A "tigress" is doing battle in Ann Arbor.
At least, that's the way some of her fellow members of Congress describe U.S. Rep. Lynn Rivers (D-Ann Arbor). They say she stands up for what she believes in.
Rivers vehemently supports education, abortion rights, affirmative action, gay rights and environmental protection.
Rivers is now campaigning to keep her House seat in Michigan's 13th District. She's up against Republican business executive Joe Fitzsimmons, who's offering a strong challenge.
But Rivers said she is confident she will come out on top because she speaks to issues that are important to voters in the district.
An issue vital to the community - education - is one of her highest priorities, Rivers said.
"My second chance was education," she said. "The key to where I wanted to go was education."
Rivers said she knows how difficult it can be to obtain a higher education and vows to fight to protect aid options.
"I have personally relied on student loans to get me through both undergraduate and law schools," Rivers said.
Her peers say there is no greater defender of college students.
"When Newt Gingrich tried to slash education by cutting vocational education and by trying to eliminate student loans ... he got a tigress by the tail and that was Lynn Rivers," said U.S. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.).
Rivers said she will continue to work hard for families and students because she knows what it's like to be a working family. Her strong support of the Family Medical Leave Act is one example of her commitment, Rivers said.
She said health care is another example. Rivers said she has a strong voting record on health care and has co-sponsored several bills that provide more health care choices and coverage.
Rivers said she is also concerned about economic issues. She said she recognizes that national spending is too high, but wants to make sure social programs are protected in the budget-balancing process. Rivers said she supports the "coalition" balanced-budget proposal that "protects education and environmental programs, reforms Medicaid and Medicare in moderate, patient-friendly ways and advances welfare reform that is reality-based."
People close to Rivers said she truly understands working-class problems because she has lived them.
"There's only one person in Congress who used to sell Tupperware, who used to manage a fast-food enterprise, who was a waitress," Levin said.
The first-year congresswoman has drawn a lot of attention during her term. Democrats said they love her; Republicans said she's a liberal threat.
Rivers certainly has support from other Democrats in Washington, and even President Clinton has traveled to Michigan several times in the last few months to campaign with her.
In a speech in Ypsilanti yesterday, President Clinton credited Rivers with not forgetting "where she came from."
Several members of the Cabinet, including Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala and Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, have also flown to Michigan to support Rivers.
"It's very seldom that you get a treasure like this congresswoman in the bleak landscape of the United States Congress," Babbitt said in an address to University SNRE students and staff.
- Daily Staff Reporter Laurie Mayk contributed to this report.