[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 29 (Wednesday, March 8, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H762-H768]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       30-SOMETHING WORKING GROUP CELEBRATE WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 2005, the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz) 
is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, first I want to take this 
opportunity to thank House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi for the 
opportunity for the 30-Something Working Group to talk for an hour 
about the things that we know are important to our generation, and also 
to explain and discuss our views on our generation's perspective on a 
lot of the issues that are important and facing Americans today.
  Tonight I am really pleased to be joined during Women's History Month 
by two of my distinguished colleagues who are also members of Leader 
Pelosi's 30-Something Working Group, Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth 
from the great State of South Dakota and Congresswoman Linda Sanchez of 
California. The three of us make up a very unique body in this group. 
We are three of only four women younger than 40 years old in the United 
States House of Representatives.
  We are here this evening to celebrate Women's History Month, to 
remember those who have contributed to our progress, to recognize the 
women of our generation who are changing communities today, and to 
highlight the challenges that many women under 40 face as a result of 
the flawed and failed policies of the Bush administration.
  This year's theme, Mr. Speaker, for Women's History Month is Women: 
Builders of Communities and Dreams. This theme speaks to the legacy 
that women leaders have built over the generations.
  Mr. Speaker, as advanced and progressive as America has been on 
issues improving the lives of women, our country continues to lag far 
behind in terms of policies to assist women in their struggle to lead 
or achieve.
  Today women represent more than half the population and are among the 
most knowledgeable and important thinkers in every field of policy, 
from science to education, to health care and national security.
  As the mother of two young daughters, it is so important to me to see 
that strong women walk in all walks of life, and I want them to see 
strong women in all walks of life, particularly so that we can see that 
those women join our ranks here as policymakers.
  I want them to understand that from Title IX to the Equal Pay Act, 
that they are standing on the shoulders, as we do here, of the 
courageous women who went before them.

                              {time}  2000

  None of the three of us would have had the opportunity that we did at 
our stage in life without our colleagues who came before us in this 
body, without their shoulders to stand on, and I want them and other 
young women and girls to have the same opportunities that we have been 
given.
  Unfortunately, the President apparently does not share those same 
views because in his 2007 budget proposal he slashes programs 
established to give young working mothers a leg up, like Medicare, 
Medicaid, housing, food stamps and child care. He cuts programs aimed 
at preventing domestic violence and programs that provide domestic 
violence victims with housing and legal assistance.
  I am saddened to say that domestic violence affects far too many 
women, and an even growing number of young women. Forty percent, Mr. 
Speaker, of teenage girls ages 14 to 17 report knowing someone their 
age that has been hit or beaten by a boyfriend, and 26 percent of girls 
in grades 9 through 12 have been the victim of abuse.
  So tonight we are here because training, education, and employment 
statistics clearly indicate that women still face barriers in pursuing 
traditionally male-dominated fields. For instance, while the number of 
women pursuing degrees in higher education has increased dramatically, 
the rates of women pursuing engineering degrees lags far behind. Recent 
data shows that women account for only small percentages of students 
earning engineering degrees, including only 20 percent of bachelor's 
degrees, 21 percent of master's degrees, and only 17 percent of Ph.Ds.
  We are here, Mr. Speaker, because the Republicans' prescription drug 
plan is a particularly bad deal for America's women. Women are 
frustrated and confused, Mr. Speaker. And if you think government 
health and prescription drug care is only for the aged, you should know 
that 63 percent of Medicaid beneficiaries were between the ages of 18 
and 44 in 2001, and 37 percent of women ages 18 to 44 report that they 
use at least one prescription drug on a regular basis. Those are not 
senior citizen statistics.
  We are here tonight because 36 percent of the 9.4 million women in 
executive, administrative, and managerial occupations are under 44 
years old, and, on average, women are still making about 76 cents for 
every dollar that a man makes.
  We are here because opponents of the Family and Medical Leave Act are 
working to hamstring that program, even though it is in its 12th 
successful year, and more than 50 million Americans have displayed 
their enthusiastic support by taking job protective leave to care for a 
new baby, a seriously ill family member, or to recuperate from their 
own serious illness. And the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Sanchez) 
is going to be covering how the administration's policies have impacted 
working women and working families in particular.
  And we are here because there are not too many of us to speak up, and 
we must make our voices heard. There are 26 men under 40 serving in the 
United States Congress, Mr. Speaker. They have several voices. More 
than several. We are here because if we do not stay late on this floor, 
if we do not stand up and try to make a difference on behalf of young 
women and young families and bring these issues that are important to 
them to the table, the three of us together, 3 versus 26, then who 
will? That is the question that we would like to answer tonight.
  I am happy to yield now to my good friend, the gentlewoman from 
California.
  Ms. LINDA SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, I am excited and 
honored to be here tonight to help celebrate Women's History Month. I 
am hoping tonight that my colleagues and I can share with everyone what 
it is like to be a young woman in Congress and how we got our start 
here.
  In addition, I am interested in sharing my thoughts on where women 
stand in today's workforce. I am proud

[[Page H763]]

to stand here tonight with Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz and 
Representative Stephanie Herseth because together we make up the 
youngest women in the U.S. House of Representatives. It is my hope that 
someday soon there will be more than just three of us standing up here. 
In fact, I think it would be fantastic if we could fill up at least 
half of this Chamber with bright energetic women from across America.
  I want to talk for a moment about women in the workforce, because 
every morning in households across America, women rise. We rise for 
work, we rise to care for children, we rise for the love of our jobs 
and for the love of our families. We rise to put food on the table, and 
we rise to make ends meet. Above all, we rise to our calling because we 
can, because we are capable.
  No matter what a woman does for a living, we as women have a lot in 
common because it was not so long ago that women were forced to hide in 
the shadows of the American workforce. Today, we are a strong and vital 
part of the American economy and more women work outside the home than 
ever before. We continue to gain more career opportunities and achieve 
professional successes in all fields. But have we truly reached 
equality in the American workforce? Sadly, the answer is no.
  The Equal Pay Act was passed more than 40 years ago, yet women still 
only make 76 cents for every dollar that a man makes, even when 
accounting for factors such as occupation, industry, race, marital 
status and job tenure. This gap has persisted for two decades. The 
glass ceiling is as shiny as it ever has been. According to a recent 
op-ed in USA Today, we still have miles to go before we can claim true 
equality.
  Women make up less than 15 percent of Congress and law-firm partners, 
12 percent of big-city mayors, 9 percent of judges, and just 1 percent 
of Fortune 500 CEOs. Women and men have had equal levels of post-high 
school education for 30 years, but the gender and color of those in 
power has not changed much in that time.
  My experiences during my first year in Congress are very similar to 
the experiences that I had as a young female attorney. You have to work 
twice as hard as men to dispel people's doubts about preconceived 
notions that they might have of you. I had to deal with that from day 
one in Washington. Many people in Washington, D.C. are still not 
convinced that I am a Congresswoman because I am young, female, and 
Latina. A lot of people still assume that Members of Congress are men, 
and that leads to a whole lot of double standards here. In addition, I 
was surprised to learn that I am the first Latina in the history of the 
United States House of Representatives to serve on the Judiciary 
Committee and the Immigration Subcommittee.
  In every field, the higher up you look, the fewer women you see. And 
if you look in the other direction, women still remain 
disproportionately concentrated in lower-paying jobs. This means that 
it is far more likely for women to live in poverty than men. The bottom 
line? Don't be fooled. While we are making gains, true workforce 
equality still remains an elusive goal. But it is a goal I am not 
willing to give up on.
  Tonight, we celebrate Women's History Month because we have come so 
far after so much struggle and we deserve an opportunity to reflect our 
successes. Today, we are here to honor the successes of pioneering 
women who came before us, to examine where we are now, and to prepare 
for the future.
  We already know that women are smart, but no matter how smart you 
are, it is tough to win when the rules dictate unequal pay for unequal 
work. A colleague of ours, Congresswoman DeLauro, has introduced the 
Paycheck Fairness Act, legislation that would take critical steps to 
empower women to negotiate for equal pay, create strong incentives for 
employers to obey the laws that are in place, and strengthen Federal 
outreach and enforcement efforts. I encourage people to contact their 
Member of Congress and let them know they support H.R. 1687, the 
Paycheck Fairness Act.

  Right now, there are only 88 cosponsors on Congresswoman DeLauro's 
bill. Out of the 435 elected voting Members of the House of 
Representatives, that still leaves 347 Members of Congress who have yet 
to support this bill. Now, I cannot imagine why 347 Members are not 
willing to stand up for women's pay equality for our daughters, 
mothers, and sisters. Mr. Speaker, I hope people pick up the phone and 
remind their Representatives to get on this bill and show that they 
truly value women's contributions in the workforce.
  Women's increased access to higher education will be a moot point 
until our society provides better policies for working women. We owe it 
to our mothers, sisters and daughters. And while talking about better 
policies, I want to briefly touch as well on the minimum wage. 
Democrats in Congress are committed to raising the minimum wage to 
ensure that no one who works for a living lives in poverty.
  While the number of Americans in poverty has increased by 4.3 million 
since President Bush took office, the minimum wage has been frozen at 
$5.15 since 1997. Democrats introduced the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 
2005, legislation that would raise the minimum wage from $5.15 an hour 
to $7.25 an hour and help lift millions of Americans out of poverty. 
Women and children are the number one victims of poverty in this 
country, so I think it is important to remember that by raising the 
minimum wage we will be significantly raising the status of women and 
children.
  In order to truly commemorate Women's History Month, I think we need 
to remember that actions speak louder than words. I know the American 
public is tired of hearing politicians highlight our country's problems 
without offering any real-life solutions. Tonight, I have touched on 
two problems and I have named two real solutions that are on the table 
right now. All that is left for us to do is to act.
  Let us achieve real pay equity for women and raise the minimum wage. 
Together, America can do better on behalf of all women and all working 
families.
  Mr. Speaker, at this time, I am pleased to yield back to the 
Representative from Florida.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. I thank my colleague, and I will now yield, 
Mr. Speaker, to the gentlewoman from South Dakota.
  Ms. HERSETH. I thank the gentlewoman from Florida and both of my 
colleagues. Mr. Speaker, I am just so pleased to be here this evening 
joining with my 30-something fellow Democratic women in honor of 
Women's History Month.
  I look forward through the course of the next partial hour to talk 
about sufferage, such an important part of women's history, and getting 
our right to vote so that the three of us can be standing here today 
having the support of so many women in the constituents that we 
represent; being able to exercise our voting privileges on this House 
floor because of the importance of the sufferage movement in this 
country.
  I also look forward to talking about some unique perspectives I would 
like to share, representing a rural district, about rural women and the 
role that they played in sufferage for women's history and getting the 
right to vote, some of the unique challenges they face for employment 
opportunities, health care for rural women, and also to spend some time 
talking about Title IX and its importance for all women.
  I am very honored to be here tonight, as I mentioned, and I want to 
reiterate the thanks that Ms. Wasserman Schultz and Ms. Sanchez gave to 
our leader, Nancy Pelosi, who herself became such an important part of 
women's history in being elected the first woman as the Democratic 
whip, followed by the first woman to be elected leader of one of the 
political parties represented here in this House of the people. To be 
joining all three of them tonight is particularly important as we share 
our ideas on issues important to women in honor of Women's History 
Month.
  I also think it is important throughout the next few minutes for each 
of us to share what brought us here in the first place and how we 
benefited from the women who paved the way before us. I am a farm girl 
from South Dakota. The small town near where I grew up on the farm, 
population less than 100, Houghton, South Dakota, is a long ways from 
the House of Representatives. But I would venture to

[[Page H764]]

guess that some of my experiences reflect some similarities of my two 
colleagues and other women that we work with here in the Congress. Many 
women serve in the Senate and our State legislatures, our county 
commissions, school boards and city councils, and we hope one of these 
days, the White House.
  Now, I was born on a farm and ranch, third generation in the family, 
and my dad, like his dad before him, continues to work and farm a ranch 
in the northeastern part of South Dakota. But while farming and 
ranching were our livelihood and our profession, we had another 
passion, and that was State government and politics. My grandfather 
served as Governor in the late 1950s, my grandmother served as 
Secretary of State in the 1970s, and my dad was in the State 
legislature. As my mom likes to say, it wasn't just in the blood, it 
was part of the genetic code.
  And so when we share these experiences, either with our own children 
or our nieces or our goddaughters or our cousins, I think it is 
important that we make it part of the dinner-table conversation, as I 
would imagine the three of us had in many respects. It is one thing 
that I think has substantially changed for our generation. I think for 
earlier generations of women, they maybe didn't have the exposure or 
the influence and the encouragement to be part of the debate about 
public issues and to be encouraged to seek public office.
  As I travel across my district, as I am sure my colleagues do, you 
see these young girls, 8 years old, 9 years old, 10 years old, and they 
come up and they want their parents to bring them to an official 
meeting or some other public event and they tell you they want to serve 
in Congress someday or they want to run for Governor. And it is so 
heartening because it reminds us of the importance of so much of what 
we are doing for them and for younger girls and women to know that they 
can do it too.
  Now, when I was first getting involved, so much attention was given 
to my dad and my grandfather, but it was my grandmother who was the 
first to get involved, before she ever became a Herseth. She ran in the 
Great Depression for superintendent of county schools, back in the mid- 
to late 1930s. She paved the way. She wasn't going to let conventional 
wisdom get in her way. She ran at a time when it was so difficult and 
she used her salary, it was an elected position in South Dakota, and 
she used that salary to help put her two nieces through college. She 
would share with me stories about serving as superintendent of county 
schools, the importance of education, and then serving as first lady 
and secretary of state, and she had an extraordinary influence on my 
life.
  That is why I think it is so important for all of us to know that 
these are precious gifts we have been given by women who have paved the 
way before us, and that for those of us with children or sisters or 
grandchildren and nieces, we need to make sure that we are talking to 
them about the importance of what we have done to continue to help pave 
that way, to keep the door open, and to open new doors for women to 
have an influence in public policy and in public life and government at 
all levels.

                              {time}  2015

  Let me just share a quote when we talk about some of the women that 
have paved the way. I want to sort of selfishly focus on some of the 
women who were from my area of the country in the late 1800s and early 
1900s and part of the women's suffrage movement.
  But Ruth Bader Ginsburg, now the only woman serving on the United 
States Supreme Court, noted, ``I think about how much we owe to the 
women who went before us, legions of women, some known, but many more 
unknown, and I applaud the bravery and resilience of those who have 
helped all of us, you and me, to be here today.''
  Well, among some of these women is Esther Morris, the first woman to 
hold a judicial position, who led the first successful State campaign 
for woman's suffrage in Wyoming in 1869.
  Also we have Carrie Chapman Catt. She revitalized the National 
American Women's Suffrage Association and played a leading role in its 
successful campaign to win voting rights for women. In 1920, she 
founded the League of Women Voters upon ratification of the 19th 
amendment to the Constitution.
  Carrie Lane was born in Wisconsin, and at the age of 7, her family 
moved to rural Iowa where she graduated in 1877. She graduated from the 
Iowa Agricultural College and model farm in Ames, Iowa. I make note of 
agriculture here because I am the only Democratic woman serving on the 
Agriculture Committee, and only three of our Republican colleagues 
serve on that important committee. She then became the first woman in 
the Nation to be appointed superintendent of schools. This was in 1883.
  In addition, the first woman ever elected to the United States Senate 
was Jeanette Rankin from Montana in 1919. And in South Dakota the first 
woman we ever elected to the United States Senate was 1938, Gladys 
Pyle. And 66 years later, in 2004, they elected their first woman to 
the United States House of Representatives, and I shared that year with 
Cecilia Firethunder, a constituent of mine who became the first woman 
to be elected president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge 
Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
  So we are making strides every year, more to be made to be sure. But 
I think it is very important as we celebrate and talk about Women's 
History Month and the challenges that remain that we make mention of 
some of these women that went before us and the influence they had on 
the entire women's movement and Women's History Month, but some of the 
closer people that served as role models and influenced our lives.
  I am curious to hear more about both of your experiences and what 
brought you to the United States Congress.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, as Ms. Herseth was talking, I was 
struck by our diversity. Our commonality is we are all under 40, but 
literally we represent the East, Midwest and west coast of our country, 
California, South Dakota, and Florida. We also represent a very 
different ethnic and cultural diversity. We have a Midwesterner, a nice 
Jewish girl from the suburbs, and we have a Latina from the West Coast. 
You could not have more diversity than what is standing in this Chamber 
this evening.
  What is wonderful about that is that is what the Democratic Party is 
all about. We are the embodiment of the Democratic Party. We are the 
embodiment of what Democrats represent and stand for. It is not just 
amazing that we had the opportunity at the age we were when we each got 
involved, but it is, I think, particularly notable that we had that 
opportunity because of the opportunities that Democrats try to provide 
in terms of diversity. I think if we were attempting to get involved at 
the point we did in our lives and we were Republicans, it would have 
been a very different experience and perhaps some very shiny glass 
ceilings, as you referred to.
  I was 25 when I started running for the Florida House of 
Representatives. I would imagine that in South Dakota it is probably 
that you have to be fifth-generation South Dakotan before you would 
think about running for public office, certainly running for Congress. 
I had only lived in my community for 3 years when I decided to run for 
the State House of Representatives. For me, that was no different than 
anyone else who lives in my community. If you are from south Florida 
now, you certainly are not from south Florida since birth.
  The reason I was able to contemplate the possibility of running was 
because we have had so many of the women we serve with here really 
provide us their shoulders to stand on because they fought in the 1970s 
and even some in the 1960s to make it possible for women to bust 
through that glass ceiling; that I was able to even think about running 
for office when I was 25, just married a year, my husband and I had 
just bought our first house. We knew we wanted to have kids. I was 
raised to believe my parents at dinner table conversation, I would not 
have to choose. A woman could be a good mom, have a solid marriage and 
be a hardworking professional, and do all of those things well.
  So the generation before us of women, because they made that 
possible, because they strove to accomplish that, it made it almost if 
not a no-brainer. It made it so much more

[[Page H765]]

reasonable for someone, for people like us to step up when we were 
presented with the opportunity. I was able to seize that opportunity 
when the seat opened up in the State legislature for me because so many 
women had paved the way before.
  The experience I had in my race for Congress was so disheartening. I 
was successful obviously because I am standing here, but I actually had 
to deal with an opponent who spent the whole election, and this is 
Women's History Month, we are in 2006, and she spent the whole election 
saying that I was a bad mother. She spent the entire election saying 
she was 20 years older than me and had waited until her children were 
grown before she thought about running, and basically I had some nerve 
running with young children. I have twin 6-year-olds, a boy and a girl, 
and a 2\1/2\-year-old baby girl.
  I ran for them. I ran so I could show my little girls that there are 
so many things that are important that we do here, and that it is 
imperative that our perspective, our generation's perspective and the 
perspective of young moms and young women are here in this Chamber.

  We deal with issues that I know we would not deal with if not for 
young women's presence here; women, period.
  But the statistic that strikes me is that in history, and I am a 
freshman, I am the least senior of the three of us, what I learned when 
I came here, and I know they probably told you this, too, when you came 
for your orientation, but we have had just under 12,000 people in 
American history serve in the United States Congress, and of those we 
literally have had just over 200 women out of 12,000 people.
  Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California. When I ran for Congress, I had 
sort of a unique situation in that I had an older sister who was a 
trailblazer. She was elected in 1996, and when I ran and was elected, 
we were the first two women of any relation to serve in the U.S. House 
of Representatives.
  There have been over 1,000 male relationships, either fathers and 
sons, uncles and nephews, male cousins. Never in the history of 
Congress until the year 2002 had two women of any relation served in 
Congress. It is a stark contrast in terms of we are making those 
strides, but we still have so much further to go.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Absolutely. The thing that I learned that 
shocked me given that I am from Florida and we have the third highest 
Jewish population in my community in the country, I am the first Jewish 
woman to ever represent the State of Florida in the Congress. Our first 
U.S. Senator to ever represent Florida ever was actually a Jewish man, 
and that was back in the 1800s when Florida joined the Union. And it 
took until 2004 for Congress to send a Jewish woman to Congress.
  The expression we have come a long way but we have a long way to go 
is an accurate one. We have so much that we can talk about. I think 
that the thing that I want to highlight is that we have issues that are 
important to women and families that would not get addressed if we were 
not here in the numbers we are here.
  Child care, subsidized child care in particular. I was shocked last 
year when I learned in the President's budget that he put forward last 
year that he actually proposed a drastic cut in the number of 
subsidized child care slots that we would fund. We are talking about 
how it is possible for us to stand on the shoulders of other women and 
even think about running. We are talking about service in the House of 
Representatives. It simply is not possible for women to work who are 
moms, especially single moms, if they do not have the ability to have 
their children cared for and well cared for. So for each successive 
budget that I have seen, yet again the President has opposed a cut in 
subsidized child care cuts.
  It is just astonishing to me the priorities that this administration 
has where it seems to be more important to preserve tax cuts for the 
wealthiest few at all costs, and never mind the women who need health 
care, who only get it when they are on Medicaid; never mind young 
children who receive Medicaid, and that is the only source of health 
care; never mind moms who need to make sure that they can work and have 
a place to send their children for quality child care. I just do not 
understand where their priorities are.
  Ms. HERSETH. Just to make a note on the health care issues and child 
care, in South Dakota we are among the highest percentage per capita of 
women who work outside the home. Many of those women are single 
mothers, and those who are a second income earner, either off the farm 
or in town, then struggle not only with the child care costs, but 
access to a child care provider in many of our small communities. So 
the cuts to assist individuals but also some of the community 
development funds, the economic development funds that have been used 
effectively by rural communities to support entrepreneurs, many of whom 
would like to provide child care services for healthy communities, have 
been jeopardized, and one of the most egregious things that we have 
seen from this administration as it relates to health care is they will 
sacrifice rural health care grants at almost every opportunity.
  Many rural women are older. Many are eligible for Medicare and Social 
Security. But even young moms in smaller rural communities, we are 
talking about rural health care grants that go a long way to keep 
clinics open. And as she is struggling to also maintain a job and raise 
her children, you tack on to that the challenges to having health care 
services, especially in smaller communities that are working to 
revitalize themselves, but the budget situation and the priorities that 
have been so misplaced have jeopardized and make it harder for rural 
women to even get access, let alone the affordable health care that 
they need.
  Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California. If I could just add, one of the 
things, and you are raising excellent points, women have so many 
challenges. Young women have so many challenges today. Young mothers 
have so many challenges today, such as access to affordable health care 
and access to quality and affordable child care.
  Women disproportionately have lower-paying jobs that pay minimum 
wage, and we have not seen a raise in minimum wage to keep pace with 
inflation.
  Really oftentimes I talk about the glass ceiling because there are 
still so many opportunities denied to women in the upper echelons of 
our workforce, but many women are just struggling to get up off the 
floor because they are working minimum-wage jobs and trying to raise 
kids. They are the heads of households. They face all of these 
challenges. And one of the best ways for women to get ahead, and this 
is something my immigrant parents really instilled in all of my 
brothers and sisters, I come from a family of seven, they said 
education is the key to opportunity in this country; you need to go to 
college.
  When they told me this, it was a pretty radical notion for a 
traditional Latino family to say not just the boys need to go to 
college, but the girls also should go to college. One of the ways I 
financed my education was with Pell grants and students loans, loans 
which I am still paying back today.

                              {time}  2030

  I still owe on my student loans. I make out that check every month. 
But it was the best investment I could have made in myself, because it 
opened the doors of opportunity.
  When you talked about the President, his priorities being so out of 
place and opposite of what they should be, the first thing that jumped 
to my mind was they want to cut student aid programs. They want to 
freeze the maximum Pell Grant. Many young women who want to go to 
college rely disproportionately on Pell Grants and student aid to 
finance that and make that dream happen. Yet they are slashing that, 
which is, again, one of the best investments you could make.
  If you talk about a young woman who is bright, she gets into college 
and cannot finance a college education, you are talking about not just 
making it that much harder for her to access these economic 
opportunities, but let's look at this realistically. If she is earning 
less because she is not able to get a college education or additional 
training, she is contributing less in the tax base in terms of our 
economy.
  It is such a wise investment to help people further their education 
and careers, because they become higher income earners, they pay more 
into the

[[Page H766]]

tax base, they spend more in their communities to help stimulate the 
economy. Yet we have an administration and a President who thinks 
nothing of making the biggest cuts to the student loan program in the 
whole program's history. Now, more than ever, we should think about 
investing in young women, not foreclosing those opportunities for them.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. You are so right. You are choking off women's 
opportunities at every level. Whether we are talking about the freezing 
of Pell Grants, this President has proposed freezing funding for Head 
Start. Head Start, the place where disadvantaged kids, kids who it has 
been proven in study after study get their opportunity to succeed in 
school in a Head Start program, 19,000 kids would lose their 
opportunity to participate in Head Start.
  Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California. May I mention that my older 
sister, who was the older of the two to be elected to Congress, was a 
Head Start child. That program helped her become prepared for school, 
and helped my mother understand an education system that was totally 
foreign to her.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. We come from three totally different kinds of 
communities. Like you in your community, I get stopped in the 
supermarket, I get stopped at my son's soccer games, at dance class, 
you name it. And the community I live in happens to be one that is sort 
of middle to upper middle-class, and it doesn't matter whether I am in 
the poorer section of my district or the wealthiest section of my 
district, people are scratching their heads. Their confidence in their 
government under this Republican leadership has been so badly shaken 
because of the corruption and the cronyism and the tax cuts and the 
priorities being totally wrong.
  Ms. HERSETH. If the gentlewoman would yield, back to the point that 
Ms. Sanchez made about Head Start, Mr. Speaker, I think this is so 
important as it relates to Women's History Month and the importance of 
the Head Start Program, the women that have been a core part of this 
program, I represent nine sovereign Native Tribes in the State of South 
Dakota, and tribal women are among the strongest advocates for Head 
Start, in both the in-home program as well as the traditional Head 
Start Program.
  So I could not agree more that any budget, whether it comes from the 
administration or the majority in this House, that would slash or 
freeze or not adequately fund Head Start programs to meet school 
readiness is inexcusable, as well as what had you both mentioned, and 
Ms. Sanchez, I too am paying off those student loans, how important it 
is to have access to ways to finance one's higher education to become 
that productive citizen, a taxpayer in one's community, giving back and 
finding good opportunities.
  But when you look at the impact of the egregious budget 
reconciliation bill that this House passed by two votes earlier this 
year, that found a third of its savings from Federal student loan 
programs, it is also inexcusable. And when you tack that on to what is 
happening as I mentioned with Head Start in Indian country, we have 
very high up employment rates, so you can imagine what Native women are 
faced with.
  But the one thing I want to mention, because we have been focusing on 
a number of the challenges, especially as it relates to the budget and 
the misplaced priorities, when we talk about Women's History Month I 
want to highlight what will always stand out as a hallmark, one of the 
most significant achievements of women banding together and being 
advocates, and that is in the area of breast cancer research and 
awareness.
  My grandmother that I was mentioning earlier, she was a breast cancer 
survivor. One of my aunts is also a breast cancer survivor. I think 
that is a model of advocacy in all of women's health and how we find 
creative ways to adequately fund the research, as we have done through 
the Department of Defense programs that have existed for that research, 
and to continue it in other areas, and to applaud the women, to applaud 
the women that were the strategists, that were the activists, that 
brought this to the attention of so many here in the halls of Congress 
to make sure that this serious health issue was addressed that paved 
the way for us to address other health issues for women that we know 
are continuing to be challenges for us.
  Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California. If you will yield, since we are 
on the topic of breast cancer, I want to mention two weeks ago I lost a 
Member of my staff in my district office. She had a 3-year battle with 
breast cancer. She died at the age of 49. She was the most wonderful, 
outspoken, helpful caseworker in our office.
  Her husband said at her memorial service, ``You know, Idalia Smith 
did not die. She was killed. She was killed by cancer.'' He was angry 
that more had not been done to try to help eliminate breast cancer in 
terms of one of these horrible diseases that causes such suffering and 
takes people from us far, far too soon.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. It is so sad how we literally now have reached 
the point in history where every person that you talk to can name a 
woman that they know that has touched their lives in some way that has 
fallen victim to breast cancer. One of my close friends, 42 years old, 
a mom of twin 5-year-olds, just passed away in December, also killed by 
breast cancer.
  You know what is the most frustrating thing, is that we have only 
just in recent years been able to get NIH funding for women-specific 
disease study, and yet the President has now proposed a cut in funding 
for every institute in the NIH.
  How are we going to reverse the trend in breast cancer? Breast cancer 
is not even the leading cause of death in women in this country. It is 
heart disease. Heart disease is the leading cause of death. We only 
just accomplished having women-specific studies in that area.
  Again, the priorities are just startling.
  Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California. I just have this to say. We have 
talked a little bit about priorities and we have talked about some very 
worthwhile programs that are being cut to the core, to the point where 
these kinds of services are going to be eliminated altogether, will be 
so crippled by lack of funding that they are not going to really 
function and serve the people they need to serve.
  The question for me, and I get angry about this, I hear colleagues 
talk about how they care about breast cancer research, they care about 
preparing kids for kindergarten, they care about making sure that 
educational opportunities are available, yet they have no qualms about 
voting to slash these programs to the core so they can give tax cuts to 
the wealthiest Americans.
  If that is not the clearest example of misplaced priorities, I don't 
know what is, because there is an old saying, you put your money where 
your mouth is. So you can talk about supporting something, but if you 
are not willing to put your money into that to support it, you are just 
giving lip service to it.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Our colleague Rosa DeLauro from Connecticut 
has introduced legislation in the area of breast cancer that we still 
cannot get brought to this floor that would deal with drive-through 
mastectomies. You have women in this country now who, after having 
their breasts removed as a result of breast cancer surgery, are forced 
out of the hospital by their insurance company in 24 hours and less 
after a radical mastectomy, regardless of what their doctor thinks.
  What Congresswoman DeLauro's legislation would do is it would ensure 
that it is the doctor, in consultation with the patient, that would 
decide what the appropriate length of stay is. That is legislation I 
worked on in Florida, and it is one that we should apply nationally. 
Yet we cannot get a hearing, even a hearing, on that bill under the 
Republican leadership in this Congress.
  That is why it is so important. Listen, I will say this straight out. 
It is not just important that we have women serving in Congress; it is 
important that we have women who share the priorities of most women in 
America, who are willing to come here to the Congress and stand up for 
the things that we care about.
  There is no point in having a woman here if she is just going to vote 
just like men have for generations, really, because why elect a woman 
then? We have got to make sure that we make progress, that we go 
forward. This leadership is not taking us forward. They

[[Page H767]]

are not taking us forward by any measure.
  Ms. HERSETH. If the gentlewoman would yield further, we have been 
focusing quite a bit on where the budget issues have been placing new 
challenges upon us, because of the priorities that are so questionable 
as it relates to women's health and education and equal pay and 
employment opportunities. But it doesn't just stop there.
  This administration will take any way it can it seems to take issues 
that have been so important to young women in particular to undermine 
some of those achievements through regulatory proposals.
  Take for example Title IX, another phenomenal achievement as we 
celebrate Women's History Month. Title IX has been an enormous success. 
It is a standard that for over 33 years now has ensured equal 
opportunity for women in athletics and contributed to the athletic, 
educational and health, but educational and athletic achievements of 
hundreds of thousands of young women, and because of Title IX young 
women's participation, Mr. Speaker, their participation in athletics 
has increased 400 percent at the college level and 800 percent in the 
high schools.
  Girls and women who participate in sports receive great physical and 
psychological benefits. I can attest to that. I was a basketball player 
in high school and ran track and cross country and tried to continue to 
be active, but wasn't quite good enough for the Georgetown women's 
basketball team back in the early nineties.
  But when we look at how girls and women who participates in sport 
receive that kind of benefit, including higher levels of confidence, 
their stronger self-images and lower levels of depression, the 
importance of Title IX I think can't be overstated. Yet what does this 
administration do, but propose new rules to undermine it.
  On March 17 of last year, the Department of Education, without any 
notice or public input, issued a new Title IX policy under the guise of 
clarification that creates a major loophole through which schools can 
evade their obligation to provide equal opportunity in sports. The 
policy will allow the schools to gauge female students' interest in 
athletics by doing nothing more than an e-mail survey and then to claim 
in these days of excessive e-mail spam that a failure to respond to the 
survey shows a lack of interest in playing sports.
  The so-called clarification eliminates the school's obligations to 
look broadly and proactively at whether they are satisfying women's 
interests in sports and will thereby perpetuate the cycle of 
discrimination in sports to which women have been subjected.
  So this new clarification violates basic principles of equality and 
it threatens to reverse the enormous progress women and girls have made 
in sports since the enactment of Title IX in 1972, when the three of us 
were awful young.
  Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California. If I could just add, you have 
mentioned some of the great benefits to girls and women participating 
in sports. It leads to better physical health. It leads to better 
mental health, lower levels of depression in women who engage until 
regular physical activity. For girls, it promotes self-esteem and 
confidence that comes from gaining competence in something that they 
enjoy doing.
  There are studies that even show that girls who engage in sports when 
they become women are more likely to leave abusive relationships than 
women who don't engage in sports.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. I couldn't agree with you more.
  We have been joined by a special member of the Women's Caucus, 
especially the Democratic Women's Caucus, for us someone who needs no 
introduction. But the gentlewoman from California has made history by 
becoming the first woman to lead either party's caucus in the United 
States House of Representatives. When she was elected as Democratic 
Leader, she broke glass ceilings that no woman thought was possible. We 
are so proud to have you join us for our special women's 30-something 
hour.

                              {time}  2045

  Ms. PELOSI. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding and for her kind 
words. I commend the 30 Something women who are here, Congresswoman 
Linda Sanchez of California, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz of 
Florida and Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth of South Dakota.
  As I came to the floor, I head the 30 Somethings talking about Title 
IX. First let me say, I am joining the 30 Somethings as a mother of 30-
somethings. But I really want to salute you, Debbie, especially for the 
lead that you have taken on so many issues on the floor as the cochair 
of the 30 Somethings, and our colleagues who have joined you this 
evening for all of their exceptional leadership.
  I heard you talking about Title IX when I came to the floor, and I do 
not know whether you mentioned this, because I was in a meeting before 
I got here, but in the Title IX fight, you cannot talk about it without 
saluting the great work of Patsy Mink, our former colleague who was a 
Congresswoman from Hawaii. It was her life's dream to pass the 
legislation for all of the reasons that you said, what it means in the 
lives of young girls and women in our country to have access to 
athletic and other privileges and rights of Title IX.
  And I always like to tell the story that Patsy worked so hard on 
this, Patsy Mink did, and then it was going to be a very close fight. 
And at the time it met with great resistance; it still meets with some 
resistance here. But at the time it met with tremendous resistance in 
the Congress. But she got a promise from the Speaker that she would 
have a vote on the floor on it, and it was going to be very close. She 
could win or lose by one vote.
  When she got up that day to come to the floor to fight for the cause, 
she got word that her daughter was in an automobile accident. So she 
had to be a good mom, just exactly what her instincts would be, up and 
left, and they lost by like one vote or something.
  But she was so persuasive, and with Patsy you might as well say yes 
right away, because you are going to sooner or later. The Speaker gave 
her another vote. That is when the bill was passed, at a later time. 
But there can be no discussion of it without the determination and the 
courage of Patsy Mink.
  I am pleased to join my colleagues in honor of Women's History Month, 
a time to celebrate the historic contributions of women that they have 
made to our Nation. We remember those who fought for our progress. We 
recognize those who are changing communities today, that being the 
theme, and we rededicate ourselves to expanding opportunity for women.
  We have been so blessed in this Congress with our young women, the 30 
Something women who are bringing not only the voice of women, but a 
voice of their generation to the debate, and they are making the great 
difference.
  In the past year, we have grieved the loss of several remarkable 
women who agitated and struggled for equality and progress. I call them 
magnificent disrupters: Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott King, Betty Friedan. 
And then just yesterday we lost a person, Dana Reeve, who used her 
great personal challenge of her husband's paralysis to work so that 
other families would not have to endure the same pain.
  Her fight to fulfill the potential of stem cell research brought 
these issues from the brink of oblivion now to the cusp, I hope, of 
success. As Dana said after the passing of her husband Christopher, no 
less than an American hero himself, today is the right moment to 
transform our grief into hope.
  Even after her loss, and even after she suffered through her own 
dreadful illness, she fought for the hope that stem cell research gives 
to millions of Americans. Dana Reeve used the great personal challenge 
of her husband's paralysis to work so that other families would not 
have to endure the same pain.
  The National Institutes of Health tell us that a range of diseases 
from Parkinsons and Alzheimer's disease to spinal cord injuries to 
stroke, burns, heart disease, diabetes, maybe cancer, could potentially 
be addressed with this research. Perhaps it will be years or even 
decades before this potential is fulfilled. I hope not.
  But Dana saw no excuse for setting back progress even 1 more day. By 
bringing hope to the sick and disabled with the miraculous potential of 
stem cell research, she has helped to continue the mending and renewing 
of the world that is possible through science.

[[Page H768]]

  Today we salute Dana's work and send our prayers to those who loved 
her, especially her son Will, who is 13 years old; and her two grown 
stepchildren, Matthew and Alexandra; her father and her two sisters.
  I take the time to talk about her contribution because it is 
significant for all of us, and I know that she would have wanted me to 
use any time talking about her to talk about the cause. Today we have 
learned that former Governor Ann Richards of Texas has cancer of the 
esophagus. She made that announcement herself. I know that she will 
face this with courage and the resoluteness that is her signature. She 
never saw something wrong that she did not make right, but this, and so 
many others, makes clear the need for clear commitment to women's 
health in this country.
  Our thoughts and prayers are with Governor Richards and her family 
today. I know she will beat this. We were so proud of her when she was 
Governor of Texas, and she makes us proud every day that she speaks out 
for the American people, women, children, families and Democrats.
  I was fortunate enough to have her daughter Cecile work with me in my 
office. So I feel particularly, particularly blessed by the 
contributions that Ann Richards is making to our country.
  In recognition of the theme of Women's History Month: Women, Builders 
of Community and Dreams, we cannot fail to recognize that there are 
dreams and communities left to build, especially on our gulf coast 
because of Katrina, Rita and Wilma.
  Last week Speaker Hastert and I led more than 30 Members of the House 
to the gulf coast. There we met women who were telling us about their 
struggle to rebuild their communities, to rebuild their dreams, the 
theme of Women's History Month.
  Those women represent the thousands more who are struggling to 
rebuild, without the support they need from the Federal Government, and 
I hope that after our trip that support will soon come.
  Despite the stories of loss, I also saw the spirit at work to rebuild 
the gulf coast to a region that is healthy, strong and prosperous. 
Women of the storm are particularly noteworthy in their effort, as a 
group of 100 Louisiana women who are fighting to rebuild a devastated 
gulf coast. That means not only Louisiana; Mississippi, Alabama, those 
affected in Florida, those affected in Texas.
  One of the most compassionate members of the gulf coast community is 
Congresswoman and Ambassador Lindy Boggs, who we had the privilege of 
seeing when we were in Louisiana. I met with her last week. This week 
Lindy Boggs is celebrating her 90th birthday. Long before your time, my 
colleagues, when many of us served here with Lindy Boggs in the House 
of Representatives, indeed she came to Washington in 1941 with her 
husband, Hale Boggs, and he was serving, and he became the Democratic 
whip of the House. Tragically his life was lost in an airplane 
accident, and she then indeed became a Member of Congress.
  A woman of great intellect, graciousness and courage, Lindy Boggs 
taught all of us who served with her a great deal about politics, a 
great deal about the future of our country, and a great deal about how 
to do it in the nicest possible way. It worked for some; it did not 
work for others of us.
  In any case, I can assure everyone that Lindy is as vivacious as 
always. When she left here, she went to be an Ambassador to the 
Vatican. And she was very proud to represent our country as the 
representative to the Holy See.
  On the occasion of Women's History Month, I salute her and all of the 
lessons, thank her for all the lessons she taught Members of Congress 
and the great contribution that she is making to our country.
  As we honor the accomplishments of great heroines who have restored 
hope in the face of impossible odds, we recognize that women are 
working to strengthen their communities today. We know their power. 
Women's History Month reminds us that women can and do change the 
course of history for all of us.
  And today being International Women's Day, I was pleased that on 
Capitol Hill we had women legislators and public figures from Northern 
Ireland that I met, Afghanistan, Iraq, and many other countries. I just 
wanted to point out on this that we also received news from Speaker 
Hastert, and I am very grateful to him, that we will have a joint 
session of Congress next week where we will hear from the newly elected 
President and newly inaugurated President of Liberia Johnson-Sirleaf, 
who will be visiting the United States on a state visit next week.
  She will address a joint session of Congress. She is the first woman 
to ever be elected President of an African country. And I think I only 
remember one other woman addressing the Congress, a joint session of 
Congress. So it is very exiting and an appropriate way for us to 
celebrate International Women's Day and National Women's Month.
  With that, again I salute my colleagues for calling this Special 
Order. More importantly, I salute them for their tremendous 
contribution to our country at their early ages. Congresswoman Linda 
Sanchez is the first Hispanic woman, first Latino, ever to serve on the 
Judiciary Committee. She makes a great contribution to our country from 
that important, important post.
  Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz is on the Financial Services 
Committee where she fights for consumers and for including everyone in 
the economic success of our country.
  And Congresswoman Herseth and her valuable contribution on the 
Agriculture Committee, and other committees, on the Veterans Committee 
where she is already a ranking member of the committee so soon. How 
wonderful.
  Well, I congratulate you all. I thank you and appreciate what you are 
doing this evening and what you are doing for our country.
  And with that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back to the gentlewoman from 
Florida.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Thank you so much for joining us. Normally 
when we do our 30-Something hour, Madam Leader, we thank you in 
absentia for the opportunity to spend the time during this hour talking 
about the things that are a priority to our generation. So it is a 
privilege to be able to personally thank you for this opportunity that 
you give us each night. It is an honor to serve under your leadership.
  Ms. PELOSI. Well, I appreciate you saying that, because what we are 
about here is the future. Everything we do should be about are we 
honoring our responsibility to make the future better for the next 
generation? That has been the tradition in America from our Founders 
until the present. And I hope that we can prevail in this fight to make 
the future better for the next generation. We owe it to our children. 
We owe it to the next generation.
  Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Leader, the way we close our time 
usually with the 30-Something Working Group is by plugging our Web 
site, www.housedemocrats.gov/30somethings. We encourage our colleagues 
and anyone who cares to sign on to that. We have a lot of charts and 
interesting facts and figures that are important to the next 
generation.
  I want to thank my colleagues from California and South Dakota for 
joining me tonight and welcome you back any time because we are here 
every night.
  Mr. Speaker, with that we yield back.

                          ____________________