[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 138 (Monday, October 15, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S10690]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     NATIONAL BUSINESS WOMEN'S WEEK

 Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, this week, for the 73rd year, our 
nation will commemorate National Business Women's Week. Since it was 
first observed in 1928, the event has been sponsored by Business and 
Professional Women, (BPW)/USA as a national tribute to all working 
women. It has helped increase awareness of the continuing challenges 
that working women face, and has highlighted their many successes that 
have strengthened our nation.
  With well over 60 million women in the American labor force, 
including more than 70 percent of women with children, and an 
increasing percentage of women who help care for an elderly relative, 
the issues that challenge working women must be priorities for all of 
us, from balancing responsibilities within our own families to our 
debates on national and, indeed, multinational policy. And, as has been 
the case for all of the 73 years that we've had National Business 
Women's Week, we start from a position where there is good news and bad 
news; we've come a long way, and we have a long way to go.
  In 1999, there were nine million women-owned firms, representing 38 
percent of all American businesses, a 103 percent increase in just over 
10 years; and the rate of growth for women-owned businesses in America 
is nearly three times faster than the overall rate. Women-owned 
businesses are also as financially secure and credit-worthy as other 
firms, and, in fact, are more likely to stay in business.
  Yet, even with that powerful place in our economy, women 
entrepreneurs still have lower levels of available credit than their 
male counterparts. And as for employees, women still face a wage gap; 
for every dollar earned by men in 1998, women earned an average of 73 
cents. The gap is even wider for women of color, and it gets worse as 
the workers get older, presumably progressing in their careers.
  In the highest echelons of the business world, the Fortune 500, the 
good news is that the number of women corporate officers has increased 
by 37 percent over the past five years; the bad news is that the total 
number of women officers is still alarmingly low. The number of women 
in the highest officer positions, like CEO, president and high-ranking 
vice presidencies, has increased by 113 percent since 1995, but that 
still translates into just 114 women in those jobs, or about five 
percent of top office holders.
  We've seen similar progress, with corresponding long ways to go, in 
women working in government and higher education. In my State last 
year, we elected our first woman Governor--a Governor, I might add, who 
is also a small business owner. While we rightly celebrate her victory, 
she was just the 11th of 12 American women ever to have been elected to 
that office outright. Here in the Senate, we have seen progress--with a 
record 13 women currently serving as U.S. Senators--but we still cannot 
call it success. And in academia, too, although some numbers are 
getting better, some problems persist, including what the American 
Association of University Professors described as substantial 
disparities in salary, rank and tenure.
  And so, as we approach National Business Women's Week, we have some 
work to do. Achieving equity on the job is a process, and it proceeds 
not on an isolated track but with almost constant overlap with policies 
that affect home and family life, from providing adequate health care 
to combating domestic violence, from meeting the needs of our young 
children to responding to the needs of our aging parents. As a national 
interest, work and family exist in partnership.
  We celebrate the progress and contributions of working women in 
America, recognizing that our prosperity--as well as the full 
expression of our values and national character--depend upon women 
having the opportunity to participate fully in our economic life. We 
are not there, but we are inspired by the women who continue to lead 
the way, and during National Business Women's Week, we are reminded to 
honor their uniquely valuable contributions to the strength of our 
economy and our society, and to the promise of our future.




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