[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 24 (Tuesday, March 10, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H931-H932]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO WOMEN IN BUSINESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Shimkus). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, as we celebrate Women's History 
Month, I rise today to pay tribute to women in business and to express 
pride in the fact that the women of Chicago and Cook County have 
benefitted from the successful programs of the Women's Business 
Development Center.
  Based in Chicago, the Women's Business Development Center serves 
2,000 women annually with counseling, training, financial assistance, 
certification, procurement and advocacy on

[[Page H932]]

behalf of women's economic empowerment. The programs of the Chicago-
based center are effective, successful, and benefit diverse women. 
These centers service an array of women and their families, including 
self-employment for former welfare recipients, business development, 
expansion and job creation.
  The work of the Women's Business Development Center and other women's 
business assistance centers are essential to strengthening the economy 
of this Nation by fostering women's business development nationally.
  The WBDC and women's business assistance centers are funded by the 
United States SBA office of Women's Business Ownership and by private 
and public sector support. They help support a diverse and growing 
population of new and emerging job-creating women entrepreneurs, 
including women transitioning off welfare.
  These centers are unique in that they provide long-term training, 
involve public and private partnerships for their support, and can be 
measured on the basis of their economic impact. These centers have 
served tens of thousands of women.
  The women's business assistance centers serve our constituencies by 
offering quality programs to effectively leverage scarce public and 
private resources into successful job creation, new business start-ups, 
and business expansion. Most of them, even after they are no longer 
eligible for Federal funding, continue to be sustained by the private 
sector.
  These centers are committed to economic self-sufficiency programs 
that are as diverse as the women served: women of color, women on 
public assistance, women seeking self-employment, rural and urban 
women, and women starting home-based businesses. Therefore, it is 
appropriate that we pause to recognize the great work of the Women's 
Business Development Center and women's business assistance centers 
throughout the country.
  I take special note of the work of Hedy Ratner of the Women's 
Development Center, Counselo Pope of the Cosmopolitan Chamber of 
Commerce, Jaribi Kitwana, director of the Women's Business Development 
Center, and Pam Bozeman, director of the Women's Self-Employment 
Project, all outstanding women in the City of Chicago who provide 
immeasurable help and support to other women seeking to go into 
business.

                          ____________________