[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 43 (Wednesday, March 8, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H2816-H2817]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                COMMEMORATING INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

  (Mrs. LOWEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to Commemorate International 
Women's Day. Today we celebrate the victories and commemorate the 
struggles of women around the globe.
  While women have made considerable progress in the struggle for civil 
rights and equity, we still have a long way to go. Women have gained 
greater access to education. But currently, throughout the world there 
are about 85 million fewer girls enrolled in school than there are 
boys, despite nearly equal numbers of girls and boys in the world. We 
must do better.
  Women have gained greater access to jobs and the economy, but 
currently, women compromise nearly two-thirds of the world's illiterate 
population. We must do better.
  Women have fought, in this country and around the world, to gain 
access to adequate health care and full reproductive rights. But an 
estimated 500,000 women die each year from pregnancy related causes, 
including unsafe abortions. And in this country, the debate over 
abortion rights, and recent actions to eliminate that right in the case 
of victims of rape and incest, threatens to undermine the health and 
safety of women. We must do better.
  Mr. Speaker, the upcoming U.N. Fourth International Conference on 
Women will provide us an opportunity to look at how we might do better. 
I join my colleagues in commemorating today, International Women's Day. 
It is 
 [[Page H2817]] a day to look toward the future, when we must do better 
for women.


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