PBS News Hour

AMNA NAWAZ: And now to the other major news out of the nation's capital.

Trailblazing Senator Dianne Feinstein died at her home in Washington, D.C., last night.

GEOFF BENNETT: Hours earlier, Feinstein cast what would be her final vote on the Senate floor.

You see here right there in the purple blazer raising her hand in favor of a short-term spending bill aimed at preventing a government shutdown.

SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D-CA): And it's been a lot of years.

So I want to thank everybody up here.

GEOFF BENNETT: She was the U.S. Senate's oldest sitting senator.

SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN: Thank you.

(APPLAUSE) GEOFF BENNETT: Dianne Feinstein was elected to the chamber to represent California back in 1992.

But the centrist Democrat was breaking gender barriers long before coming to Capitol Hill.

Feinstein became San Francisco's first female mayor after a double assassination at city hall in 1978.

She led the city out of a particularly turbulent time after its mayor, George Moscone, and supervisor, Harvey Milk, the city's first openly gay elected official, were gunned down by a fellow politician.

SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN: Both Mayor Moscone and supervisor Harvey Milk have been shot and killed.

MAN: Oh!

MAN: Jesus Christ!

GEOFF BENNETT: Feinstein's calm and compassion also helped guide San Francisco's gay community through the AIDS epidemic that ravaged the city in the 1980s.

In 1992, Feinstein won her seat in the U.S. Senate, along with Barbara Boxer.

They were the first women to ever represent California in the Upper Chamber.

It was hailed as the year of the woman after a new wave of women were elected to the Senate and House.

Feinstein became a passionate advocate for a wide range of issues, from reproductive rights to gun control.

SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN: Thank you.

We have seen it in universities.

We have seen them in elementary schools.

And now we have seen them used against first graders.

The time has come, America, to step up and ban these weapons.

GEOFF BENNETT: One of her greatest legislative achievements came early in her career, an assault weapons ban she championed then-President Bill Clinton signed into law in 1994.

Feinstein also gained a reputation for reaching across the aisle to find compromise with Republicans, sometimes drawing scrutiny from liberals in her own party.

She was the first woman to serve as the ranking Democrat on the Senate's powerful Judiciary Committee.

She'd oversee a string of Supreme Court confirmation hearings, including one for then-nominee Brett Kavanaugh as he faced sexual assault allegations.

SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN: This behavior revealed a hostility and belligerence that is unbecoming of someone seeking to be elevated to the United States Supreme Court.

GEOFF BENNETT: Feinstein was also the first woman to head the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Under her leadership, the panel conducted a five-year investigation into the CIA's interrogation techniques during the George W. Bush administration.

SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN: Even if one were to set aside all of the moral arguments, our review was a meticulous and detailed examination of records.

It finds that coercive interrogation techniques did not produce the vital, otherwise unavailable intelligence the CIA has claimed.

GEOFF BENNETT: In her final years, Feinstein became more visibly frail and confused, triggering calls for her resignation.

In February, she announced she would not be seeking a sixth term next year.

Today President Biden, who served with Feinstein in the Senate, reflected on her passing.

JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: She was a historic figure, a trailblazer for women, and a great friend.

Dianne made her mark on everything from national security to the environment, gun safety, to protecting civil liberties.

The country is going to miss her dearly, and so will Jill and I. GEOFF BENNETT: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer echoed those sentiments on the Senate floor.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): As the nation mourns this tremendous loss, we're comforted in knowing how many mountains Dianne moved, how many lives she impacted, how many glass ceilings she shattered along the way.

America, America is a better place because of Senator Dianne Feinstein.

GEOFF BENNETT: Keeping with Senate tradition, her desk in the chamber was draped with a black cloth and adorned with a vase of flowers, a tribute to her long legacy of public service and trailblazing career.

Dianne Feinstein 90 years old.

For reflections on Dianne Feinstein's life, we turn to someone who knew her well, former California Congresswoman Jane Harman.

She and Feinstein were elected to Congress on the same day back in 1992 and worked together for nearly two decades.

Thank you for being with us.

FMR.

REP. JANE HARMAN (D-CA): Thank you, Geoff.

GEOFF BENNETT: First, my condolences on the loss of your friend.

You were with Senator Feinstein just last night.

There was a private meeting just hours before she passed, and you shared with us this photo of your visit.

Tell us about it.

FMR.

REP. JANE HARMAN: Well, how lucky was I that it occurred to me about a day ago that I missed my friend Dianne and I wanted to go buy to see her?

So I arranged to go yesterday afternoon, less than 24 hours ago, or just about 24 hours, to her home, and she and I sat in her study for an hour, with her housekeeper coming back and forth and her little beloved dog, Kirby II, in her lap, talking about the past, but also talking about the future.

What people may not understand is that Dianne was still in the arena, and she knew how much she could still do for California, especially appropriations for California.

And we were talking about votes, and we were talking about her instinct to try to come up with some idea of how to bring the country together.

What could be needed more hours before our government might shut down?

And I was blown away by how beautiful she looked and how much not just in the present, but in the future she was.

And when I hugged and kissed her goodbye and her housekeeper took that amazing photo, I expected to see my friend anytime soon.

And I'm just shocked, as I think the whole country is, by her loss last evening.

GEOFF BENNETT: Her career was one of many firsts.

She was, of course, a trailblazer for women in politics, but also in terms of promoting progressive policy.

She was behind the first congressional action on global warming.

She secured the extension of the Violence Against Women Act until 2027.

She also authored the 1994 assault weapons ban.

What do you see as the sum total of her impact?

FMR.

REP. JANE HARMAN: Oh, she was fearless.

I don't know anybody more fearless than she was on behalf of things she cared about and thought were the right things to do.

You could not budge her, not ever.

The assault weapons ban is a great example, because, there, many members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I think maybe even then-Senator Joe Biden, were much more hesitant to push ahead with that than she was.

And she got it done with help in the committee.

It passed the Senate.

I think it passed the Senate first, but I voted for it as a House member in my first term, very risky vote for her, but also for me.

And, to remind, in 1994, the Democrats lost the majority.

Newt Gingrich came to power.

Dianne and I were reelected.

In my case, I was reelected by 811 votes out of 225,000 counted votes after a nine-month ordeal, where not only was a count demanded, but there was an investigation by the House, et cetera, et cetera.

Looking back on that, Dianne's leadership got me on the team.

I think I would have supported it anyway.

But I would never, ever, never have thought about not following Dianne's league.

I just -- I mean, she was a marvel.

GEOFF BENNETT: Questions about her health and her mental capacity in many ways shadowed what were her final years in office.

Why did she ultimately refuse to resign, even amid the growing pressure from Democrats?

FMR.

REP. JANE HARMAN: Oh, I fully understand that.

And that's why please show again the photograph of her yesterday standing next to me.

She was beautiful.

She was frail, but she was still in the fight.

Her view was that she was elected by the citizens of California to her fourth term - - I believe it's her fourth term -- that she was there to be the most effective advocate for appropriations for money for California, which she was, and to fight for other things that were important for the country, which she did.

And even yesterday, as I said, she was talking about things she wanted to do in the future.

So why should she resign?

She could function.

Was it perfect?

No, I think she would have admitted that.

But her cognitive faculties were there and adequate for the fights for the present and the future, and it was her call, not somebody else's call.

It really is sad, and this has been pointed out by Nancy Pelosi, the speaker emerita of the House, that these things were said about a woman.

They were never said about the men in the Senate who were much more frail than Dianne in their last days.

GEOFF BENNETT: I was struck by the fact that both President Biden and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, in separate statements, they both said that they cherished their friendship with Senator Feinstein.

And we are in this moment where comity and bipartisanship are in short supply in Congress, what did Senator Feinstein model for other lawmakers?

FMR.

REP. JANE HARMAN: She modeled the fact that she would work with anyone to accomplish a result that was good for the country.

She didn't think she had all the answers and everybody else was dumb.

She thought she would bring her best self to the problem.

She had an excellent staff always, which would help provide her with material.

She was well-informed.

And she would listen and she would lead.

And she did that with absolutely everybody.

And I can't think of anyone in the Senate -- I don't know some of the newbies -- but anyone who worked with her over years, who doesn't have a fond thought for her.

And, surely, she worked with Mitch.

Surely, she did.

Someone else she worked closely with who is a dear friend of mine now is Susan Collins of Maine, who was on the floor this morning passionately talking about Dianne's leadership qualities.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): She was a pioneer and a strong and dignified leader.

FMR.

REP. JANE HARMAN: Lisa Murkowski was another.

Patty Murray, a Democrat, was saying beautiful things about Dianne on the Senate floor.

SEN. PATTY MURRAY (D-WA): That was Dianne.

She did her job every day.

She cared about her country.

FMR.

REP. JANE HARMAN: And, of course, her dear friend Nancy Pelosi has been all over this.

And Nancy Pelosi's daughter Nancy Corinne Pelosi was an extraordinary support for Dianne in her last days.

So, I don't know anyone who didn't value and learn from associating with Dianne.

I surely did.

GEOFF BENNETT: You mentioned Senator Collins.

We can, of course, show the picture where Senator Collins brought the watercolor that Senator Feinstein had painted for her.

She brought that to the floor of the Senate today as she spoke so beautifully about her friend.

Former California Congresswoman Jane Harman, thank you so much for your time.

And, again, our condolences on the loss of your friend.

FMR.

REP. JANE HARMAN: Thank you.