[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 50 (Tuesday, April 13, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H1912-H1919]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
WOMEN IN BUSINESS
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 6, 1999, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Kelly) is
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
Mrs. KELLY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about an issue that is
near and dear to my heart, women in business, specifically women-owned
small businesses.
As the mother of four and a former small business owner myself, I
know just how hard it is to balance the full-time job of being a mother
and then adding to it the challenges of owning and running your own
business.
From women-owned construction firms to women-owned public relation
firms to Donna, Jo-Jo, and Angela who own Donna's Hair Design in my own
district town of Chappaqua, New York, all of these women deserve all of
the support that we here in Congress can give them.
Everyone needs to remember that small business is the most important
sector of our economy. Currently, in the United States, there are
approximately 8.5 million women-owned businesses. That is 8.5 million
women-owned businesses, 36 percent of all businesses in the United
States. These 8.5 million businesses employ 23.8 million employees.
These businesses have seen their sales increase from $2.3 trillion to
$3.1 trillion in just the last 6 months.
My congratulations to all of the hardworking women who are doing more
than their share to contribute to the economy of our Nation.
The number of women-owned small businesses have increased by 89
percent in the last decade. During the same period, these businesses
have increased their revenue by 209 percent. Women are a force to be
reckoned with in today's economy.
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During my life, I have had many roles: The mother of four, a public
school teacher, a college professor, a rape crisis counselor, a
professional patient advocate, a small business owner, and now a United
States Congresswoman.
I have learned countless lessons in these roles and have brought them
with me to the House of Representatives. Many of these lessons were
learned as a small businesswoman. This has given me some insight as to
what women need in order to fully compete with their male counterparts,
and for this reason I have devoted my energy to working with the
Committee on Small Business to enable small businesses to run more
efficiently.
I have introduced legislation again this year that expresses the
sense of Congress regarding the need to increase the number of
procurement contracts that the government awards to women-owned
businesses. The Federal Government is America's largest purchaser of
goods and services, spending more than $225 billion each year, and
women should have more access to these projects.
In 1994 Congress set a 5 percent procurement goal for women-owned
businesses. Five years later, however, the rate of procurement for
women-owned businesses is 1.9 percent. This percentage is a poor
reflection on the access to these jobs when considering the rate of
growth of women-owned businesses.
I want to continue to do what I can to improve the procurement
process for women in this Congress, and I am happy to say that a few
weeks ago the House passed H.R. 774, The Women's Business Center
Amendments Act of 1999. This bill authorized appropriations of $11
million for the expansion of this program in fiscal year 2000.
I want to congratulate the chairman of the Committee on Small
Business, the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Jim Talent), for his work,
as well as the ranking minority member, the gentlewoman from New York
(Nydia Velazquez), and many other people who worked to make this
accomplishment here on the floor of the House.
Currently, there are 60 centers now operating in 40 States. These
centers assist women in many ways, including helping them to focus
their business plans through courses and workshops, providing
information on capital, as well as helping the women choose their
location. The centers have the freedom to tailor their programs based
on the needs of the communities in which they work.
Recently I have been able to meet with many women business owners and
some of the women who run these centers and heard firsthand the
challenges and the successes of these businesses. These are just a few
of the issues that
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women business owners face. There are many others, like tax and
regulatory issues, ensuring fair access to capital, that we all need to
stay involved with.
I know my colleagues here share my concerns. Let me close by
congratulating all of the women businesses in our Nation. I know all
too well how difficult their jobs are. They are an important part of
our Nation's economy, and I will continue to do what I can to ensure
that they are not forgotten.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Granger).
Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join my colleagues today in
discussing the need for this Congress to help America's working women.
I am proud to be a part of the Women's Caucus and I am proud that this
caucus is committed to raising and addressing important issues
concerning women.
Today, more than ever, working women are no longer the exception,
they are the rule. America's working women are redefining the workplace
as we know it. They are learning how to balance their dual
responsibilities of work and family. In today's business world, women
own about 6.5 million companies. That is one-third of all the
businesses in America. Today, women are creating businesses at twice
the rate of men. In fact, it is estimated that by the year 2000 women
will own 40 percent of American companies.
These facts make it vitally important this Congress address the
issues and the interests of this growing segment of our economy. Yes,
it is becoming increasingly clear that women's issues are economic
issues. Jobs, taxes and economic growth are the top issues for today's
women.
Since women are creating more jobs than men, they are
disproportionately affected by burdensome taxes, rules and regulations,
and too often it is too difficult for women-owned businesses to get
started. Once started, it is often difficult for women-owned businesses
to stay afloat.
According to a 1995 survey of women-owned businesses, 84 percent of
women entrepreneurs used their own personal savings to start their
businesses. And once underway, women business owners often find
themselves dipping into their savings to stay in business.
Mr. Speaker, as a small business owner myself, I have made it a
commitment to stand up and speak out and stay focused on the issues
that face women-owned businesses. Female entrepreneurs are here to
stay, and while it is true that Washington cannot create wealth, it is
no less true that we have an obligation to make the business
environment as conducive as possible for women.
I believe that excessive government taxation, regulation and
litigation hold back our working women by holding up production costs.
Government taxes prevent female employers and employees from keeping
more of their hard-earned money, and it has often been noted that today
taxes consume more of the family income than families spend on food,
education and shelter, or anything else. We need to make our tax system
flatter and fairer so that our women will not have to work almost half
the year to foot government costs. Working women need to be able to
keep more of their hard-earned money.
We also need to review our regulations as well. Each year over
100,000 pages of new rules and regulations are produced in Washington,
and many of these guidelines overlap and they are repetitive.
Moreover, it has been estimated that regulations cost businesses over
$700 billion each year. These regulations impact every single business
owned by women. And since businesses often have to raise prices to
afford these new regulations, it is estimated that each American family
pays an extra $700 per household to cover the cost of regulations.
It has also been estimated that regulations add as much as a third to
the cost of building an airplane engine and almost double the price of
a new vaccine. Mr. Speaker, we need to be working on ways to increase,
not decrease, the number of women in business, and adding cost is not
the way to do that.
Moreover, government rules and litigation often subject our small
businesswomen to years of legal battles and legal costs. Let us let our
working women spend more time in the board room and less time in the
courtroom. Only then can we truly create a conducive business
environment for women.
Mr. Speaker, today's working women are the pioneers of tomorrow. As
they struggle to create more jobs, growth and opportunity, let us make
our government work for our women, not against them; stand by their
sides, not ride on their backs.
Mr. Speaker, we must never forget that working women have yet another
job waiting for them when they get home at night. In our efforts to
enhance and encourage the careers of women, I am afraid we sometimes
lose sight of the fact that many of our working women are also working
mothers. These working mothers need the opportunity to balance their
schedules between work and home. After all, meetings with our children
are more important than meetings with our staffs.
I was a working mother of three, and I understand there is no price
tag put on the time we spend away from our families. That is why when I
became Mayor of Fort Worth several years ago, I took an active interest
in ensuring our employees had the kind of schedules necessary to take
care of their jobs and also take care of their families.
One of the tools we used to help create a family-friendly city hall
was comp time. This program allowed workers to choose time off instead
of overtime pay. It is extraordinarily popular in the public sector,
but it is still not available in the private sector. Let us help our
working women by giving workers in the private sector the same choice.
Mr. Speaker, the working women of America are essential to ensuring
that our Nation continues on a path of economic growth and personal
responsibility. I urge my colleagues to support measures which promote
and protect the dual role of American women as leaders in the office
and leaders at home.
I want to thank the Women's Caucus for raising awareness about the
importance of women's issues.
Mrs. KELLY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Illinois
(Ms. Schakowsky).
Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I want to commend my colleague, the
gentlewoman from New York, for bringing attention to these important
issues that affect women and for drawing attention to the contributions
that women business owners have made.
It is true that women business owners now employ more people than the
Fortune 500 companies combined in the United States. They have made
great strides, but we know that women in the work force still face
discrimination in many, many forms, both as business owners and as
employees.
Women in the work force today, as we enter into the 21st century,
still earn only 74 cents for every dollar that men earn at the very
same jobs. This persistent wage gap forces families into poverty and
deprives them of the benefits that women would earn if only they were
men; that is, if only they were men making more money at the very same
jobs.
This discrimination follows women into their retirement. Because they
make less money through their working years, they have fewer private
pensions and they get fewer Social Security benefits. Often they have
less health care coverage during their working years, and so they bring
into their retirement years more disease. They are less well.
I want to focus for a minute on the issue of Medicare because now
this Congress is engaged in a great debate on what we are going to do
about Medicare. And I would say that while it is important for Congress
to ensure Medicare solvency in the future, any proposal must protect
women who receive Medicare.
Of course, Medicare is a program that serves both men and women, but
women comprise most of the beneficiaries. Elderly women aged 65
outnumber elderly men three to two. There are 20 million elderly women
on Medicare and another 2 million women who are on Medicare because
they receive Social Security disability benefits. In fact, 58 percent
of all elderly beneficiaries are women.
Seventy-one percent of the beneficiaries aged 85 or older are women.
That is, of course, because women live longer than men do. Women aged
65
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years and older are more than twice as likely as older men to live
within 125 percent of the poverty line. That is to say that they are
twice as likely as men to have to live on $10,000 a year or less, and
we know how hard that is.
Recently, older women were projected to spend over $200 a year more
on out-of-pocket health care costs than men. And we know today that the
elderly are spending a greater percentage of their income on health
care out-of-pocket than they did when Medicare was enacted in 1965.
This is a particular burden for women.
One of the proposals that has been on the table that frightens me the
most and should frighten older women the most is that of raising the
eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 67. To underscore how dangerous
that would be, currently there are a million people between the ages of
62 and 64 without insurance, and three out of five of those are women.
So currently the numbers of uninsured people in the older age groups
are mostly women already.
Many women are uninsured because they are younger than their already
retired husbands who are on Medicare and they do not have employer-
based insurance themselves. Raising the eligibility would deny people
access to health care during their early 60s and would expand their
need for more complicated and expensive treatment in later years.
There are many problems with some of the proposals that are on the
table, but the reality of raising the age of eligibility for Medicare
is that it would accomplish one thing, and that is, it would increase
the numbers of uninsured people. Because employers are not looking for
women aged 65 to 67 to hire and to provide health care benefits to, it
would dramatically increase the numbers of people who are uninsured,
and most of those people would be women.
So I would say if we care about elderly women in the United States,
then we want to make sure that we do not agree to any proposal that
increases the age of eligibility.
{time} 1630
I thank my colleague from New York for allowing me this time to speak
on this important issue.
Mrs. KELLY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Illinois
(Mrs. Biggert).
Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to salute our Nation's women
business owners and to join my colleagues in the Congressional Women's
Caucus in bringing to the forefront the impressive contributions women
business owners are making to the strength and vitality of our economy.
Over the past 2 decades, women-owned businesses have been amongst the
fastest growing areas of our economy. In 1973, when I started my home-
based law practice, women owned less than 5 percent of all businesses
in the United States. By 1997, that figure jumped to 36 percent. Over
the last decade, the number of women-owned firms increased by 89
percent nationwide. Employment nearly tripled and sales nearly doubled.
Who are today's women business owners and how can we help ensure that
they are free to grow and prosper? There are more than 8.5 million
women-owned businesses in the United States, employing nearly 24
million people. That is more than all of the Fortune 500 companies
combined.
Where do we do business? Everywhere. Today, women own businesses in
all sectors of the economy, not just in the service sector or the so-
called traditional women-owned business areas. In fact, the top growth
industries for women-owned businesses in recent years has been in
construction, wholesale trade, transportation, communications,
agribusiness, and manufacturing.
What is it that motivates women to start their own businesses? The
National Foundation for Women Business Owners surveyed women across the
country and found that nearly half stated one of two reasons. A great
idea for a product or service, or the realization that they could do
for themselves what they had previously done for an employer.
Frustrations with the corporate environment, including feeling
unchallenged and experiencing a glass ceiling were also cited as
motivation for women to become entrepreneurs.
The foundation also asked women why they stay in business. Not
surprisingly, the greatest reward of business ownership for women is
gaining control over their own fate, and the greatest challenge of
business ownership for women is being taken seriously.
In my home State of Illinois, the largest and most comprehensive
women's business assistance center has thrived for 14 years. The
Women's Business Development Center has served over 30,000 women
through counseling, training, financial assistance, and new marketing
opportunities. Thanks in part to the help of the center, in Illinois
there are now over 336,000 women-owned businesses employing 23 percent
of all Illinois workers and generating 15 percent of the State's
business sales.
But despite the explosive growth in women's business ownership in the
United States, we still generate only 18 percent of all business
revenues. So there is still much work to be done, and Congress can help
accelerate the growth and success of women-owned businesses.
Women need new and more access to market opportunities and to
contracts at all levels of government. Women need access to technical
assistance to develop and grow their businesses.
Most importantly, like all businesses in the United States, women-
owned businesses must be free from excessive regulation and taxation,
and they must have access to markets for their products and services
abroad.
I thank my colleague for allowing me to participate today on this
important issue.
Mrs. KELLY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to my colleague and friend from
California (Ms. Woolsey).
Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleagues, and
particularly my friend from New York, who put this together tonight and
for all who have spoken so eloquently in honor of women and Women's
History Month.
I come to the floor of the House today to salute the mothers of
Women's History Month, the National Women's History Project, known as
``The Project.'' The Project is from the Sixth Congressional District
in California, the district that I am so very proud to represent.
Almost 1 year ago, I traveled to Seneca Falls, New York, with a group
of my colleagues to celebrate our Nation's women, the 150th anniversary
of the Women's Rights Movement. This was truly a special occasion
because Sonoma County, which is where I live, is the birthplace of the
National Women's History Project, the organization responsible for the
establishment of Women's History Month and a leader in the 150th
anniversary of the women's rights celebration.
The Project is a nonprofit educational organization founded in 1980.
They are committed to providing educational resources, recognizing and
celebrating women's diverse lives and historic contributions to
society. Today, The Project is repeatedly cited by educators, by
publishers and journalists as the national resource for information on
U.S. women's history.
Thanks to The Project's efforts every March, boys and girls across
the country recognize and learn about women's struggles and
contributions in science, literature, business, politics, and many,
many other fields.
As recently as the 1970s, women's history was virtually unknown, left
out of schoolbooks and classroom curriculum. In 1978, as chairwoman of
the Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women, I was astounded by
the lack of focus on women in our education system. Later, The Project
petitioned Congress to expand the national celebration to the entire
month of March. Due to their efforts, Congress issued a resolution
declaring the month of March to be Women's History Month.
Each year since then, nationwide programs and activities on women's
history in schools, in workplaces, and communities have been developed
and shared.
Under the leadership of Mary Ruthsdotter and through the hard work of
these wonderful women, the celebration of International Women's Day was
expanded and declared by Congress to be National Women's History Week.
Together, the women of the Project succeeded in nationalizing the
awareness for women's history. I want to acknowledge Molly MacGregor
for her
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thoughtful leadership and Lisl Christy, Cindy Burnham, Jennifer
Josephine Moser, Suanne Otteman, Donna Kuhn, Sunny Bristol, Denise
Dawe, Kathryn Rankin, and Sheree Fisk Williams. They are the women that
are at the Project presently. All of these women serve as leaders in
the effort to educate Americans of all ages about the contributions of
women in our society.
I also want to pay tribute to the ``first lady'' of Marin County,
California, just across the bridge from San Francisco, part of my
district. This woman's name is Vera Schultz. Vera was the first woman
on the Mill Valley, California, City Council and the first woman on the
Marin County Board of Supervisors.
Vera's career in Marin County during the late 1940's and early 1950's
was a pivotal era in Marin's social and political history. As the area
grew in population with the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge, Vera had
an important vision and dedicated herself to the changing face of Marin
County. Vera faced great opposition to reforming an unfair tax
structure that would have taxed newcomers at a higher rate, and she
also fought hard so that Marin County could have the very best possible
civic center.
Vera knew that Marin deserved the best, so she got the best. Due to
her persistent prodding, in 1959, Frank Lloyd Wright submitted his plan
for the Marin County Civic Center, and in 1960 construction began.
Marin County now has another precious treasure to share with our
country because of Vera Schultz.
As I pay tribute to Women's History Month, I am truly grateful to
Vera Schultz and to all the devoted women at the Project because of
their continued commitment and for making an indelible mark on our
country. We now understand the importance of women in our history.
Mrs. KELLY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to my friend, the gentlewoman from
California (Mrs. Capps).
Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I want to commend my colleague from New York
(Mrs. Kelly) for organizing and leading us in this wonderful
opportunity to speak here on the floor regarding issues which we can
give our attention to, which really do affect women across this
country.
It is a real pleasure to hear the wide range of emphases that have
been mentioned already today, and we have more coming. But whether it
is women in their own businesses, and as they own and participate in
business, whether it is the way Social Security affects women and
Medicare affects women in all of these areas, there is much to speak
about pertaining to women in this recognition of Women's History Month.
I want to rise today, Mr. Speaker, in support of a most important
piece of legislation which is among us and at our table in Congress
today, and that is the Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Act.
Just 2 weeks ago, I joined the gentlewoman from California (Ms.
Eshoo) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Lazio) in introducing this
bipartisan bill, which will help to treat low-income women who have
been diagnosed with cancer.
In 1990, Congress took a very important first step to fight breast
cancer and cervical cancer by authorizing a screening program for low-
income, uninsured, or underinsured women through the Centers for
Disease Control; and they called this program the National Breast and
Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, and now it is in place over
this past decade in virtually every part of our country.
Now, the problem is that while the program covers screening services,
it does not cover treatment for women who are found to be positive and
in need of services through this screening program. Thus, these
vulnerable, poor women are left to an ad hoc patchwork of providers,
volunteers, and charity care programs, making their treatment
unpredictable, delayed, and in so many cases incomplete and resulting
in really disastrous results for themselves and their families.
Approximately 3,600 women per year are diagnosed through the National
Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program. And now that they
are diagnosed, they need services. All the screening in the world will
not help if women who are diagnosed with the disease do not have access
to quality treatment for their condition.
And so, the Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Act, which is before
us now, gives States the opportunity and the option to provide Medicaid
coverage to uninsured or underinsured women who have been diagnosed
through the early detection program but cannot afford treatment.
I was very heartened a couple of weeks ago to notice in our first
hearing in the Subcommittee on Health and Environment of the Committee
on Commerce that the hearing that we held on this particular issue that
there was unanimous, it seemed, and very bipartisan support for
enacting this legislation.
And I was pleased that one of my constituents, Dr. John Cox, the
Director of Student Services at the University of California at Santa
Barbara, was one of the expert witnesses; and the various people who
presented were lauded by both sides of the aisle for their recognition
that this early detection program is working well. But what it is
uncovering is the need for services for these very women.
With that enthusiasm that we felt in the room that day, the
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Eshoo) and I and some other members of
the committee have set aside Mother's Day as our goal for obtaining 218
cosponsors on the bill to bring it to the floor for a vote. What better
way to honor mothers across the Nation this year than by providing this
life-saving treatment?
{time} 1645
Mr. Speaker, I pledge my commitment to working in a bipartisan
manner, and I know my colleagues today will be joining that effort,
toward passing the Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Act.
This bill is widely supported by women's health groups and is a top
priority for the breast cancer community, including the National Breast
Cancer Coalition and the California Breast Cancer Coalition.
Over 100 Members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, men and
women, have already signed on to be original cosponsors. I urge my
other colleagues to sign on as well.
I cannot think of a better Mother's Day gift for women across the
Nation than to pass this legislation.
Mrs. KELLY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Florida
(Mrs. Meek).
Mrs. MEEK of Florida. I thank the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs.
Kelly) for letting us share this particular special order with America.
I do not think there is any week with any more importance or month as
significant as Women's History Week. The contributions of women in this
country are so outstanding until if every woman in Washington were to
be here today, they could not say enough about what women have done. On
both the local, State and national level, women have made significant
contributions to our society and they will continue to do so. Our role
in government is increasing. Our role in the health medical sciences is
increasing. Our role in science is increasing. Our role in every facet
of American culture is increasing. But most of all, Mr. Speaker, women
now are sort of the bedrock of the family. We seek to be the glue to
hold it together. Regardless of what phase of life that we participate
in, we still feel that we have the family as our most significant
contribution. We give, we yield, we culture, we nurture our children
and we do our best to have them grow into outstanding individuals.
I came today to talk about a health problem that is so devastating to
young women. Many of my colleagues may not have ever heard of this
disease. It is called lupus. It kills women in their childbearing
years. It cripples them. It maims them. It makes them feel as if they
have no life-style at all. When you hear the word again, you will say,
that is a devastating disease that is pretty much outstanding in
significance and incidence among young women. It is serious, it is
inflammatory, and for the past 6 years I have tried to get this bill
authorized in the Congress so that the National Institutes of Health
would receive at least 20 to $50 million a year for research into
lupus. If you could see some of the young women that become seriously
impaired by lupus, you would say to the health subcommittee of Labor-
HHS, that is a disease that needs to be
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stopped. The immune system becomes so overreactive that it goes out of
control. The antibodies in the woman's body attack her other tissues.
This causes inflammation, causes redness, swelling, and it affects
women nine times more than it does men. Between 1.4 to 2 million
Americans have been diagnosed with this disease. There are so many
cases that go undiagnosed and that doctors cannot many times diagnose
lupus. Many times the diagnosis for lupus is worse than the treatment,
and doctors are not very adept at finding out whether or not a woman
has lupus or not. Our body's immune system is known for protecting the
body, but if a woman has lupus, the immune system just goes haywire, it
loses its ability to tell the difference. It is not infectious, it is
not rare, it is not cancerous, but it is not well known. It is more
prevalent than AIDS, Mr. Speaker, sickle cell anemia, cerebral palsy,
multiple sclerosis and cystic fibrosis combined. So you can see what a
devastating disease it is and its impact on women. It is so important
that during Women's History Month that I call America's attention to
this devastating disease and how much it is leading to the impairment
of women.
I can relate to lupus firsthand. I had a sister to die from it. There
are so many people here in this Congress who have had relatives. I have
had several hearings on lupus. We are losing our children, Mr. Speaker,
we are losing our sisters, our mothers, grandmothers and friends. We
need to really do something about this deadly disease. We need to say
to NIH, look, more research is supposed to be done on this disease.
There has to be a cure. American women are at high risk for this deadly
and debilitating disease. There is a need for more professional
awareness. That is why I am glad that my wonderful colleague gave me
this opportunity to come to the floor and speak about lupus because of
its significance to women and during Women's History Week. We must
fight those diseases that cause morbidity and mortality among the ranks
of women.
Mrs. KELLY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from New York
(Mrs. Maloney) the cochairwoman of the House Women's Caucus.
Mrs. MALONEY of New York. I thank the gentlewoman for organizing this
special order and for her fine leadership in this body this year and
other years in support of women's issues and family issues. I was
elected in 1992, the so-called Year of the Woman, when many Americans
voted for women candidates not as a slogan but as a force to be
reckoned with. We came to Congress. There were 48 of us. Our presence
did make a difference in doubling moneys for health care for women and
access to clinics, in child care, in education, in many, many areas.
And we have made progress since then in the number of women that are
elected.
In 1999 there are 89 women who hold statewide offices across this
country, and there are other positive signs. There are now three women
governors, 58 women in the House, and nine women Senators. In fact, the
First Lady might even choose to run for the Senate in New York State.
We have women in posts that never have been held before. We have the
first woman to ever serve as Secretary of State, Attorney General,
Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, head of the National
Science Foundation, and many, many more.
But I am still concerned that women did not receive the vote until
1920, a right that we should have been born with. In fact, my mother
was born without the right to vote. We all owe a great debt to the many
women who came before us, on whose shoulders we stand, who worked for
and fought for women's rights, Alice Paul, Susan B. Anthony, Lucretia
Mott, Carrie Chapman Catt and many, many others, because the vote is so
important. The vote is what enables women to be not only at the kitchen
table but the peace table, the economic development table, the
congressional table. It is important that we as Members of Congress
support other women in other countries as they work for and gain the
right to vote.
Earlier today, a resolution passed this House authored by the
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Kelly) and the chairman of the
International Relations Committee, the gentleman from New York (Mr.
Gilman). It was supported by every Member of this body. It
congratulated Qatar on the first ever election to be held where men and
women could vote and where women could stand for that right.
The gentlewoman from New York and I traveled all the way to the tip
of the Gulf to be part of this historic and important event. It was
held on March 8, International Woman's Day. What better way to
celebrate the progress and advancement of women and girls throughout
the world than by giving women the right to vote and stand for office
in an emerging democracy in the Gulf. The Gulf Cooperation Council,
which is in the area, this is the first such election to take place,
and we hope it will encourage the movement forward in other countries.
In comparison, Kuwait has an elected parliament which exercises
limited legislative and oversight powers, but women are not allowed to
vote. In Oman they have an elected consultive council; however, only
selected male and female citizens are enfranchised, and the Sultan
retains the final say over who is part of that council. Bahrain had an
elected parliament which was dissolved by the Emir in 1975, and the
United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have no elected institutions. So
we hope this historic election in Qatar will be a banner, a leadership
step for the region.
We live now in a world economy and we must recognize that democracies
help us in our shared world with stable environments and really
improved rights for individuals. It was very exciting for the
gentlewoman from New York and myself to meet the six women who were
running for office. One almost won. She lost by 24 votes, but next time
we hope that she will win. It looked very much like an American
election, with banners and rallies and meetings, just good plain
campaigning.
Any democracy is a journey. It is one that begins with many steps.
This was the first step towards a full parliamentary election. It was
for an advisory council. But it is an important first step. Seeing the
faces of the individuals reminded me very much of the faces that I saw
on television of our brothers and sisters in South Africa when they
first received the right to vote. It was exciting, it was historic and
it was wonderful to be there. But as we work here in Congress, we are
working every day to help women and families and children.
Just this week, along with the gentlewoman from New York, we
introduced a very important bill that will provide screening and
protection for breast cancer and prostate cancer. Roughly 1,500 cancer-
related deaths per day take place in our country. Early detection of
cancer through screening can extend a patient's life, reduce treatment
time and cost, and improve a person's quality of life. The first step
we need to take to reduce the number of cancer-related deaths is to
increase access to screening exams in the private sector.
In 1997, Congress, through the Balanced Budget Amendment, included a
bill that Barbara Vucanovich and I had authored in 1992. Barbara was a
survivor of breast cancer. It called for the coverage of annual
mammograms for women in Medicare. It was very important that this bill
passed and was part of the Balanced Budget Amendment. It will save
hundreds of thousands of lives.
The bill we introduced will extend these same benefits to Americans
under the age of 65 if they are at risk and if the patient and their
doctor know that such a test is needed. Most insurance companies
provide coverage for some cancer screening, but that coverage is
inconsistent and often does not provide coverage for the appropriate
type of screening test given a person's risk level. My office has
received comments from not only colleagues and constituents but doctors
who talk about plans that do not cover tests that are needed to save
lives and to prevent cancer from growing. If it is caught in the
beginning, it is a very minor procedure. Yet if it continues to a more
life-threatening stage, it is not only costly in terms of suffering but
also in terms of medical dollars.
{time} 1700
This bill assures that all individuals with health insurance are
guaranteed coverage for important cancer screening tests such as
mammograms and
[[Page H1917]]
prostate cancer screening. Science has proven that these screening
exams work. If a doctor and patient have decided together that the
patient would benefit from a screening exam, insurance companies should
not have the right to deny coverage of a potentially lifesaving exam.
This bill will save lives and lower the cost of treating cancer by
increasing the rates of early detection.
We have worked together on a number of bills, not only in health
care, but in child care, in helping women-owned businesses and
strengthening educational opportunities for our young people and our
people who are displaced from work, and I look very, very much forward
to working with my colleagues in the Women's Caucus, especially the
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Kelly) who has been an outstanding
leader in so many issues, particularly those that help women in
business, women, children and families.
I want to note that the Women's Caucus has probably been the most
successful caucus in a bipartisan way of actually passing and enacting
legislation. It was my privilege to work with the gentlewoman from the
District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) last year when we really enacted into
law many important measures to help women, children and families, and
the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Mrs. Johnson) on the other side of
the aisle.
So I thank my colleague, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Kelly),
for organizing this special order for women's history. We have to
realize that we are making history every day as we work here to
strengthen the rights that so many women gave their lives for as they
worked to gain the right to vote for women in this country. I thank her
for going to Qatar with us and being part of that exciting election,
and I thank all my colleagues for going on record and voting in support
of the elections and the right for women to stand for office in Qatar.
Mrs. KELLY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from the District
of Columbia (Ms. Norton).
Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding to me,
and I especially thank her for her initiative in organizing this
special order.
Mr. Speaker, I am a former Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission, have spent much of my life working on women's issues. Many
of them are discrimination issues, many of them are not, and if you
would ask the average woman which of the literally hundreds of women's
issues are more important, you would have a hard time coming up with a
single answer. But I think you would probably find more women saying
that pay today is important than any other issue, and that is because
women are out here and have to be out here working.
Senator Tom Harkin and I simultaneously introduced the Fair Pay Act
just before recess because Equal Pay Day, when we would have introduced
it, occurred when Congress was out of session. Equal Pay Day is a day
that women in the year, usually four months, earn about what men earn
during the entire prior year.
Thereafter we had a meeting at the White House with the Chief of
Staff, John Podesta. At that meeting I asked that the President use
Equal Pay Day to do an event to raise the profile of pay issues because
they already high with the people of the United States, and to his
credit the President and the First Lady had an event attended by
several hundred women leaders on April 7 where, interestingly, they did
not lecture us but invited in women, four women, to tell their own pay
stories.
Why does pay carry so much weight today? Even women who live in two-
parent families, two-thirds of them work. In year-round wages you have
women up to somewhere in the 70s. It has bounced between 70 and 75
percent during this decade. The source of the progress we have made in
the last 20 years has been largely a thin slice of women at the highly-
trained level, and sadly, because of the decline in mens' wages, women
are catching up.
There are a number of bills, and I support them all, but I wanted to
say just a word about the Fair Pay Act, because if you want to meet the
problem of the average woman today who works, it will not even be an
equal pay, as much as we still have to do in that. It will be an
equivalent pay for equivalent jobs in traditional women's occupations.
It is the mainstream women's occupations that are undervalued.
Regardless of their education, the women now get more bachelors
degrees, and women finish high school more often than men, women cannot
catch up, and it is largely because even when they have working jobs
where they have the same skill, effort, responsibility and working
conditions as men, they are not paid the same so that if a woman is an
emergency services operator and a man is a fire dispatcher, he is going
to earn more money even though they both may have 2 years of community
college.
The Fair Pay Act therefore says that discrimination in jobs that are
equivalent in skill, effort, responsibility and working conditions
should be paid the same, and it would add that to the law. Equivalent
pay for equivalent jobs is going to be the issue of the next decade,
just as the issue of the 1960's when we got the Equal Pay Act was equal
pay for equal jobs. The Fair Pay Act does not tamper with the market
system because the woman has to show that the reason for the disparity
is not market factors but discrimination.
I would like to go through and talk about the women who appeared at
the White House on April 7, but in deference to the woman who still may
want to speak during this special order, I would like to conclude by
saying that I think we are off to a good start and we ought to keep
before the House this entire term the importance of women's issues.
I congratulate the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Kelly) who
organized this special order, and I congratulate her strong partner,
the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney), for her work in a
bipartisan manner with the gentlewoman from her own home state.
Mrs. KELLY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from North
Carolina (Mrs. Clayton).
Mrs. CLAYTON. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to make sure that the gentlewoman
from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) had completed her sharing
with us over the pay equity, which is so important for the full House
to understand, so I want to, if I may, yield additional time as she may
want to conclude that statement. She was so gracious.
Ms. NORTON. That is very kind of the gentlewoman and very typical of
her.
Unless the gentlewoman from New York needs that time, I do think it
would greatly illustrate my point to have some examples.
Mrs. KELLY. If the gentlewoman will just manage to fit it in, I think
like in 2\1/2\ minutes, it is fine. I personally would like to hear the
examples, Mr. Speaker, and I would be delighted to have her take that
time if she would like to have it.
Ms. NORTON. I very much appreciate it. It will take just a couple of
minutes.
These are the women that came. One my colleagues may have read about,
a woman from Massachusetts Institute of Technology who is a molecular
biologist who is at the top, who never dreamed of herself as a victim
of discrimination, at the top at MIT of a tenured professor, the top of
the scale. Then she found out that she was making 20 percent less than
men who had come at the same time, had done the same amount of work,
and she talked to other women, found 14 other tenured women had
precisely the same circumstance. To MIT's credit, instead of becoming
defensive, MIT said, ``Let us do a study. We're scientists, let us
study,'' and have been decided to bring up the women's pay. That is the
example, it seems to me, that we want to put forward.
Sanya Tyler who is the head women's coach, basketball coach, at
Howard University sued Howard University. She now compliments Howard
University because our university has now moved forward to rectify a
situation where the only team that was winning was the girls'
basketball team, and yet they had disparities in everything from
facilities to her own pay. Her pay was brought up, and again the
employer has moved forward instead of becoming defensive.
Patricia Higgins, a nurse from Cleveland, Ohio, who testified that
her daughter wanted to be a nurse, but the fact is she is a pharmacist.
People who are not doing the same job, had no
[[Page H1918]]
more training, did not work in the high-pressured nursing and high-
skilled nursing that she did and yet earned more money, and she expects
that she is now in a union organizing drive, and she thinks that AFSCME
is simply going to be able to negotiate up the salaries of the nurses
so that they are equivalent to the salaries of the pharmacists.
These were three of the most salient examples, and I think when
America hears those examples, America wants to do something about it.
I very much thank the gentlewoman from New York, and I particularly
thank the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Clayton).
Mrs. KELLY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from North
Carolina (Mrs. Clayton); however I would like to retain 1 minute for
myself.
Mrs. CLAYTON. Mr. Speaker, I really wanted to congratulate the
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Kelly) as well as the gentlewoman who
is also from New York, our colleague (Mrs. Maloney), in holding this
special order and allowing me to participate and to thank them for
raising issues that are important to women in our communities and in
our Nation. I particularly am interested in supporting the effort of
encouraging women to take leadership roles in emerging countries. I was
pleased to be voting on the bill that allowed that to happen.
I encourage also the whole enterprise effort of women who are now
becoming the growing percentage of small business people, so those
issues that would allow our families not only to be viable, but also to
be businesswomen and to be striving as businesswomen, not just
existing.
I just want to bring up one issue, and I will conclude. That is the
issue of child care. If we are going to talk about ability for mothers
to go out to work, they have to be concerned about child care.
I am introducing a bill where we will provide tax credit not only for
child care, but also for the training of child care workers to make
sure that we can assure quality child care for mothers who need that so
desperately. So issues about income, issues about leadership and issues
about our children and child care are very much issues about families,
and I want to support that and urge my colleagues also to be ready to
support those initiatives that come in.
Mrs. KELLY. Mr. Speaker, I do not think I will take all of the
remaining time, but I want to note that many women have spoken here
this afternoon, and, as you can see, women's interests in Congress
cover a vast array of legislation. One of the positive things about the
House Women's Caucus is our ability to recognize that we, working
together, can affect the course of legislation in the United States
Congress and hopefully, therefore, make life better for all of the
families, women and children in the United States.
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the members of the
Women's Caucus for having this Special Order tonight and for allowing
me the opportunity to speak. I would like to focus on the issue of
Domestic Violence against women. The dynamics of domestic violence can
be as subtle as verbal attacks or as overt as murder. Nationwide, one
out of every four women of all women has been battered at some point in
their lives.
Violence against women destroys families, takes the lives of women
and their children, and it traumatizes the young people who witness it.
It is a well documented fact that children who witness violence in the
home grow up to repeat the same patterns as adults.
The tragedy of violence against women is not just a personal problem,
it is a community crisis. It is up to the community to get involved to
address this issue.
Domstic violence affects women of all races and socio-economic
backgrounds. A high percentage of these victims are women of color.
African-American women account for 16% of the women who have been
physically abused by a husband or partner in the last five years.
According to the Houston Area Women's Center, over 1100 women in
Houston called for counseling services in 1997 for family violence.
This counseling included services for women with children and teenagers
who have also survived violence.
This figure only accounts for the women who have sought help. There
are others who continue to suffer in silence. There were also 102 women
in Houston who were killed by their partners in 1997.
We all have heard the stories of women who have suffered abuse. In my
district I have heard the personal stories of domestic abuse survivors
and I have also heard the tragic accounts of women who lost their lives
at the hands of their partners.
One of my staff members recounted for me a story from her days at
Legal Aid. A young woman with three children came in for assistance to
get permanent custody of her three small children. She had suffered
from years of abuse from her husband and she had finally decided to
leave him.
Although her husband continued to harass and threaten her, this brave
young women came to seek help in defiance of his threats. She declared
that she was better off poor and alone than dead. This woman's story is
inspiring because she made the decision to speak out about her
situation. This means that we must continue our efforts to get domestic
violence out in the open.
I hope that domestic violence will continue to be viewed as a serious
public health issue that deserves our attention. We must encourage
women to speak out and to seek help. As a community, we must provide
support, encouragement and compassion.
Mrs. ROUKEMA. Mr. Speaker, I rise to join my Colleague from New
York--Sue Kelly for her leadership--and the other Members of the
Congressional Caucus on Women's Issues in the special order. As the
senior woman in the House, by virtue of seniority, I have been laboring
in these vineyards for many years. I am always pleased to have fresh
recruits. So I welcome all the Congresswomen to this special order
today.
All Issues are Women's Issues
When I first ran for Congress, my experience was that every interview
with every reporter started off with the same set of question: ``What
is your position on the `women's issues?''
And my response was alway the same: all issues are women's issues.
And I still believe that.
But I have to tell you, when I got to Washington, I found that some
of the ``women's issues--the ``family issues''--weren't being addressed
by the men in power. Things like child support enforcement and women's
health issues and family safety issues. It wasn't that the men were
opposed to these issues--they just didn't get it. They were not
sufficiently aware of them.
So I realized, in many important areas--if we women in government
don't take action, no one else will.
Need More Women
That's why we need more women in Congress.
That's why we need more women State legislators.
That's why we need more women Governors.
That's why we need more women in the County Courthouses, the Township
Municipal buildings and the City Halls.
Of course, there are countless issues that have been thrust into the
national spotlight due in large part to the efforts of women in
Congress--health care, equal pay, family and medical leave, education
to name just a few.
I would like to take a moment to examine one issue upon which women
lead.
Child support enforcement
The first issue stems from the national epidemic of child support
neglect. This epidemic of shame affects over 20 million families where
parents ignore both the financial and psychological needs of their
children
I have a long history of standing up for child support enforcement,
having been a pioneer on child support reforms and having served on the
U.S. Commission for Inter-State Child Support Enforcement. It's a
national disgrace that our child support enforcement system continues
to allow so many parents who can afford to provide for their children's
support--both financially and psychologically--to shirk these
obligations.
Among those due support, about 50% received the full amount, about a
25% received partial payment and about 25% received NOTHING. In 1991,
of the total $17.7 billion owed for child support, $5.8 billion was not
paid! This figure is unconscionable!!
Through the years, Congress has taken many concrete steps to crack
down on child support deadbeats. The most recent major reform was
contained in the landmark welfare reform legislation we passed in
1996--beacuse after all, child support enforcement reform is welfare
prevention.
Now we have another opportunity to strengthen the child support
enforcement network.
One of the major unfinished items of business from the last Congress
is bankruptcy reform. Indeed the Leadership has indicate that
bankruptcy reform will considered in the House in the next few weeks.
I am very pleased that the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1999, H.R. 833,
introduced by Representative Gekas, strengthens child support
enforcement in a bankruptcy proceeding. H.R. 833 does the following:
(1) Makes child support payments number one when determining which
debts are paid first in a bankruptcy case (2) confirmation and
discharge of Chapter 13 plans are made conditional upon
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the Debtor's complete payment of child support (3) provides that the
automatic stay DOES NOT apply to a state child support collection
agency trying to recover child support payments.
I will be working with Chairman Gekas and Representative Clay Shaw to
further refine and improve the language that will eventually be
included in the final bill.
It is important to remember that failure to pay child support is not
a victimless crime. The children are the first and most important
victims. We must ensure that these children are taken care of and I
will continue my relentless effort in this pursuit.
Remember, All issues are women's issues'', nevertheless, women and
children are sometimes victims because of indifference or lack of
sensitivity. We pledge here today to give them the sensitivity they
need.
Ms. SANCHEZ. What a century this has been for the advancement of
women's rights in America. Women vote, we own businesses, we explore
outer space. We fight in our nation's armed services, we represent our
fellow citizens in our legislature, courts and state houses, and we
have a greater role in U.S. public policy than ever before. But first
and foremost among these accomplishments is the ability to control our
own economic destinies.
I am here tonight to salute women business owners who have helped
this remarkable change grow. And in particular, I praise the Women's
Economic Summit, one of the first gatherings of its kind. It is
planting the seeds for even greater future successes, and I am proud to
be a part of that progress.
Women everywhere build their success on that of the women who have
gone before them. Tonight I salute women business owners for their work
in making the American dream available to our friends and daughters.
____________________