[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 97 (Monday, July 12, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H5352-H5353]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              TRIBUTE TO U.S. WOMEN'S NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Meek) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the 
United States women's national soccer team. Our soccer team won the 
women's World Cup. This tournament was held this past weekend in 
Pasadena, California.
  We are all very proud of our women's soccer team. The 1999 women's 
soccer team has boldly gone where no United States soccer team has gone 
before. And along the way, Mr. Speaker, they have taught us all that 
anything is possible if you dare to dream; that by raising the bar of 
expectations, there can be no limits; that if you are allowed to

[[Page H5353]]

fully realize your potential, you can have it all. They did, Mr. 
Speaker. They fought very, very hard.
  The championship of our women's soccer team won on the field in 
competition this weekend was more than a feel-good athletic victory but 
a victory for American women everywhere. From Liberty City in my 
district to Houston, to Los Angeles, the lives and hopes of young women 
everywhere have been expanded and transformed by a new set of American 
heroes, real-life role models who are confident, strong and female.
  Their victory, however, was not just a victory for one team but a 
victory for all girls and all women and a victory for all America. And 
the culmination of a very long process, of title IX. Not too long ago, 
people said women athletics was perhaps a waste of time and money, that 
women could not perform. This victory shows, Mr. Speaker, that all that 
was needed for women was the opportunity to compete on an equal level.
  I am a former athlete, Mr. Speaker. I ran track and played basketball 
in college more than a few years ago. I know the importance of role 
models in life and sports. I had outstanding role models like Lua 
Bartley and Babe Minor. Now, Mr. Speaker, little girls and women all 
across America have a new set of real-life American role models who are 
driven, determined, aggressive, tough and committed. That is our United 
States 1999 women's national soccer team.
  This weekend's victory was a coming of age for women. In a real 
sense, it is something you cannot touch or you cannot quantify. Because 
little girls all over the world, Mr. Speaker, saw strong, independent 
and capable women playing soccer these past 3 weeks, they will realize 
that they are not crazy for wanting to do something out of the 
ordinary, to excel themselves in athletics. They are saying to 
themselves, ``If they can play soccer and win, I can be a CEO of a 
Fortune 500 company.''
  Thank God for all of the dedicated soccer moms, Mr. Speaker, in this 
country that have driven their girls back and forth to rehearsal over 
and over again. May they continue to provide the continued support that 
fosters World Cup winners.
  I am proud of our women's soccer team and what they have done for our 
national psyche and for the psyche of Americans from coast to coast. 
Girl power and the power of women, Mr. Speaker, live on.

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