[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 40 (Wednesday, March 8, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H1598]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                          DAY WITHOUT A WOMAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Barragan) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. BARRAGAN. Madam Speaker, today I rise to stand in solidarity on a 
Day Without a Woman. You will see women in red today and men with red 
ties in honor of today.
  It is 2017 and we still need a Day Without a Woman to remind this 
administration and Republicans in Congress that women deserve equal pay 
and access to affordable health care.
  Just yesterday, the assault on women continued with the GOP's plan to 
pay more for less in healthcare legislation that will restrict a 
woman's right to comprehensive healthcare coverage.
  The Republican bill also defunds Planned Parenthood. Women with 
nowhere else to turn will lose access to essential preventative care 
and affordable contraception.
  This is very personal for me. When I was growing up, we were poor. I 
had a sister that got pregnant at 15 and another one that got pregnant 
at 16. I, myself, had a condition that required me to get on a 
contraceptive to deal with pain that I had. I had nowhere to turn. I, 
myself, had to go to a clinic that saw me on a sliding scale; 
otherwise, I would have had nowhere to go.
  The fact that we are facing the threat of losing this today for women 
and preventive care is beyond incomprehensible to me and scary.
  On this day today, without a woman, I also think about women, women 
like Rosa Parks, the mothers, the daughters and grandchildren that took 
part in the Women's March on January 21, women at the forefront of 
every fight for equality.
  I stand today with women like my mother, Teresa, an immigrant from 
Mexico, who raised a large family and who took care of my father when 
he was sick and continues to support me today.
  I stand today to fight for equal pay for equal work because women--
and Latinas in particular--are paid only 54 cents for every $1 paid to 
White men.
  I fight in Congress for American families so that they have economic 
stability and can make ends meet and set their kids off to a brighter 
future. I will continue to fight with my sisters in Congress for health 
care, for immigration, and for human rights. All of these are women's 
rights.

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