[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 30 (Thursday, March 16, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H1081]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH

  (Ms. WOOLSEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, March is Women's History Month, a time to 
reflect on the contributions that women have made to our heritage, but 
today I want to talk about how we here in Congress can actually make 
history for women.
  The United States can make a difference in women's lives all around 
the world by ratifying CEDAW, the United Nations Convention on the 
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Right now the 
United States is the only industrialized democracy in the world that 
has not ratified CEDAW. That is a disgrace.
  Currently, the treaty is being held hostage in the Senate Foreign 
Relations Committee, where one man refuses to bring CEDAW forward for a 
vote in the Senate. Even though our colleagues in the other body must 
act to ratify CEDAW, we in the House can make a difference and we can 
make a difference by signing H. Res. 107, which calls on the Senate to 
take immediate action on CEDAW.
  One of the most important lessons, Mr. Speaker, that we can teach the 
world during this Women's History Month is that the United States is 
truly committed to protecting women's rights.

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