[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 47 (Wednesday, March 16, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H3768-H3774]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 2021, the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Lois Frankel) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.


                             General Leave

  Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent 
that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their 
remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of my Special 
Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida. Madam Speaker, this month is Women's 
History Month. I think you are making history, Madam Speaker, today, 
one of the youngest women ever to be elected from California and, 
actually, in the country. Women are making history.
  Madam Speaker, I am pleased to be here. Hopefully, we are going to 
have a few more speakers here today, but I do want to start.
  I am going to take a page out of the book of our great First Lady, 
Jill Biden. I attended a ceremony over at the White House where she and 
the President celebrated Women's History Month. And she started out 
with a salute, I think, to--if you could think of anybody who you want 
to give a shout out to, she gave it to her own mother. And I am going 
to start with that too because, you know, most of our mothers, they are 
not very famous, and it is not like they made history.
  But the fact of the matter is, moms are probably the most influential 
people in the world. In fact, if you ever go to an event where someone 
is being honored, who is the first person they thank? It is their 
mother.
  So I am going to start this Women's History Month with my remarks by 
thanking my mother, Dorothy Frankel--and let me just say this--who has 
inspired me in every way, and now, at 96 years old, with--I would say 
with a mind better than mine--maybe that is not saying much, but with 
her full faculties and the energy to live.
  I want to say thank you, mom, like all the other moms who give us the 
unconditional love and the support, whether the sun is shining or the 
rain is raining.
  So today, I think we have some other people here. Before I continue 
my remarks, I want to yield to a very special friend.
  We talk about making history. I am going to yield to one of the most 
dynamic Members of the House of Representatives. She is from Texas. She 
has got her hands full. I mean, I will tell you what: I don't know 
whether it is more difficult today being from Texas or from Florida, I 
think our Governors are in some kind of contest with each other. But I 
am going to yield to the amazing gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson 
Lee).
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, let me thank the gentlewoman from 
Florida for, first of all, all of her leadership in leading the Women's 
Caucus for a very sizable period of time; and to give us the 
opportunity to speak about women today; and to remind us that we really 
started out with a very important woman, and that is, of course, our 
mothers.
  So why don't I, as well, acknowledge, Ivalita Jackson, who served her 
community; but, more importantly, her profession, and she was proud of 
that, in nursing. And at the time, she was a vocational nurse, and she 
wore the uniform with pride.
  She was a mother with pride. She was a wife with pride. She was 
really our rock, and she did things that showed her sacrifice. She 
loved her profession. She loved nursing. She was our at-home doctor, 
probably the doctor for the neighborhood.
  But in order to ensure that she was home during the day, she made 
sure she took the night shift. And the night shift in a hospital is a 
challenging shift.
  We can see all of the great and wonderful things that nursing has 
generated, the heroes of today, the sheroes of today, as we went 
through 2 years of the pandemic. But my mother was a shero many, many 
decades ago.
  And I came to love the uniform, came to love those white sparking 
shoes that she wore so proudly, came to love and honor her sacrifice; 
and how much she gave to her family, her job, her profession, her 
church.
  Ivalita Jackson is one to be honored; along with her mother, my 
grandmother, Vannie Bennett; my other grandmother, Olive Jackson; and 
then my aunt, Valerie Bennett, Vickie and Audrey, all wonderful women, 
and Sybil.
  So today, I come to join my colleagues to be able to talk about women 
and to celebrate, as the President did in Women's History Month, just 
24 hours ago; but then to celebrate again, as I mentioned, now, in law, 
now the law, and that is the Violence Against Women Act, that almost a 
decade, it seems--even though we went back as far as 2013, that would 
have been 8 years--it seems that I have been doing this for a decade.
  But I remember standing next to Vice President Joe Biden on the 
reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which was in 1996. I 
call the image, me in short stature and Joe Biden, tall stature, but 
yet, one of great compassion.
  And I loved hearing him speak today, how culturally out of step men 
were, or the community was, or the Nation was, in trying to understand 
why he would be engaged in fighting against domestic violence. I 
remember him today saying, they asked me whether or not he had come 
from a family of domestic violence, or he had abused his wife or he had 
known someone in his family who had experienced that. And he looked at 
them incredulously and said no.
  It is something to care about. Domestic violence kills. Sexual 
assault can kill. Rape kills, and it destroys lives. From very little 
girls and very little children, boys or girls, to adulthood.
  We loved him for saying that. And out of that passion came the first 
Violence Against Women Act centered around domestic violence. Then it 
grew to focus on the wide breadth of sexual assault in this Nation.
  In speaking to the head of the major chiefs at the White House, she 
reaffirmed the fact, as a chief of police of a major city, that 
domestic violence calls are the most deadly for law enforcement 
officers, and don't end well, in many instances, for our families.

  It is appropriate in this month of women's history, that we also have 
a

[[Page H3769]]

curative response by putting into law, after so many years of trying, 
introducing over and over again this legislation, and finally, H.R. 
1620 became law as the Senate passed that bill with an enhancement of 
what we had included, which was the work dealing with Native Americans, 
the work dealing with providing for housing, the amount of money, $1 
billion, to cover the many new issues dealing with women, dealing with 
cultural organizations, different women from different ethnicities, 
language; we were responding to the needs that they have, religious 
groups. We have cultural training for young men and boys.
  We wanted to make sure that we did not, in any way, undermine what 
the President had dreamed about when he first introduced this 
legislation, I believe, in 1994.
  So I wanted this to be part of Women's History Month because it was a 
long journey. And let me thank all of the advocates who, year after 
year, month after month, day after day, second after second, minute 
after minute, hour after hour, met with all of us to try to work to 
enhance and to be assured of the best kind of legislation that we could 
secure.
  Today was a celebratory day. But I really focus on it for saving 
lives. And I just imagine, somewhere in America today is a woman being 
abused, a woman suffering. And we now have a law that her State and 
Federal Government law enforcement can maybe intervene, and her days of 
being abused will be ended.

                              {time}  1815

  I do want to also acknowledge, as I move toward the historic women, 
the kind of work women do. I want to make sure that we talk about 
daycare owners.
  This is The Gingerbread School, and I thank the owner for taking the 
children of mothers who work day-in and day-out, hourly wages, night 
shifts. I remember my mom, as I said, working night shifts.
  She is there for them. These are the kind of women in Women's History 
Month that deserve honor and respect, and I thank her for it.
  Madam Speaker, then I acknowledge the fact that women are in the 
medical profession. We used to take them for granted. There are a 
rising number of women becoming doctors. We did not take them for 
granted in the horrors of the pandemic of COVID-19 because we were 
desperate for those who were testing when the vaccines came or 
vaccinating. But most importantly, it was those nurses at our bedside, 
for those on ventilators, those in hallways, those who were suffering.
  COVID-19 was devastating and deadly, and it was the nurses and the 
medical professionals, the many women who provided the kind of support 
that maybe got us through.
  I thank those late-night shifts. I thank those tears, those 
collapsing on sidewalks outside of hospitals saying, ``How much more 
can I take?'' They took more, and they kept going on and on and on.
  I pay tribute to the millions of medical professionals who are women. 
I support all of them, but I particularly support those who are women.
  Madam Speaker, today, we had a hearing in the Budget Committee on the 
question of how the pandemic impacted women, and I want to make one 
point about that. It was unanimity. Certainly, it was recognized by one 
of our witnesses that the idea of childcare being only 7 percent of 
your income under the Build Back Better Act would be transformative; 
that childcare keeps women out of the workforce, but most importantly, 
it takes 25 or 50 percent, even, of their income. Remember, they still 
are the lowest paid.
  We realize, in this Women's History Month, there are many things that 
we need to do to improve the lives of women. With that in mind, I now 
cite some of the women who should be honored who have done great 
things.
  First, I do acknowledge the paycheck fairness bill that we did this 
year; the child tax credit, driven by women, joined by great men, but 
driven by women and really saving the lives of families all over 
America.
  Madam Speaker, I acknowledge Vice President Kamala Harris--
historically, the first woman of color to serve in the highest offices 
of the land as Vice President of the United States, a woman of Indian 
descent and African descent.
  It is important to take note of the fact that an estimated 10 million 
people in this country, as I spoke earlier, experienced domestic 
violence, and that is why, again, we celebrate this month with the 
passing of that bill.
  But I just want to give a roll call of the many pioneering women who 
should be recognized today:
  Shirley Chisholm; Barbara Jordan; and as well those early pioneers, 
Harriet Tubman, who led the Underground Railroad and slaves to freedom; 
Sojourner Truth, an abolitionist as well a suffragette who said the 
words, ``Ain't I a Woman''; Rosa Parks, who refused to get up so that 
she could sit so that others might walk and others might run toward 
justice.
  Astronaut Mae C. Jemison, my dear friend, a Houston resident, the 
first African-American woman to go into space.
  Mathematicians like Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary 
Jackson, those mathematicians who helped NASA in the early days by 
pencil and hand, calculating major calculations needed for space 
exploration.
  Authors Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, and Gwendolyn Brooks, all 
enormous authors with enormous missions and all fighters for justice.
  All of these persons, in their own way, provided a pathway for women.
  I am very pleased to have brought the first African-American statue 
into the United States Congress--designed and sculpted by a woman, and 
as well raised the dollars to bring her here. She now sits in 
Emancipation Hall, and her next journey is going to be in the rotunda 
or Statuary Hall, where she belongs with the other suffragettes.
  We know that Shirley Chisholm was the first Black woman to ever serve 
in the United States House of Representatives and the first woman to 
ever run for President of the United States.
  Madam Speaker, I want to take note of my hometown heroes, such as 
Nellye Joyce Punch, Ramona Toliver, Beulah Shepard, Christia Adair. 
These are women who have since gone on, but they were pioneers in their 
time, fighting for what was right.
  I remember Beulah Shepard saying, ``It just takes one vote.''
  Nellye Joyce Punch led on hunger and trying to stamp out hunger, as 
she was a great teacher.
  Ramona Toliver was an activist in Frenchtown in the Fifth Ward and 
always fought to ensure that the people of that community were 
responded to and not ignored.
  Madam Speaker, I think it is important to realize that as we honor 
women, we must recognize they find themselves in many different 
careers. Coming from Houston, I want to acknowledge Sally Christian 
Ride, the first woman sent into space; Eileen Marie Collin, the first 
space shuttle pilot; and, of course, numbers of other unsung heroes in 
the space program.
  I mentioned Vice President Kamala D. Harris, and I want to emphasize, 
as I close my remarks, that we have yet another journey to take. That 
is the final confirmation after hearings of the next person to ascend 
to the Supreme Court, and that is a Justice Brown Jackson, who by all 
accounts is an outstanding--without question--legal scholar and jurist. 
I hope for her, in this time of newness and difference, that she will 
be greeted by those who will look to her credentials, her firstness, 
and, of course, the constant excellence that she has shown.

  Women have always been challenged as to whether or not they could do 
the job. I leave you with the names of Golda Meir of Israel, Indira 
Gandhi of India, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, Margaret Thatcher of 
Great Britain, Angela Merkel of Germany, and Portia Simpson-Miller of 
Jamaica, among many others.
  I know that there are millions of women who we have left out, but 
today, we come to celebrate under the leadership of Lois Frankel, as 
well as the Democratic Women's Caucus, to be able to once and for all 
put a mark in this Congressional Record to say that we paused to say 
thank you to women, that we paused to say thank you to the new and many 
Members of the United States House of Representatives who have grown 
and grown, Members who happen to be women.
  The few women who were here when I came in 1995, we have 
exponentially

[[Page H3770]]

grown in excellence, and we have brought a new face, a new perspective. 
I remember those days, sitting lonely on the Committee on the Judiciary 
with Pat Schroeder as, day after day, our friends on the other side of 
the aisle brought up partial-birth abortion. Over and over again, Pat 
and I tried to explain that these are decisions that are health 
decisions that should be left to the mother, her faith leader, and her 
doctor.
  It is sad that the State of Texas has failed to remember such and 
continues to abuse women in that State as it relates to choice and the 
ability to seek a lawful abortion as they may desire with their church, 
their doctor, and themselves.
  Madam Speaker, the last point that I want to make, that mothers have 
to deal with, are the horrible actions of Governor Abbott dealing with 
transgender children. I want to say on this floor today that this is 
part of women's history because it was the parents but the mothers 
leading to protect their children from the abuse of this governmental 
agency, suggesting that you could not have trans medical care, trans-
affirming medical care; that you, as a mother, could not protect your 
child.
  Thank you to the mothers who have stood up. Thank you to the court 
that indicated that you, Governor Abbott, are wrong yesterday, wrong 
today, and wrong tomorrow.
  These are our precious children. These are precious lives. These are 
precious families. These are precious mothers.
  My tribute to women today includes my tribute to the fighters that 
have always stood up for what is right, what is conscience, and what is 
just, either in fighting for democracy; fighting against the terror of 
January 6; fighting for women's rights in the Violence Against Women 
Act; fighting against abuse; fighting to stamp out hunger; fighting to 
stamp out anger; and fighting in Ukraine to be able to stand against a 
despot called Putin, who is violent and is a war criminal killing 
children.
  The mothers in my State who are standing for their trans children, I 
offer them my greatest respect and dignity as we salute Women's History 
Month.
  Ms. FRANKEL. Madam Speaker, this Representative is going to go down 
in history as one of the most articulate fighters for justice we have 
ever seen. I give her a special congratulations for all the work she 
did on the Violence Against Women Act that was celebrated today.
  Madam Speaker, I recognize another historic woman who is very 
prolific. I will highlight just a couple of things.
  She brought to this venue the #MeToo movement. She has been the 
champion in changing military law to protect people from sexual 
violence. And she is my co-chair of the Women's Caucus. And I could go 
on and on.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from the State of 
California (Ms. Speier).
  Ms. SPEIER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Florida and 
my friend and co-lead on the Democratic Women's Caucus. I must say, she 
is always the shining light when it comes to finding purpose and the 
opportunity for women to succeed. She has proven herself over and over 
again as we have seen our numbers of women grow here in the Congress of 
the United States.
  To my good friend Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, today was a great 
day of celebration as VAWA was reauthorized. I know you concurred with 
me when President Biden said, Why don't we make this permanent? That is 
precisely what we should be doing. But somehow, it is a law that has to 
be reauthorized every 5 years. It used to be almost something that we 
did in a bipartisan fashion, and reauthorization was almost automatic. 
But recently, that wasn't the case.
  So to Congresswoman Jackson Lee, thank you for the very complete and 
comprehensive review of women in America that you just provided us.
  As we celebrate national Women's History Month, we were all asked to 
talk about someone that we wanted to pay special attention to. I 
decided that I was going to speak about a particular group of women who 
represent what the essence of womanhood is, which is that they are 
tenacious, that they are courageous, that they are gritty, and that 
they will go wherever they need to go to achieve their goal.
  There was what was called the Night of Terror in November 1917. 
During that whole period of time, women would march every day here in 
Washington, D.C., thousands of them. For the first time, they went and 
picketed outside the White House. It had never been done before. They 
chained themselves to the cyclone fence at the White House.
  On this night in November 1917, there were 35 of these women who were 
arrested. They were beaten, and they were spat upon. They had rotten 
eggs thrown in their faces. The food they were given in jail was so bad 
that many of them went on a hunger strike, and then they had tubes put 
in their noses to force-feed them. One woman was struck between the 
eyes and lost one of her eyes.
  What were they doing this for? So women could get the right to vote 
in the United States.

                              {time}  1830

  Because up until that time women were, for all intents and purposes, 
chattel. There were people like George Bernard Shaw who said: If women 
got the right to vote there would be a crushing tax on bachelors in 
America. Another one from the Seneca Falls Review that said: If women 
got the right to vote they would become thin-lipped, fat-handed, and 
flat-chested. Oh, my God.
  Those were the kinds of thoughts that somehow women did not have the 
mental capacity to vote because in their skull they only had puppies 
and chocolate and babies that were in their brains; that somehow that 
was the kind of political cartoon that was represented.
  Certainly, women who were menopausal couldn't vote because they were 
near extinction. Women who were pregnant or having children couldn't 
vote because they were lactating. You name it, they came up with it. 
Having said all that, there were true sheroes of that generation.
  Madam Speaker, I want to speak tonight about a different group of 
women who are fighting for the lives of their countrymen and -women, 
and that is the strength of the Ukrainian women.
  Here is a Ukrainian woman. Here is someone bloodied by Putin's weapon 
systems: she is still standing; she is still alive. We can't say that 
about all the women in Ukraine. The world looked on in absolute horror 
as images of injured and murdered Ukrainian women and children have 
spread around the globe.
  When the hospital in Mariupol was bombed, we saw pregnant women 
holding their bellies, climbing down stairs. Then we saw a stretcher of 
a women on a towel--it looked like it was a colorful towel that she 
brought with her to the hospital. The photo of this pregnant woman who 
was rushed out of the maternity hospital in Mariupol last week made my 
blood run cold. The news yesterday that she and her baby had died 
outraged me.
  She was taken to another hospital in Mariupol and when she realized 
she was losing her baby, medics said that she cried out: Kill me now. 
Her pelvis was crushed. Her hip detached. The baby was delivered by C-
section, but showed no signs of life. She died shortly thereafter.
  That is an imprint on my mind that will never leave me and should 
never leave any of us because what is happening to women in Ukraine is 
sinful, it is immoral. It is in fact a crime against humanity.
  Putin's forces also killed Tetiana, her son Mykyta, 18, and her 
daughter Alisa, 9, as they tried to flee Kyiv with a church volunteer. 
She worked for a Silicon Valley software company and was married to her 
husband of 23 years. He said, ``I have lost everyone and lost the 
meaning of life.''
  Women in Russia are suffering, too, and they are showing lots of 
guts. They are speaking out against Putin. Here you see a woman, her 
name is Marina Ovsyannikova. She ran on to the live TV set on a Russian 
TV station, the most-watched news program in all of Russia, to protest 
the war. Her sign, which is written both in English and in Russian, 
reads: No war. Stop the war. Don't believe the propaganda, they are 
lying to you.
  After she was taken into custody, she was questioned for 14 hours. 
She wasn't

[[Page H3771]]

allowed to sleep, to access her family, her lawyers, and she refused to 
recant her message. Somewhere in Russia right now is Marina, another 
courageous woman who is speaking truth to power. Russian mothers are 
angrily demanding Putin to be held accountable for using their sons, as 
many as 6,000 of whom have already been killed in Ukraine, using them 
as cannon fodder for his egotistical legacy project.
  I am also in awe of the brave Ukrainian women literally leading the 
fight to protect their country. Nearly 22 percent of Ukraine's armed 
forces are female--22 percent. Here you see them in their camouflage. 
The 22 percent is one of the highest percentages of females serving in 
the military in the world. In the United States it is only something 
like 18 percent. And more women are joining the fight every day.
  Even women members of Ukraine's parliament have taken up arms to 
defend their homeland. I think about that and I think how many of us 
women parliamentarians in Congress would do the same? It is a good 
opportunity for us to do some soul-searching.
  We must have the backs of all Ukrainian women. I am proud that the 
United States has imposed unprecedented sanctions and export controls 
on the Russian economy. Just last week we stood on this floor and 
passed the bipartisan $13 billion aid package for Ukraine to assist the 
military and provide for the humanitarian needs.
  Today, the President announced another package of weapons that are 
going to be sent to Ukraine, including Javelins and switchblades and 
body armor and helmets and drones, all in an effort to try and provide 
more protection for the people of Ukraine.
  We must hold Putin accountable for the immeasurable death and 
suffering he has wrought. In doing so, I hope we can show a fraction of 
the grit and perseverance of the Ukrainian people, and especially the 
women of Ukraine.
  Ms. FRANKEL of Florida. Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Speier. 
I will tell you what, it is really hard to follow those remarks. I 
think all of us--all Americans--really all people around the world who 
have been following the brutality of Putin's war, our hearts are 
breaking. I thank the gentlewoman for highlighting the special plight 
of the women.
  As I said, it is almost hard to talk about anything after that, but I 
do want to say this. For about 200 years women have been fighting for 
rights, for rights that White men and then eventually Black men had, 
but we are still fighting for them.
  I was just thinking back to my own childhood--and probably your 
childhood, too. They had limits on how many girls could get into law 
school or medical school; there were no sport scholarships available. 
If you were a married woman, you could only get credit in your 
husband's name. Abortion was illegal. Equal pay was not even a concept. 
We did finally get the right to vote after women were arrested and 
chained themselves to the White House.

  So if you look back in history, we have been fighting very hard to 
get our rights. I want to thank Representative Jackson Lee, she has 
highlighted some of the victories over the years and some of the women 
who led the way, whether it was with Title IX or Roe v. Wade, or the 
bill that was just celebrated today by the President, the Equal Pay 
Act, the Paycheck Fairness Act. A lot has been done, but, wait, they 
are all in jeopardy.
  It is just shocking that after all these years of fighting, every one 
of these rights are in jeopardy, including the right to vote, which is 
why--and I know my colleagues here would agree--we must have an equal 
rights amendment. We must have inscribed in the U.S. Constitution 
equality for men and women that cannot be changed at the whim of a 
political body.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson 
Lee).
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, allow me to again express my 
appreciation to the growth and bounty of the Women's Democratic Caucus. 
It is amazing, the coming together of now generational women, freshmen 
classes, sophomore classes, and some of us who have had the privilege 
of serving for a period of time. What an amazing power base that you 
and we have created.
  Madam Speaker, I thank Lois Frankel for her leadership. I thank 
Brenda Lawrence and Jackie Speier for the way they have guarded and 
guided this privilege with this power. I do think it is important to 
put in the Record her singular work. She will not say singular work, 
but we were all glad to join her.
  Obviously, this particular young soldier came out of the breadth and 
depth of Houston and out of Texas--but to be able to honor the life of 
a young woman that simply wanted all her life to join the United States 
Army. Jackie Speier had been working on the issue of sexual assault in 
the military, along with our good friend, Senator Gillibrand, and the 
lack of justice that we were seeing all the time. This had been going 
on for a very long time.
  It is important in this Women's History Month to say that we together 
made history with your legislation that responded to the heinous crime 
of the killing of Officer Guillen, a precious young women, who, growing 
up as a little girl wanted to be in the United States military.
  I think this is the point that should be made. Only in this recent 
time can young girls want to grow up to be generals, astronauts, 
presidents, scientists, and others. As Ms. Frankel and Ms. Speier 
indicated, the abuse that was laid upon women for even thinking about 
equality or justice or voting. And then, of course, I must say that 
African American women found themselves at the lowest wrung of the 
ladder and suffered the continuing lingering history of slavery, the 
rape that was put upon them, the tending to whatever child was born, 
and then, of course, tending to the fields.
  Here we are today with a little bright light--and I am going to say 
little bright light because Ms. Frankel laid out all the things we need 
to do: the ERA, and we hope to get this new Justice.
  I wanted to take a moment just to respond and build upon this vile 
war criminal who seems to have Ukraine--God bless the soldiers, the 
men, the men that stayed behind to fight, but the toll has been so 
brutal on the women of Ukraine.
  Even in the last 24 hours, women are leaving safe places in Poland 
and Romania and they are coming back to Ukraine demanding that they 
fight, that they stand with the people of Ukraine for the democracy 
that they love. The death toll is brutal. The way they are dying is 
brutal. To be running with your child thinking you are protecting them. 
And to have the greatest moment of your life, the birth of a new baby, 
and you die and the baby dies, and your whole innards are crushed.
  Besides the women that are left behind in pools of blood--then the 
women who are escaping with their children who have nothing. This has 
been found around the world in Sudan when we were fighting against 
genocide. The victims were women who were trying to hold on to families 
in Rwanda. Places in South and Central America; the missing Mexican 
women that we have been working on for years.

                              {time}  1845

  My previous Member from California had led us in this fight, and we 
are still fighting. In the United States missing girls and human 
trafficking is a scourge today, and the dominant population of human 
trafficking are girls and girls who were tending to their daily duties 
of going to high school and, all of a sudden, they walked away, and 
they are in human trafficking, or they are being trafficked.
  So we have a lot to fight. We have a lot to put on the Record today 
and this month. We have got a lot of grandmothers to thank, a lot of 
moms to thank, and a lot of firsts to thank. We have got a lot of poets 
who have described our lives and a lot of writers who have described 
our lives. We have got a lot of children who simply say thank you.
  I guess I don't want to leave the podium.
  I must thank the teachers because if ever people were elevated to 
know how much you appreciate women, this 2-year, 3-year period of the 
pandemic really laid it out. You were either sacrificing as a mother 
because you were wearing 25 hats, Madam Speaker, and a lot of them 
dealing with homeschooling and trying to make do. You were a nurse; you 
were a teacher. You were simply in the fight.

[[Page H3772]]

  Madam Speaker, you were a doctor, you were a hospital administrator, 
you were an EMS, you were a fire person, a police person, and you were 
in here dealing with just the pit of COVID-19 and what it was doing to 
our families. You could have been in the funeral home business as a 
woman, and you were dealing with these circumstances.
  So let me just give a big thank you in this month, and I hope that if 
I have not called your name, I am giving a big, overall thank you to 
all of you women. We recognize all of our gentlemen. But today, all of 
you have stood in the gap during a time in America's history that no 
one ever expected.
  So I say thank you to Congresswoman Frankel, to Congresswoman Speier, 
and to all the women. We count them as being on the floor today to be 
able to honor Women's History Month and then, of course, International 
Women's History Month to be able to say thank you to all of them.
  I must say thank you to the Pakistani women. I was at the Pakistani 
Embassy last night. I don't want to leave the floor without saying I 
met a lot of Pakistani Americans who were there celebrating Women's 
History Month and to honor Pakistani-American women.
  First, I would like to thank the Democratic Women's Caucus for 
hosting this Special Order to celebrate Women's History Month.
  During Women's History Month, we celebrate the generations of 
trailblazing women who, in the face of daily hardship and systemic 
discrimination, have paved a path toward gender justice.
  It also serves as a global call to action, calling on us to advance 
the rights and dignities of women at home, at work and in all aspects 
of life.
  Women have always led the effort to create a more fair, more 
resilient, more prosperous, and more equal America.
  It brings me great pride that in 2022, women are not only working 
tirelessly to meet the needs of this unique moment, women are taking 
the lead.
  With Vice President Kamala Harris making history for our nation, with 
more women than ever before serving in Congress and taking on 
leadership roles in the President's cabinet, with the first Black woman 
nominated to the Supreme Court, with women leading some of America's 
largest and most innovative businesses, and with women continuing to 
break ground as scientists and researchers, America is stronger because 
of women.
  I am proud that House Democrats are leading efforts to expand on 
opportunities for women and to combat gender discrimination.
  In addition to our work to close the gender wage gap by passing the 
Paycheck Fairness Act, a major part of that effort includes addressing 
the challenges posed to American women by the COVID-19 pandemic.
  It is important to recognize that the burden of caring for children, 
the elderly, and the sick still falls to women unevenly in our society, 
and the pandemic forced many women to sacrifice their careers to care 
for loved ones.
  Last year, Democrats and President Biden enacted the American Rescue 
Plan, which extended the expanded Child Tax Credit to help families 
make ends meet and help women stay in the workforce and return to their 
jobs.
  It is now year 3 of the Coronavirus pandemic, which means that women 
have been leading the COVID-19 response, combatting the virus in 
America and around the world.
  During Women's History Month, we honor the female frontline health 
care workers.
  From health care to home care, restaurants to grocery stores, women 
workers, low-paid workers, and women of color are on the front lines of 
the COVID-19 pandemic.
  According to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics survey, nearly 80% of 
healthcare workers and 83% of workers who provide social assistance, 
including child care and emergency services, are women.
  Additionally, women-dominated occupations, such as nurses, flight 
attendants, and personal care aides, are among the most vulnerable to 
getting sick and spreading it to others.
  Women are also in the position to suffer the most in an economic 
recession.
  Women are the most economically vulnerable, comprising nearly 60% of 
workers in low-wage occupations.
  Low-paid women workers have very little in the way of savings, which 
means it is much harder for them to weather economic shocks, especially 
when they are likely to be supporting a number of dependents.
  Just this week, my bill, VAWA, was reauthorized as part of the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, which President Joe Biden signed 
into law.
  We must continue to do more to ensure that law enforcement has all 
the tools it needs to protect Americans from domestic violence, 
stalking, and sexual assault and that survivors have the resources to 
heal.
  VAWA is life-saving legislation.
  This legislation was enacted in response to the prevalence of 
domestic and sexual violence, and the significant impact of such 
violence on the lives of women.
  Statistics have revealed that these forms of violence impact us all.
  In the United States, an estimated 10 million people experience 
domestic violence every year, and more than 15 million children are 
exposed to this violence annually.
  According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, about 
20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner.
  About 1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men experience severe intimate partner 
physical violence, sexual violence, and/or partner stalking with 
injury.
  Today, in Texas, 35.10 percent of women and 34.5 percent of men are 
subjected to domestic violence.
  As we celebrate Women's History Month, let us reflect on the women 
who shaped our history and on those today who are leading our nation 
forward.
  We must work toward a future with equal access to economic 
opportunities, health care, and safety for all Americans.
  It brings me great pride to say that more than 120 women House 
Members proudly follow in her footsteps--including a record number of 
committee and subcommittee chairs, myself included.
  Driven by these women's devoted service and guided by their 
leadership, the Democratic House continues to lead the way in building 
a more just future--whether strengthening the rights of women in the 
workplace through the Paycheck Fairness Act and Pregnant Workers 
Fairness Act, defending reproductive health freedoms with the Women's 
Health Protection Act or advancing the Build Back Better Act's historic 
investments in maternal care, paid family and medical leave, childcare 
and more.
  Last month we celebrated the contributions of African Americans to 
the history of our great nation, and paid tribute to trailblazers, 
pioneers, heroes, and leaders like U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Jordan; 
U.S. Congressman Mickey Leland; Mae C. Jemison; activists, 
intellectuals, authors, and artists like Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, 
Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, and Gwendolyn Brooks, to name just a few 
of the countless number of well-known and unsung heroes whose 
contributions have helped our nation become a more perfect union.
  The history of the United States has been marked by the great 
contributions of African American activists, leaders, writers, and 
artists.
  As a Member of Congress, I know that I stand on the shoulders of 
giants whose struggles and triumphs made it possible for me to stand 
here today and continue the fight for equality, justice, and progress 
for all, regardless of race, religion, gender or sexual orientation.
  Women's History Month is also a time to remember many pioneering 
women like U.S. Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm; activists Harriet 
Tubman and Rosa Parks; astronaut Mae C. Jemison; mathematicians like 
Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson; authors Maya 
Angelou, Toni Morrison, and Gwendolyn Brooks; all of whom have each in 
their own way, whether through courageous activism, cultural or 
intellectual contributions, or artistic creativity, forged social and 
political change, and forever changed our great Nation for the better.
  Shirley Chisholm became the first African American woman elected to 
Congress, when she was elected to represent the New York's Twelfth 
Congressional District in 1968 running on the slogan, ``Fighting 
Shirley Chisholm: Unbought and Unbossed.''
  She reflected that spirit well during her 14 years in Congress.
  Before Shirley Chisolm, no black woman had ever served in the U.S. 
House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate but following in her 
footsteps are 51 black women Members of Congress, two black women U.S. 
Senators, including the president of that body and Vice-President of 
the United States; 23 Hispanic members; and 15 Asian-Pacific members, 
along with the first woman Speaker of the House, and mayors of several 
of the largest cities in the nation, including the District of 
Columbia, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta, New Orleans, Baltimore, 
Hartford, Minneapolis, San Antonio, and St. Louis.
  Shirley Chisolm had an understanding that during those turbulent 
times the nation required a determined leader to represent the voice of 
so many Americans who felt dismay at their treatment.
  She took an extremely active role in changing the way women were to 
be judged from that point on.
  She remarked that, ``Women in this country must become 
revolutionaries. We must refuse to accept the old, the traditional 
roles and stereotypes.''

[[Page H3773]]

  This is a sentiment that I myself take to heart, women in this nation 
are now told they have a right to determine the kind of life they want 
to lead; Shirley Chisholm was at the core of this movement.
  This past August 26, 2021, we commemorated the 101st 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, and exemplifies the prophetic and timeless saying of Margaret 
Mead that one should:
  ``Never doubt the ability of handful of committed persons to change 
the world. It is the only thing that ever has.''
  The Seneca Falls Conference was organized by Lucretia Mott, with 
others including Mary McClintock and Sojourner Truth, who went on to 
establish herself not only as a great advocate for women's suffrage but 
also as a great abolitionist.
  Among the courageous suffragists who spearheaded the movement 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.
  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 number of women serve in the 
House of Representatives, comprising 23.4% of the chamber's voting 
members, and presided over by Nancy Pelosi, the first and only woman 
elected Speaker of the House.
  In the 117th Congress, about 37% of women are women of color, and 
since 1964, more than 70 women of color have been elected to Congress.
  Although there remains much work to do to ensure that women enjoy 
full blessings of liberty and equality, that should not detract from 
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.
  Nor should we forget that the current Vice-President of the United 
States is Kamala D. Harris, Vice President Harris is the first woman, 
the first Black American, and the first South Asian American to be 
elected as Vice President.
  Similarly, we should remember that just five short years ago, Hillary 
Clinton shattered one glass ceiling when she became the first woman 
nominated as the presidential candidate of a major political party and 
came within 80,000 votes of winning the presidency and thus shattering 
the ultimate glass ceiling.
  American women will break this ceiling in the not distant future, 
drawing inspiration from trailblazers in other nations such as Golda 
Meir of Israel, Indira Ghandi of India, Ellen Sirleaf of Liberia, 
Margaret Thatcher of Great Britain, Angela Merkel of Germany, and 
Portia Simpson-Miller of Jamaica, among many others.
  In my home city of Houston, there are numerous men and women who are 
great because they have heeded the counsel of Dr. King who said:
  ``Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You only need a 
heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.''
  One barrier left to fall, however, is one of the most important, and 
that is membership on the Supreme Court of the United States.
  For most of our national history, presidents and senators have turned 
a deaf ear to Abigail Adams' plea to her husband ``to remember the 
ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your 
ancestors.''
  Since Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's 1981 appointment, only a small 
handful of women have been nominated to the High Court during this 
time, despite the fact that women constitute a majority of the general 
population, 37% of all attorneys in America, a number that will soon 
exceed the majority since a substantial majority (54%) of all law 
students in America are women.
  With Associate Justice Stephen Breyer's retirement announcement, 
President Biden and the U.S. Senate, now have been presented and should 
move quickly to capitalize on this opportunity to begin to rectify the 
High Court's gender and racial imbalance and to diversify its 
composition by confirming a member of the most underrepresented, 
disadvantaged, marginalized, longest suffering, and most patient 
demographic in America: black women.
  Longer than any other racial or ethnic group, black women have been 
subjected to the coercive powers of the law while being excluded from 
the opportunities to make the laws citizens are to live under.
  President Biden has made a nomination for the ages in selecting U.S. 
Circuit Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve as U.S. Supreme 
Court Associate Justice.
  Not only does Judge Jackson possess one of the finest legal minds of 
her generation, her commitment to equal justice, the rule of law, and 
Constitution is unsurpassed.
  Judge Jackson will be a great Justice and a role model to women and 
girls everywhere, especially little black girls, that in America all 
things are possible with hard work and determination.
  With this nomination, we are taking a massive step towards having a 
government whose institutions, including and especially the Supreme 
Court, are comprised of persons that look like the American people.
  I applaud President Biden for making this historic nomination and 
urge the Senate to conduct a fair, impartial, and expeditious 
confirmation proceeding and confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson--who 
has already been confirmed on a bipartisan basis three times.
  As we celebrated Black History Month and now Women's History Month, 
let us pay tribute to those who have come before us, and pay forward to 
future generations by addressing what is the number one issue for 
African American families, and all American families today: preserving 
the American promise of equal opportunity for all.
  And it is crucial that as we reflect on how far women have come, we 
also not lose sight of how far we have to go and what must be done to 
achieve true gender and racial equality so every girl everywhere can 
pursue her dreams and realize her potential.
  As we progress through Women's History Month, let us summon the 
extraordinary courage and resilience of the many women who came before 
us.
  Democrats will never relent as we carry on the fight for full 
equality--not only for our nation's daughters, but for women and girls 
all over the world.
  As the legendary Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm said, ``If they don't 
give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.''
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, as a senior member of the Committees 
on the Judiciary, on Homeland Security, and on the Budget, and the 
Congressional Women's Caucus, I am pleased to join this Women's Caucus 
Special Order with my colleagues, to discuss the bravery of Ukrainian 
women and girls in the face of Russia's war against Ukraine.
  I thank the Co-Chairs of the CWC, Representatives Dean and Gonzalez-
Colon, for their leadership of the Bipartisan Congressional Women's 
Caucus.
  Firstly, I would like to commend all Ukrainians for their outstanding 
bravery. It is truly inspirational for Americans, and for people around 
the world. America stands with you.
  Russia's launch of a premeditated war against Ukraine is an attack on 
democracy and a grave violation of international law, global peace, and 
security.
  The fighting has sparked massive displacement and has forced over two 
million Ukrainians to flee their homes to neighboring states and has 
put women and girls at heightened risk of violence.
  Although many people have fled, millions have stayed behind to help 
fight the Russian invaders and defend Ukrainian sovereignty.
  Thousands of Ukrainian women have taken up arms and are playing a 
vital role in Ukraine's national defense. Today they make up 22.8% of 
the Ukrainian army, not including the thousands who have volunteered as 
civilian soldiers.
  Life in the military is not easy for women. While women have been 
serving in the Ukrainian military since the annexation of Crimea in 
2014, they did not win the right to officially fight alongside their 
male counterparts until 2017.
  When Russian-backed forces seized part of the Donbas region and 
conflict ensued in 2014, thousands of women volunteered to help the 
Ukrainian military. They served as assault troops, medics, and snipers.
  But the sacrifices made by these women went largely unrecognized. 
Official documents issued by the Ukrainian military, listed these 
soldiers as seamstresses, cooks, and janitors.
  The women who volunteered ``often found themselves outside legal 
protection,'' according to the Invisible Battalion, an advocacy group 
for Ukrainian servicewomen, that studied women's roles in the war 
against Russia.

[[Page H3774]]

  Although these women have not always been adequately supported by 
their government because of soviet era laws forbidding them from 
enlisting, they have persisted.
  In 2017 a group of women veterans got together and lobbied for their 
rights, which brought about a much-needed change in the culture in the 
Ukrainian military.
  Just last year the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense determined that 
female soldiers marching in a military parade celebrating independence 
from the Soviet Union would wear high heels, not boots.
  Regardless of the numerous hurdles and mockeries Ukrainian women have 
faced and continue to face today, there are thousands who are putting 
their lives at risk to protect and defend their homeland.
  Among them have been a 79-year-old woman who recently learned how to 
fire a gun, a former beauty queen Anastasia Lenna, who represented 
Ukraine at the 2015 Miss Grand International pageant--and Kristina, a 
former wedding singer.
  Kristina was living in Italy last summer when tensions between 
Ukraine and Russia rose. While knowing the security risks, Kristina 
returned to her country to become a soldier.
  She told a VICE news reporter that ``The risk of saying goodbye to 
life is always there, [and she is] not afraid of death; [she] is afraid 
to [become a slave].'' Words that will forever stick with me.
  Women's History Month is a celebration of women's contributions to 
history, culture and society, and there is no better example of this 
than those women fighting in Ukraine today.
  So, on this day, March 9, 2022, I would like to publicly commend the 
women fighting in Ukraine for their boundless courage and bravery. The 
world stands with you and will continue to fight alongside you to put 
an end to Putin's cruel parade.
  Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida. Madam Speaker, I would just say that it 
is a joy to be on the floor with Representative Jackson Lee. I thank 
the gentlewoman very, very much. She makes my job very easy.
  Madam Speaker, I yield again to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. 
Speier).
  Ms. SPEIER. Madam Speaker, I thank the leader of our caucus, Ms. 
Frankel.
  Madam Speaker, I am just going to close with some expectations. I am 
leaving Congress this year, and I want to convey to you, Madam Speaker, 
to the leadership of the Democratic Women's Caucus, and to all of my 
colleagues how important I think that you are as guardians of 
womanhood. Our job is never done.
  So while we may celebrate these small victories from time to time, 
the ERA is not part of our Constitution. Of the 193 countries in the 
world, 165 have the ERA in their Constitutions. The United States does 
not. It is 24 little words. Thirty-eight States have passed it. We have 
this deadline that we have struck from the legislation in the House. 
The Senate has not taken it up.
  Femicide is a huge problem in Latin America. The Democratic Women's 
Caucus will have a presentation this Friday on that. The 5,000 missing 
Native-American women in this country that really we had no cognizance 
of until we had a Native-American woman in the Congress to talk about 
it.
  Finally, a new issue--probably not a new issue--is one that has just 
percolated to the surface, and that is female inmates in Federal 
prisons who are raped by the wardens, the chaplains, and the guards. 
Congresswoman Bass, Congressman Swalwell, and I went to the Federal 
correctional institution in Dublin this week.
  Now, at that one prison, the warden had raped inmates, the chaplain 
had raped inmates, and two of the guards that we know of had raped 
inmates.
  It is profound that we change the culture in these prisons to prevent 
that from happening and from the training of guards and leadership at 
those facilities to treat these women with a certain amount of dignity 
that you would just provide to another human being.
  What we heard about the kinds of things that are said about them--
they are called hos and called just horrible things that make us 
realize that we still have a lot of work to do.
  So as I conclude, let me just say, Madam Speaker, that we are the 
guardians of womanhood for the future, and I will look on with fondness 
and great appreciation.
  Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida. I thank the gentlewoman for her 
leadership. She will be missed. I know she will go on to bigger and 
better things. She has made her mark in the history of this country for 
sure.
  I want to thank my colleagues, Sheila Jackson Lee and Jackie Speier, 
for coming to the floor. They gave us a great education tonight, and I 
appreciate that.
  I will conclude, Madam Speaker, the way I started, which is I thank 
all those millions and millions of unknown women who lift us up every 
day, who dry our tears, and who share our happiness with that 
unconditional love, and those are our mothers who are probably, as I 
said, the most influential part of the history of the world.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________