110 HCON 16 IH: Congratulating Prime Minister Portia U.S. House of Representatives 2007-01-05 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

IV 110th CONGRESS 1st Session H. CON. RES. 16 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 5, 2007 Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs CONCURRENT RESOLUTION Congratulating Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller for becoming the first democratically-elected female Prime Minister of Jamaica and the first female Jamaican head of state.

Whereas Portia Simpson-Miller won the 2006 parliamentary election in Jamaica, becoming the first female Prime Minister in the history of Jamaica; Whereas on February 25, 2006, Portia Simpson-Miller was elected President of the People’s National Party and Prime Minister-designate; Whereas in the People’s National Party internal vote, Portia Simpson-Miller received 1,775 votes, while her nearest rival, National Security Minister Dr. Peter Phillips, received 1,538 votes; Whereas Portia Simpson-Miller had been the Jamaican Minister of Local Government and Sport since October 2002; Whereas Portia Simpson-Miller previously served as Jamaican Minister of Labour, Welfare and Sports from 1989 to 1993, when she first entered Parliament for South West St. Andrew, then served as Minister of Labour and Welfare from 1993 to 1995, Minister of Labour, Social Security and Sports from 1995 to February 2000, and Minister of Tourism and Sports from February 2000 to October 2002; Whereas Portia Simpson-Miller had also served as a Vice President of the People’s National Party since 1978; Whereas Portia Simpson-Miller holds a Bachelor of Arts in public administration from the Union Institute, and has since been awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by the Union Institute; Whereas 70 percent of Jamaican university students are female and 80 to 90 percent of Jamaican law school students are female; Whereas women in Jamaica have traditionally made up close to 50 percent of the labor force and, over the past two decades, have increasingly moved into many of the senior and middle-management positions across society; Whereas there are still few women in the highest positions of Jamaican society, particularly in the male-dominated area of politics; and Whereas Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller took office on March 30, 2006: Now, therefore, be it

That Congress— (1)congratulates Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller for becoming the first democratically-elected female Prime Minister of Jamaica and the first female Jamaican head of state; and (2)commends the people of Jamaica for this benchmark for women, for democracy, and for a diverse and prosperous nation, and encourages further progress by Jamaican women to be strong, successful leaders and policymakers.