[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 33 (Thursday, March 17, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2981-S2982]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   IN HONOR OF WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today in honor of Women's 
History Month to recognize the advancements that women have made this 
year and to reflect on the challenges and opportunities for the years 
ahead.
  We have set aside this month to formally pay tribute to the 
contributions of women in the United States and around the world.
  I would like to start by paying tribute to the women in Iraq and 
Afghanistan who are working to build their countries and to make a 
better life for themselves and their families. These women have been 
freed from oppressive regimes and as their nations rebuild now must 
secure their rights for all time.
  Women throughout the Arab World are making their way into public 
life.

[[Page S2982]]

In some countries, they are being elected to office, named to cabinet-
level posts and appointed to leading positions in powerful civil 
society organizations--these are the thought-leaders and the pioneers. 
But there is another, parallel movement that has also begun: the quiet 
leadership of ordinary women who are doing extraordinary things.
  On January 30, scores of Iraqi women poured into polling stations in 
cities and rural communities. Braving bullets, bombs, and substantial 
personal threat, they joined their fellow countrymen to vote in the 
nation's first free election, an act that warrants our deepest respect.
  When I reflect on their courage, I realize that in the United States 
we have no point of reference to understand what they must have felt on 
that Monday in January. Though the women in our Nation have fought and 
continue to fight for justice and equal opportunity, the trip from our 
homes to the voting booth has never involved a life or death decision. 
The fact that 8 million people, 60 percent of whom were women according 
to some estimates, chose to risk their lives to vote is, quite frankly, 
astounding to me.
  These women have grasped at democracy and they now clench it with 
tightened fists. I think we can learn something from this. I would like 
to call attention to their sacrifices and to highlight the lessons that 
their courage can teach women in the United States and around the 
world.
  It is easy to take for granted today, but women in America also had 
to fight for the right to vote. After a decades' long struggle, women 
finally secured the right to vote in 1920 and since that time women 
have made incredible advancements.
  Women have risen to the top of Fortune 500 companies and fill the 
domes of capitols and the halls of universities--today approximately 56 
percent of college students are female, compared to 44 percent in 1973. 
The wage gap, however, is still alarming. Women who work full-
time earned about 79.5 cents on the dollar compared to their male 
counterparts in 2003.

  Women are a true political force and continue to contribute every day 
all across this country. In the years that I have been in politics, 
women have changed the face of American politics.
  Issues that were once relegated to the back burner--education, health 
care, children, and seniors--are now at the top of America's political 
agenda.
  Since I was first elected to the Senate in 1992, we have made 
remarkable progress for women by:
  Increasing breast cancer research funding by 800 percent;
  Tripling funding for domestic abuse shelters;
  Raising lending to women through the Small Business Administration;
  Passing the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Violence against 
Women Act;
  Covering mammogram screening for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries;
  Extending maternity hospitalization to 48 hours; and
  Requiring health care companies to fund breast reconstruction after 
mastectomies.
  We have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go.
  That is why I am cosponsoring the Equal Rights Amendment to the 
Constitution. This amendment is essential to guarantee that the rights 
and freedoms granted by our Founding Fathers apply equally to men and 
women.
  In addition, women's reproductive rights are under attack in Congress 
like never before, and I remain deeply committed to protecting a 
woman's right to choose guaranteed by Roe v. Wade. I also believe that 
it is extremely important that we reduce the number of unintended 
pregnancies and abortions.
  I have spoken on this issue before and it is something that I feel 
very strongly about. Recently, we have seen considerable setbacks in 
the battle for reproductive rights and I fear that the advances we have 
fought so hard for are now threatened.
  I am part of a generation of women who remember a time when a woman 
did not have the right to decide when and if she would give birth. I 
will not stand by and let us return to that time.
  The decline of our rights under this administration has been slow but 
steady. Subtle encroachments occur either through the high-profile path 
of judicial appointments or through the silent passageways of 
regulations, obscure amendments tacked on to large bills, or grant 
limitations.
  The current administration has systematically chipped away at the 
rights of women, and they have done so shielded from public scrutiny by 
employing these quiet forms of repression and intimidation. I am here 
to say: we have noticed, we are paying attention and we will fight.
  These are issues that affect every woman in the United States. Let us 
not become complacent. Let us take inspiration from the women in Iraq 
who risked their lives to exercise their rights as we continue the 
struggle to defend our own. The time for basking in the glory of past 
achievements has passed; this is a battle that must be fought by the 
everyday women warriors. It is time to roll up our sleeves and get back 
to work.
  Because of the women who have come before us, we are fortunate to 
participate in our democratic system of justice. We cannot take that 
opportunity and responsibility for granted.

                          ____________________