[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 85 (Tuesday, May 21, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H4023]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    YOU CAN'T BE WHAT YOU CAN'T SEE

  (Ms. HOULAHAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. HOULAHAN. Madam Speaker, ``Young girls need to see role models in 
whatever careers they may choose just so they can picture themselves 
doing that job some day. You can't be what you can't see.''
  Madam Speaker, Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, spoke 
those words. She was a personal hero of mine, one of the few women in 
STEM I could look up to as a child. And to this day, I am grateful to 
Sally because she showed me, as a young girl, that being a woman did 
not prevent her from pursuing her dream, from entering a male-dominated 
world and space.
  Yesterday, I spoke on television with my friend Representative Mikie 
Sherrill, about the launch of the first ever Servicewomen and Women 
Veterans Congressional Caucus, and it turns out another young girl was 
watching.
  ``Why do those two girls have the same necklace on?'' she asked her 
father, referring to my and Representative Sherrill's pins. Her father 
explained the meaning of the pin, explained how we were two women 
elected to serve in the United States Government.
  True equality can only be achieved when every young girl can look up 
to her leaders and see herself reflected, see a legitimate path for 
achieving her dreams. For that, we need more women in leadership, more 
people of color. Our elected representatives need to be a more accurate 
reflection of America that we represent.
  Maybe that young girl yesterday will go into politics, maybe she 
won't, but she saw two women who were elected by their peers to serve.
  ``You can't be what you can't see.''

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