[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 51 (Monday, March 25, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E335-E336]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       IN CELEBRATION OF CONGRESSWOMAN GRACE MENG'S ACHIEVEMENTS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 25, 2019

  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Madam Speaker, I, along with 
Representative Ocasio-Cortez, rise to recognize our colleague, 
Congresswoman Grace Meng, who received a women's history month award 
from us and from Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas at a ceremony in Queens 
on March 22nd in recognition of her passionate advocacy for women. 
Congresswoman Meng has been fearless in standing up for women, taking 
on issues that are critical for women's health and well-being.
  Congresswoman Meng has been a force for greater diversity, inclusion 
and change. She is the first and only Asian American member of Congress 
from New York State. As a member of the New York State Assembly and as 
a member of Congress, she worked to strike the term ``Oriental'' from 
New York State and federal statutes. Congresswoman Meng is also First 
Vice Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific Americans Caucus, which 
works to reflect the needs of the Asian American and Pacific Islander 
communities.
  Congresswoman Meng has been a champion for women. She has passed 
legislation to expand child care services for women in the military, 
and required the Department of Defense to review military uniforms for 
pregnant women to ensure proper fit, design, price, availability and 
utility. Understanding that menstrual health is critical to women's 
lives, she has been particularly concerned with menstrual equity, 
working to outlaw the tampon tax, to ensure access by inmates to 
menstrual hygiene products, and to enable homeless shelters to use 
federal funds to provide tampons and pads. When women lack access to 
proper hygienic products, they face embarrassment, ridicule and 
possible health consequences. Fortunately, Congresswoman Meng is 
winning the battle to ensure that vulnerable women are no longer denied 
full participation in society because they lack access to feminine 
hygiene products.
  Recognizing that traveling mothers often lack safe places to pump 
milk, Congresswoman Meng has introduced legislation to require that 
airports set aside private spaces for nursing mothers. Working mothers 
need to pump both to provide their infants with milk when they return 
home and to ensure that their milk supply does not dry up. Travelers 
may spend hours waiting at airports in large public areas with no 
privacy, and women could use the time to pump milk if they have access 
to a secure private space.
  Congresswoman Meng was elected to represent the 6th Congressional 
District of New York in the House of Representatives in 2012. She 
serves on the powerful House Appropriations Committee and its 
Subcommittees on

[[Page E336]]

State and Foreign Operations, Homeland Security, and Commerce, Justice, 
Science and Related Agencies. Congresswoman Meng is also a Senior Whip 
and a Regional Whip for New York. She has also served as a Vice Chair 
of the Democratic National Committee since 2016.
  Before being elected to the House, Congresswoman Meng served in the 
New York State Assembly for two terms, and before that she was a public 
interest attorney. Congresswoman Meng is married to her high school 
sweetheart, Wayne Kye and has two children, Tyler and Brandon.
  Madam Speaker, we ask our colleagues to join us in recognizing 
Congresswoman Meng's efforts to expand access to basic hygienic 
supplies and ensure that women are not denied essential products 
because of low income, lack of housing, incarceration or military 
service.

                          ____________________