[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 38 (Thursday, March 8, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E342]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 IN HONOR OF INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 8, 2012

  Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate International 
Women's Day and the remarkable achievements of women around the world.
  I have always used my voice and vote to support foreign policies and 
assistance to promote equality for women and girls in agriculture, 
education, the workforce, politics, and beyond. To be sure, the funding 
is never enough to meet the need. But with minimal resources and 
relentless grassroots and grasstops advocacy, women the world over are 
bending the narrative of our times towards gender equality. While this 
is happening in all corners of the globe, I want to highlight the 
tremendous gains the women and girls of Latin America have made in 
recent years.
  Not too long ago, women were just 20% of the Latin American labor 
market. But in the last 50 years, that figure has doubled and today, 
women are roughly 40% of the region's workforce. These professional 
gains have a powerful ripple effect, particularly in political 
participation where women now make up 22% of Latin American 
legislatures, which surpasses the global average of 18.6%. Clearly, 
women in Latin America are a force to be reckoned with. And that's a 
cause to celebrate!
  But while these gains are significant, this is no time to sit back on 
our laurels. There is still much more to be done to sustain this 
important tide of momentum in Latin America, and also help to propel a 
similar groundswell in other parts of the world where women still 
struggle for basic rights and equality. We must continue to fight for 
policies and programs that promote equal access to opportunity for 
women and girls. So, today and every day, let us do all that we can to 
make gender inequality a thing of history and gender equality a reality 
of the future.

                          ____________________