[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 51 (Monday, March 31, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E622-E623]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DANNY K. DAVIS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 31, 2003

  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, the great issues of war and peace 
have rightfully dominated the news and the focus of our attention as a 
people and as a legislative body during the month of March. 
Nevertheless, other events must continue on.
  March, of course, is Women's History Month. It is not designated 
Women's History Month because we may ignore the role and history of 
women for the other eleven months of the year. Quite the opposite. We 
have designated March as Women's History Month to highlight, for on-
going consideration, the status, condition and progress of women.
  The Congress established Women's History Week in 1981 and expanded it 
to Women's History Month in 1987. In that short period Women's History 
Month has become a time when men and women learn about the history of 
more than half of our population, much of which is not recorded in 
standard history books. The rediscovery of our ``missing'' history has 
been a beneficent thing for America.
  As for the status of women, this year we note with satisfaction that 
women have made progress toward equality. At the same time, we remain 
deeply concerned about how far women need to go before they achieve 
what simple fairness and justice would demand: full equality.
  Mr. Speaker, just a few numbers to highlight the current status of 
women:
  The median earnings of women age 15 and older who worked full time, 
year around, after adjustment for inflation, increased 3.5 percent in 
2001, the fifth consecutive increase. Women in this group earn $0.76 
for every dollar their male counterparts earn. This ratio represents an 
all-time high according to the census bureau.
  The gap between men and women with college degrees has not closed 
completely, but the percentages are close: 25 percent of women age 25 
and over now have a bachelor's degree or higher compared with 29 
percent of men. For younger women, age 25 to 34, 33 percent hold a 
bachelor's degree or higher compared to 29 percent of their male 
counterparts of the same age. Young women also have a higher high 
school completion rate than young men: 89 percent v. 85 percent.
  The percentage of women who cast a ballot in the last Presidential 
election was 61 percent compared with 58 percent of men. Women have 
voted at higher rates then men in every Presidential election since 
1984.
  There are now 10 million single mothers up from 3 million in 1970. 
Overall about 26 percent of all parent-child situations consist of a 
single mother and her own children up from 12 percent in 1970.
  Women are far more likely than men to live in poverty, especially 
seniors. According to the census bureau 12 percent of women age 65 and 
older lived in poverty compared with 7 percent of men.
  Nearly 16 percent of men age 15 and older who worked full time in 
2001 earned $75,000 per year compared with 6 percent of women. About 20 
percent of men earned $50,000 to $75,000 compared to 12 percent of 
women.
  Mr. Speaker, there are especially troubling increases in the number 
of women who are in prison and there remain significant disparities 
between men and women in health care and other vital social indices.
  Mr. Speaker, women may not have had their history fully recorded, but 
they have always assumed their full share and more in the building of 
our nation, in creating and protecting America's families, in 
developing art, culture and science, public policy, health care, 
education and any other field one can name. However, it has required 
constant struggle on the part of women.
  Thus, women have always played an important part in shaping public 
opinion but it was not until 1916 that Jeanette Rankin of Montana 
became the first woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and 
not until 1992 that Carol Moseley Braun became the first African 
American woman elected to the U.S. Senate.

[[Page E623]]

  Anne Bradstreet became the first published American writer in 1650 
and in 1993 Toni Morrison became the First African American woman to 
win the Nobel prize in literature.
  Over the course of our history we have seen an unending string of 
``firsts.'' The first woman to receive her M.D. degree: Elizabeth 
Blackwell--1849. The first female professional chemist: Ellen Swallow 
Richards--1873. First American woman in Space: Sally Ride--1983. First 
woman U.S. Surgeon General; Antonia Novello--1900.
  Mr. Speaker, the history of American women is an inexhaustible 
subject. No one can reduce it to a single sound byte or a single 
notion. One thing is clear: the march to equality is irresistible and 
unrelenting.
  The Equal Rights Amendment was first drafted by Alice Paul in 1923. 
The message was simple and clear: ``Equality of rights under the law 
shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on 
account of sex.''
  The Congress did not pass, and send to the states, the ERA until 
March 22, 1972. The states failed to ratify. But our responsibility as 
a people and as a legislative body remains. Women demand and deserve 
equality in every sphere of life, beginning with the law. It is high 
time for us to recognize and ratify that most just and basic demand.

                          ____________________