[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 132 (Friday, August 2, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1028-E1029]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   COMMEMORATING WOMEN'S EQUALITY DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, August 2, 2019

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, later this month, on August 26, 2019, 
we will commemorate the 99th anniversary of the ratification of the 
19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which granted women the right 
to vote.
  This momentous achievement did not come easy or without struggle, for 
as the great abolitionist and orator, Fredrick Douglas stated: ``If 
there is no struggle, there is no progress . . . . Power concedes 
nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.''
  The fight for women's suffrage was waged over a 72-year period, 
beginning in Seneca Falls, New York at the Seneca Falls Convention in 
1848.
  At Seneca Falls, the delegates issued the ``Declaration of 
Sentiments'' regarding the repression of women in American society.
  The Seneca Falls Conference was organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, 
Lucretia Mott, Mary McClintock, and Sojourner Truth, who powerfully 
reminded the delegates that equality and suffrage for women should 
include all women, saying ``Ain't I A Woman?''
  With the end of the Civil War, the suffrage movement resumed with the 
1869 formation of the National Woman Suffrage Association and its 
rival, the American Woman Suffrage Association.
  By 1890, these two groups merged to create the National American 
Woman Association led by Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and 
Lucy Stone.
  The progressive National Women's Party was formed in 1916 as an 
outgrowth of the Congressional Union and reached out to social groups 
beyond the elite class, using radical tactics in the fight to win 
suffrage.
  During World War I, the struggle for suffrage continued as the 
National Women's Party organized protests outside the White House, 
turning President Wilson's famous question back on him, asking: ``Mr. 
President, how much longer must women wait for liberty?''
  These protests resulted in the jailing of suffragists for 
``obstruction of traffic'' and they endured mistreatment and forced-
feeding while in jail.
  Among the courageous women who organized these protests and some who 
spent time in jail were Alice Paul, who fearlessly executed the 
National Women's Party picketing protests, and conceived the hunger-
strike in prison; Carrie Chapman Catt, who devised the ``winning plan'' 
at the Atlantic City Convention; and Ida B. Wells-Barnett, whose 
political activism and criticism of the suffrage leadership for 
excluding black women led to a more inclusive and effective movement.
  The pressure generated by the White House pickets, the arrests, and 
forced-feedings of women protestors compelled President Wilson to 
embrace the suffrage amendment in January 1918, which was approved by 
Congress on June 4, 1919, and became the 19th Amendment to the United 
States Constitution when it was ratified by the 36th state, 
Mississippi, on August 26, 1920.
  The 19th Amendment states:

       ``The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall 
     not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any 
     states on the account of sex.''

  In 1971, Congresswoman Bella Abzug of New York introduced legislation 
designating August 26 as ``Women's Equality Day,'' which was passed by 
the Congress in 1973.
  Madam Speaker, in 1916, four years before the ratification of the 
19th Amendment, Jeannette Rankin was elected to the U.S. House of 
Representatives from Montana, the first woman elected to federal office 
in American history.
  A little over a century later, a record 102 women serve in the House 
of Representatives, comprising 23.4 percent of the chamber's voting 
members, and presided over by Nancy Pelosi, the first and only woman 
elected Speaker of the House.
  In the 116th Congress, 37 percent of women are women of color, and 
since 1964, more than 70 women of color have been elected to Congress.
  While women obtained the fundamental right to vote, they are still 
too often treated as second class citizens in our society and there 
remains much work to do to ensure that women enjoy full blessings of 
liberty and equality.
  But this does not detract the achievements and contributions to the 
greatness of our country made by American women, including Sally 
Kristen Ride, the first woman sent into space; Eileen Marie Collins, 
the first woman space shuttle pilot; Grace Murray Hopper, an American 
computer scientist and United States Navy rear admiral; and Katherine 
Johnson, one of the unsung heroes of the NASA Space Program, whose 
mathematical calculations helped the United States win the Space Race.
  The technology sector represents $1.2 trillion of economic activity 
but women only make up 20 percent of tech jobs.
  In 2019, 41,000 new tech jobs were created, but female founders only 
account for 2.1 percent of the leadership in these new tech jobs.
  Studies have shown that there has been a decline over the last 20 
years in the percentage of bachelor's degrees in computer science 
earned by women of color, from 6.5 percent in 1993 to 4.8 percent in 
2012.
  During this same period, for minority women in engineering, the 
increase was less than 1 percent.
  The low number of women in the tech industry is an effect of the 
pipeline, the lack of resources and education for young women studying 
STEM.
  It is important that we ensure that all young women, especially those 
of color have equitable access to the STEM field.
  The tech industry is one of the fastest growing industries in 
America's economy, and when women are involved, the outcomes are 
triumphant.
  In 2019, several women have been recognized for their work as CEOs of 
major corporations, such as Lynsy Snide of In-N-Out Burger; Cathy 
Engelbert of Deloitte; and Colleen Wegman of Wegmans Food Market.
  Seven female CEOs are among the U.S. top 100, and 3 women earn honors 
for leading U.S. small and midsize businesses. Women of color represent 
a very small part of this population.

[[Page E1029]]

  Women still represent only 6.6 percent of all Fortune 500 CEOs, and 5 
percent of CEO positions at S&P 500 companies.
  Despite major accomplishments in the business field, women are 
underrepresented in senior leadership positions.
  Madam Speaker, the gender pay gap is the gap between men and women's 
median salaries.
  In 2017, a woman made less than 80 percent of what a man earns, which 
is even less than the amounts earned by Hispanic of Latina women (53 
percent), African American women (61 percent), and American Indian or 
Alaska Native Women (58 percent).
  The largest gender pay gaps are in the medical profession and in 
fields such as financial services, accounting, medical and health 
service, and education administrators.
  Madam Speaker, the precarious position of women was documented in 
``The Shriver Report: A Woman's Nation Pushes Back from the Brink,'' 
published in January 2014.
  The Shriver Report found that in an era when women have solidified 
their position as half of the U.S. workforce and two-thirds of the 
primary or co-breadwinners in American families, the reality is that a 
third of all American women are living at or near ``the brink of 
poverty,'' defined as less than 200 percent of the federal poverty 
line, or about $47,000 per year for a family of four.
  Forty-two million women, and the 28 million children who depend on 
them, are living one single incident--a doctor's bill, a late paycheck, 
or a broken-down car--away from economic ruin.
  Women make up nearly two-thirds of minimum-wage workers, the vast 
majority of whom receive no paid sick days.
  All of this is happening at a time when women earn most of the 
college and advanced degrees in this country, make most of the consumer 
spending decisions by far, and are more than half of the nation's 
voters.
  Madam Speaker, if we are going to win the war on poverty, we must 
wage and win the war of discrimination of women in the workforce.
  As we celebrate Women's Equality Day and the accomplishments of 
women, especially the rise of those in the areas of government, 
education, business, and the military, it is crucial that as we reflect 
on how far women have come, we also not lose sight of far we have to go 
and what must be done to achieve true gender equality so every girl 
everywhere can pursue her dreams and realize her potential.
  As the legendary Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm said, ``If they don't 
give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.''

                          ____________________