Colorado Democratic representative Pat Schroeder’s announcement that she is leaving Congress after 23 years in the House was sad to hear.

Regardless of your ideological affiliation, it’s hard not to recognize Schroeder as a champion of the way our society ought to operate. Schroeder was not elected to Congress because of her gender, and once there, she worked hard to establish herself as a lawmaker, not a woman lawmaker.

Schroeder, the longest-serving woman ever elected to Congress, was the first woman to be named to the powerful House Armed Services Committee and has chaired the subcommittee on military installations and facilities.

Though Schroeder’s positions were not always popular and not always in the best interests of all Americans, she should be commended for establishing herself as a Washington pioneer.

She commanded respect and developed a reputation for standing firm in her views, not the least of which was an intense, outspoken dislike of House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

“People have finally awakened and understand that Newt Gingrich is really the Republican Party,” Schroeder said at a news conference Wednesday. “That everybody is either a femi-Newtie or a Newtoid and if they vote Republican they are getting Newt.”

Schroeder is also apparently a master at political strategy. Setting up a man known affectionately as a “crybaby” as the “evil American” certainly can’t hurt your political standing.

Sadly, Schroeder’s resignation leaves women without a charismatic leader in Washington. But hopefully, as is so often the case, someone will step forward and fill the void. There are certainly enough qualified women that could do no worse running the government than the mainstays in the largely all-boys club.