a vigorous campaign to embarrass one of the President's top advisors, signed on to a letter accusing two House Democrats of putting women "back in the category of chattel" and targeted another for using an ill-advised rape metaphor. Republican women also joined in the heckling of Clinton's much-mocked legal defense against a Paula Jones' sexual harassment lawsuit, which implied that as commander-in-chief Clinton was a military official and should be immune to suits while on duty. All that, and the election is still five months away. Since we're sure to hear much more from the leading GOP women in Congress, lets take a look at who they are.

Tillie Fowler: Fowler is a second-term member from the Jacksonville area of Florida. In her short stint in Congress thus far, she has rapidly gained influence within the Republican party. A reformist and term-limits backer, Fowler has complained that Republican women have gotten "a bum rap" in the public eye and has joined with Dunn in trying to correct it. She recently spoke on the House floor to argue that "women have reached new heights" in attaining influence and leadership posts within the party.

Sue Kelly: New York representative Kelly was the only pro-choice member of the 1994 GOP freshman class, and the only one of the bunch willing to join the bipartisan House Women's Caucus. But she has built a solidly partisan record. She voted for every provision of the Contract With America and stood by the House's welfare reform bill, which was oft-assailed as too harsh. And it was Kelly who recently skewered Rep. Charles Rangel, D-NY, for his remarks describing Republican budget cuts as a "gang rape" of New York city (rape victims "deserve better from their public officials than careless rhetoric trivializing the brutal crime of rape," she wrote to Rangel.)

Susan Molinari: New York representative Molinari is the highest-ranking woman in the House Republican leadership. Although she is an influential member of an increasingly conservative House caucus, Molinari has split with the party over issues like abortion and the assault weapons ban. She was the champion of a recent bill offering a tax credit to couples who adopted children. Still, she helped pitch the Contract With America to the public, and critics charge that she has been straying rightward of late. In 1994 Molinari married another Republican member of the New York Congressional delegation, Rep. Bill Paxon, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. Together they are one of the most influential political couples in Washington, and parents of a new baby daughter -- who no doubt is bound for future political stardom.

Sue Myrick: Myrick, who represents Charlotte, North Carolina, is a former mayor of the city, and a first-term member. Her influence stems from her post as liaison between the House leadership and her contentious Republican freshman class. Less of an advocate for women's issues in particular, Myrick has been a faithful supporter of her party's agenda, voting down the line for every provision of the Contract With America. Republican leaders helped insure her loyalty by awarding her a seat on the House Budget Committee. "My style is very simple," she recently said: "to be blunt."

Linda Smith: Smith, a freshman Representative from Washington, has not been so much a party emissary in the style of Dunn, but she is one of the standard-bearers for the reformist anger that propelled so many of her colleagues to Congress in 1994. She is an ardent conservative who supported the whole Contract and is particularly opposed to gay rights and gay adoption laws, and found herself a controversial figure when linked with militia groups after the Oklahoma City bombing. Lately, Smith has made her name as an uncompromising backer of campaign finance reform. She is calling for the abolition of political action committee (PAC) contributions and refuses to accept them herself. .

Olympia Snowe: Snowe, the junior Senator from Maine, moved from the House to the Senate in the 1994 election. She has quickly become influential among Senate Republicans, although she does not always toe the party line. She has lately made waves through her a outspoken efforts to alter the language in the Republican party platform calling for a constitutional ban on abortion. (The plank contains a "harsh and intolerant message," she says.) Snowe also supports family leave, and opposed some of the harsher measures in the Republican welfare reform bills. She also happens to be married to Maine's former Governor, John McKernan.