[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 43 (Wednesday, March 8, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H2816]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                       INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

  (Ms. PRYCE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. PRYCE. Mr. Speaker, today is International Women's Day, a day in 
which women around the world are commemorating their struggles and 
victories.
  One of the most important ways to ensure the safety and success of 
women throughout the world is to provide them with economic stability.
  This is especially true in America, and is center to the debate 
taking place in this body over welfare reform. The current welfare 
system locks women into dependency and destroys their futures. It does 
not provide the incentives to obtain job skills or an education. It is 
a system that encourages teenage mothers to leave their parents' home 
and take a premature step into life's troubles. In short, not only does 
the current welfare system fail to help women, it suppresses women and 
destroys chances for their futures and those of their children.
  We have to create a welfare system that encourages responsibility; 
one that provides women with opportunities to become self-sufficient 
and to provide for their families.
  Economic stability allows women to take charge of their lives and not 
live as victims of government dependency.
  In the spirit of International Women's Day, I urge my colleagues to 
support America's women through meaningful welfare reform--we all 
should be able to live the American Dream.

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