It's not quite potty parity, but it's progress for the U.S. House of Representatives.

The 76 women of the House finally have their own bathroom close to the chamber. Room H-211 of the U.S. Capitol, reserved for female lawmakers and not open to the public, opened this week to little fanfare.

Since 1962,the House's female members have had to walk from the chamber through Statuary Hall to use the bathroom in what is known as the Lindy Claiborne Boggs Congressional Reading Room, named for the former Democratic House lawmaker from Louisiana.

The men of the House have facilities just steps away from the chamber's floor, right outside what's known as the Speaker's Lobby. The women in the U.S. Senate got their own restroom near the Senate chamber in 1993.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, directed the architect of the Capitol to build the women's restroom shortly after he took over the House's top job.

Boehner issued a statement at the time, saying he wanted to "make changes like this that are long overdue."

Four of the House's women members advised the architect's office on the group's needs, including the fact that some lawmakers wanted a place where they could change their babies' diapers. The new women's facilities are located in space previously used by the House parliamentarian.

"It's a great facility for us to have after all these years here. And it took a male Republican speaker to do it," Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., told The New York Times.