[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 44 (Tuesday, March 13, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E303-E304]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  COMMEMORATING WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH

                                  _____
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 13, 2018

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to commemorate the 31st 
observance of March as Women's History Month.
  I want to list several women who made history with their election to 
the U.S. House of Representatives:
  1. Congresswoman Jeanette Rankin of Montana who was the first elected 
woman member of the House of Representatives;
  2. Congresswoman Patsy Mink of Hawaii was the first woman of color 
and the first Asian American woman elected to Congress;
  3. Congresswoman Shirley Anita Chisholm of New York who was the first 
African-American Congresswoman member of the House of Representatives; 
and
  4. Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen whom we have the honor of 
working with is the first Hispanic woman elected to serve in Congress;
  5. Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin is from the LGBTQ community to 
serve in this body and the first to serve in the United States Senate; 
and
  6. Nancy Pelosi, the first woman elected Speaker of the House of 
Representatives.
  National Women's History Month can be traced back to March 8, 1857, 
when women from New York City factories staged a protest over working 
conditions.
  International Women's Day was first observed in 1909.
  In 1981, Congress passed a law authorizing the President to proclaim 
March 7, 1982 as ``Women's History Week.''
  It was a modest beginning, but very significant to women because it 
started a societal and cultural change in how women--and especially 
young girls--saw themselves within American story.
  In 1987, Congress expanded the week to a month and every year since, 
Congress has passed a resolution for Women's History Month, and the 
President has issued a proclamation.
  This month we recognize Women's History Month by noting the 
fundamental role women have played in shaping America's history.

[[Page E304]]

  But a month is not enough to make known the significant contributions 
of women to the success of the United States of America.
  We taught our girls about `Rosie the Riveter' who represented the 
millions of American women who went to work on assembly lines to 
manufacture tanks, planes, and weapons for the defense of this nation 
during World War II.
  America has been blessed to have the contributions of American women 
heroes in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and 
mathematics (STEM).
   Women like Sally Kristen Ride, the first women sent into space; 
Eileen Marie Collins, the first women space shuttle pilot; and Grace 
Murray Hopper, an American computer scientist and United States Navy 
rear admiral.
  Admiral Hopper developed the first compiler for a computer 
programming language, which made it possible to program computers 
without using punch cards.
  There are many women in the State of Texas and in the city of Houston 
who have made significant contributions to the American story:
  1. Congresswoman Barbara Jordan of Texas was the first African 
American woman elected to the House of Representatives;
  2. Kathryn ``Kathy'' Whitmire was the first woman elected to serve in 
the Houston City government; and
  3. Mae Carol Jemison was the first African American woman astronaut.
  I was proud to have been a cosponsor of the ``National Women's 
History Commission Act,'' signed into law by President Barack Obama in 
December 2014 and which established a commission to study the potential 
for creating a National Women's History Museum and submit to the 
President and Congress a report containing recommendations on a plan of 
action for the establishment and maintenance of a National Women's 
History Museum in Washington, D.C.
  The Commission delivered its report to Congress in November 2016 
which contains the following recommendations:
  1. America deserves a physical national museum dedicated to 
integrating women's distinctive contributions into our culture and 
history.
  2. The Museum should be built on a highly prominent location close to 
other museums on or very close to the National Mall.
  3. The Museum should be composed of a strong permanent collection 
with supplemental exhibits or objects on loan from other museums and 
archives, including components of the Smithsonian.
  I agree and that is why I strongly support and am an original co-
sponsor of H.R. 19, the ``Women's History Museum Act,'' which 
establishes a comprehensive women's history museum within the 
Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC to provide for the 
collection, study, and establishment of programs related to women's 
contributions that have influenced the direction of the United States.
  A National Women's History Museum is needed to ensure that when the 
story of our nation is told that the role of women is represented in 
the narrative of our nation.
  But there is much that remains to be done to ensure that women 
receive the same opportunities as their male counterparts and are 
equally represented in the public, civic, and economic life of the 
nation.
  Women represent more than 50 percent of the population and cast more 
than 50 percent of the votes in the last several national elections but 
no woman has yet been elected to serve as President or Vice-President 
of the United States, although Hillary Clinton made history by becoming 
the first woman to win the nomination of a major political party and 
won 65,853,516 votes, nearly 3 million more than her opponent, the 
current President.
  Today, on average women still make only 77 cents for every dollar 
made by men and this gap is wider for African American and Hispanic 
women.
  Nearly two-thirds of minimum-wage workers are women.
  The poverty rate--14.5 percent for women--remains the highest in two 
decades.
  Family and medical leave protections fail to cover nearly half of 
full-time employees.
  Women-owned businesses continue to lag behind men-owned businesses. 
The average revenue of women-owned businesses is only 27 percent of the 
average revenue of men-owned businesses.
  Mr. Speaker, Democrats know that when women succeed, America 
succeeds.
  That is why in July 2013, House Democrats unveiled ``When Women 
Succeed, America Succeeds: An Economic Agenda for Women and Families.''
  This agenda addresses the need to ensure that women get equal pay for 
equal work.
  It helps ensure work and family balance by allowing working parents 
to support their families and care for their children.
  And it recognizes that expanding educational opportunities, increased 
job training, and investments in women entrepreneurs are essential for 
women's success in our economy.
  American women have made great strides over the last 100 years--but 
the fight for equal opportunity and to provide women with the economic 
security and opportunities they deserve and their families need is far 
from over.
  We cannot rest until all of America's mothers, wives, and daughters 
truly have the same opportunities as America's fathers, husbands, and 
sons.

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