[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6312-6319]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           WOMEN IN BUSINESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 1999, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Kelly) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mrs. KELLY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about an issue that is 
near and dear to my heart, women in business, specifically women-owned 
small businesses.
  As the mother of four and a former small business owner myself, I 
know just how hard it is to balance the full-time job of being a mother 
and then adding to it the challenges of owning and running your own 
business.
  From women-owned construction firms to women-owned public relation 
firms to Donna, Jo-Jo, and Angela who own Donna's Hair Design in my own 
district town of Chappaqua, New York, all of these women deserve all of 
the support that we here in Congress can give them.
  Everyone needs to remember that small business is the most important 
sector of our economy. Currently, in the United States, there are 
approximately 8.5 million women-owned businesses. That is 8.5 million 
women-owned businesses, 36 percent of all businesses in the United 
States. These 8.5 million businesses employ 23.8 million employees. 
These businesses have seen their sales increase from $2.3 trillion to 
$3.1 trillion in just the last 6 months.
  My congratulations to all of the hardworking women who are doing more 
than their share to contribute to the economy of our Nation.
  The number of women-owned small businesses have increased by 89 
percent in the last decade. During the same period, these businesses 
have increased their revenue by 209 percent. Women are a force to be 
reckoned with in today's economy.

                              {time}  1615

  During my life, I have had many roles: The mother of four, a public 
school teacher, a college professor, a rape crisis counselor, a 
professional patient advocate, a small business owner, and now a United 
States Congresswoman.
  I have learned countless lessons in these roles and have brought them 
with me to the House of Representatives. Many of these lessons were 
learned as a small businesswoman. This has given me some insight as to 
what women need in order to fully compete with their male counterparts, 
and for this reason I have devoted my energy to working with the 
Committee on Small Business to enable small businesses to run more 
efficiently.
  I have introduced legislation again this year that expresses the 
sense of Congress regarding the need to increase the number of 
procurement contracts that the government awards to women-owned 
businesses. The Federal Government is America's largest purchaser of 
goods and services, spending more than $225 billion each year, and 
women should have more access to these projects.
  In 1994 Congress set a 5 percent procurement goal for women-owned 
businesses. Five years later, however, the rate of procurement for 
women-owned businesses is 1.9 percent. This percentage is a poor 
reflection on the access to these jobs when considering the rate of 
growth of women-owned businesses.
  I want to continue to do what I can to improve the procurement 
process for women in this Congress, and I am happy to say that a few 
weeks ago the House passed H.R. 774, The Women's Business Center 
Amendments Act of 1999. This bill authorized appropriations of $11 
million for the expansion of this program in fiscal year 2000.
  I want to congratulate the chairman of the Committee on Small 
Business, the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Jim Talent), for his work, 
as well as the ranking minority member, the gentlewoman from New York 
(Nydia Velazquez), and many other people who worked to make this 
accomplishment here on the floor of the House.
  Currently, there are 60 centers now operating in 40 States. These 
centers assist women in many ways, including helping them to focus 
their business

[[Page 6313]]

plans through courses and workshops, providing information on capital, 
as well as helping the women choose their location. The centers have 
the freedom to tailor their programs based on the needs of the 
communities in which they work.
  Recently I have been able to meet with many women business owners and 
some of the women who run these centers and heard firsthand the 
challenges and the successes of these businesses. These are just a few 
of the issues that women business owners face. There are many others, 
like tax and regulatory issues, ensuring fair access to capital, that 
we all need to stay involved with.
  I know my colleagues here share my concerns. Let me close by 
congratulating all of the women businesses in our Nation. I know all 
too well how difficult their jobs are. They are an important part of 
our Nation's economy, and I will continue to do what I can to ensure 
that they are not forgotten.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Granger).
  Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join my colleagues today in 
discussing the need for this Congress to help America's working women. 
I am proud to be a part of the Women's Caucus and I am proud that this 
caucus is committed to raising and addressing important issues 
concerning women.
  Today, more than ever, working women are no longer the exception, 
they are the rule. America's working women are redefining the workplace 
as we know it. They are learning how to balance their dual 
responsibilities of work and family. In today's business world, women 
own about 6.5 million companies. That is one-third of all the 
businesses in America. Today, women are creating businesses at twice 
the rate of men. In fact, it is estimated that by the year 2000 women 
will own 40 percent of American companies.
  These facts make it vitally important this Congress address the 
issues and the interests of this growing segment of our economy. Yes, 
it is becoming increasingly clear that women's issues are economic 
issues. Jobs, taxes and economic growth are the top issues for today's 
women.
  Since women are creating more jobs than men, they are 
disproportionately affected by burdensome taxes, rules and regulations, 
and too often it is too difficult for women-owned businesses to get 
started. Once started, it is often difficult for women-owned businesses 
to stay afloat.
  According to a 1995 survey of women-owned businesses, 84 percent of 
women entrepreneurs used their own personal savings to start their 
businesses. And once underway, women business owners often find 
themselves dipping into their savings to stay in business.
  Mr. Speaker, as a small business owner myself, I have made it a 
commitment to stand up and speak out and stay focused on the issues 
that face women-owned businesses. Female entrepreneurs are here to 
stay, and while it is true that Washington cannot create wealth, it is 
no less true that we have an obligation to make the business 
environment as conducive as possible for women.
  I believe that excessive government taxation, regulation and 
litigation hold back our working women by holding up production costs. 
Government taxes prevent female employers and employees from keeping 
more of their hard-earned money, and it has often been noted that today 
taxes consume more of the family income than families spend on food, 
education and shelter, or anything else. We need to make our tax system 
flatter and fairer so that our women will not have to work almost half 
the year to foot government costs. Working women need to be able to 
keep more of their hard-earned money.
  We also need to review our regulations as well. Each year over 
100,000 pages of new rules and regulations are produced in Washington, 
and many of these guidelines overlap and they are repetitive.
  Moreover, it has been estimated that regulations cost businesses over 
$700 billion each year. These regulations impact every single business 
owned by women. And since businesses often have to raise prices to 
afford these new regulations, it is estimated that each American family 
pays an extra $700 per household to cover the cost of regulations.
  It has also been estimated that regulations add as much as a third to 
the cost of building an airplane engine and almost double the price of 
a new vaccine. Mr. Speaker, we need to be working on ways to increase, 
not decrease, the number of women in business, and adding cost is not 
the way to do that.
  Moreover, government rules and litigation often subject our small 
businesswomen to years of legal battles and legal costs. Let us let our 
working women spend more time in the board room and less time in the 
courtroom. Only then can we truly create a conducive business 
environment for women.
  Mr. Speaker, today's working women are the pioneers of tomorrow. As 
they struggle to create more jobs, growth and opportunity, let us make 
our government work for our women, not against them; stand by their 
sides, not ride on their backs.
  Mr. Speaker, we must never forget that working women have yet another 
job waiting for them when they get home at night. In our efforts to 
enhance and encourage the careers of women, I am afraid we sometimes 
lose sight of the fact that many of our working women are also working 
mothers. These working mothers need the opportunity to balance their 
schedules between work and home. After all, meetings with our children 
are more important than meetings with our staffs.
  I was a working mother of three, and I understand there is no price 
tag put on the time we spend away from our families. That is why when I 
became Mayor of Fort Worth several years ago, I took an active interest 
in ensuring our employees had the kind of schedules necessary to take 
care of their jobs and also take care of their families.
  One of the tools we used to help create a family-friendly city hall 
was comp time. This program allowed workers to choose time off instead 
of overtime pay. It is extraordinarily popular in the public sector, 
but it is still not available in the private sector. Let us help our 
working women by giving workers in the private sector the same choice.
  Mr. Speaker, the working women of America are essential to ensuring 
that our Nation continues on a path of economic growth and personal 
responsibility. I urge my colleagues to support measures which promote 
and protect the dual role of American women as leaders in the office 
and leaders at home.
  I want to thank the Women's Caucus for raising awareness about the 
importance of women's issues.
  Mrs. KELLY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Illinois 
(Ms. Schakowsky).
  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I want to commend my colleague, the 
gentlewoman from New York, for bringing attention to these important 
issues that affect women and for drawing attention to the contributions 
that women business owners have made.
  It is true that women business owners now employ more people than the 
Fortune 500 companies combined in the United States. They have made 
great strides, but we know that women in the work force still face 
discrimination in many, many forms, both as business owners and as 
employees.
  Women in the work force today, as we enter into the 21st century, 
still earn only 74 cents for every dollar that men earn at the very 
same jobs. This persistent wage gap forces families into poverty and 
deprives them of the benefits that women would earn if only they were 
men; that is, if only they were men making more money at the very same 
jobs.
  This discrimination follows women into their retirement. Because they 
make less money through their working years, they have fewer private 
pensions and they get fewer Social Security benefits. Often they have 
less health care coverage during their working years, and so they bring 
into their retirement years more disease. They are less well.
  I want to focus for a minute on the issue of Medicare because now 
this

[[Page 6314]]

Congress is engaged in a great debate on what we are going to do about 
Medicare. And I would say that while it is important for Congress to 
ensure Medicare solvency in the future, any proposal must protect women 
who receive Medicare.
  Of course, Medicare is a program that serves both men and women, but 
women comprise most of the beneficiaries. Elderly women aged 65 
outnumber elderly men three to two. There are 20 million elderly women 
on Medicare and another 2 million women who are on Medicare because 
they receive Social Security disability benefits. In fact, 58 percent 
of all elderly beneficiaries are women.
  Seventy-one percent of the beneficiaries aged 85 or older are women. 
That is, of course, because women live longer than men do. Women aged 
65 years and older are more than twice as likely as older men to live 
within 125 percent of the poverty line. That is to say that they are 
twice as likely as men to have to live on $10,000 a year or less, and 
we know how hard that is.
  Recently, older women were projected to spend over $200 a year more 
on out-of-pocket health care costs than men. And we know today that the 
elderly are spending a greater percentage of their income on health 
care out-of-pocket than they did when Medicare was enacted in 1965. 
This is a particular burden for women.
  One of the proposals that has been on the table that frightens me the 
most and should frighten older women the most is that of raising the 
eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 67. To underscore how dangerous 
that would be, currently there are a million people between the ages of 
62 and 64 without insurance, and three out of five of those are women. 
So currently the numbers of uninsured people in the older age groups 
are mostly women already.
  Many women are uninsured because they are younger than their already 
retired husbands who are on Medicare and they do not have employer-
based insurance themselves. Raising the eligibility would deny people 
access to health care during their early 60s and would expand their 
need for more complicated and expensive treatment in later years.
  There are many problems with some of the proposals that are on the 
table, but the reality of raising the age of eligibility for Medicare 
is that it would accomplish one thing, and that is, it would increase 
the numbers of uninsured people. Because employers are not looking for 
women aged 65 to 67 to hire and to provide health care benefits to, it 
would dramatically increase the numbers of people who are uninsured, 
and most of those people would be women.
  So I would say if we care about elderly women in the United States, 
then we want to make sure that we do not agree to any proposal that 
increases the age of eligibility.

                              {time}  1630

  I thank my colleague from New York for allowing me this time to speak 
on this important issue.
  Mrs. KELLY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Illinois 
(Mrs. Biggert).
  Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to salute our Nation's women 
business owners and to join my colleagues in the Congressional Women's 
Caucus in bringing to the forefront the impressive contributions women 
business owners are making to the strength and vitality of our economy.
  Over the past 2 decades, women-owned businesses have been amongst the 
fastest growing areas of our economy. In 1973, when I started my home-
based law practice, women owned less than 5 percent of all businesses 
in the United States. By 1997, that figure jumped to 36 percent. Over 
the last decade, the number of women-owned firms increased by 89 
percent nationwide. Employment nearly tripled and sales nearly doubled.
  Who are today's women business owners and how can we help ensure that 
they are free to grow and prosper? There are more than 8.5 million 
women-owned businesses in the United States, employing nearly 24 
million people. That is more than all of the Fortune 500 companies 
combined.
  Where do we do business? Everywhere. Today, women own businesses in 
all sectors of the economy, not just in the service sector or the so-
called traditional women-owned business areas. In fact, the top growth 
industries for women-owned businesses in recent years has been in 
construction, wholesale trade, transportation, communications, 
agribusiness, and manufacturing.
  What is it that motivates women to start their own businesses? The 
National Foundation for Women Business Owners surveyed women across the 
country and found that nearly half stated one of two reasons. A great 
idea for a product or service, or the realization that they could do 
for themselves what they had previously done for an employer. 
Frustrations with the corporate environment, including feeling 
unchallenged and experiencing a glass ceiling were also cited as 
motivation for women to become entrepreneurs.
  The foundation also asked women why they stay in business. Not 
surprisingly, the greatest reward of business ownership for women is 
gaining control over their own fate, and the greatest challenge of 
business ownership for women is being taken seriously.
  In my home State of Illinois, the largest and most comprehensive 
women's business assistance center has thrived for 14 years. The 
Women's Business Development Center has served over 30,000 women 
through counseling, training, financial assistance, and new marketing 
opportunities. Thanks in part to the help of the center, in Illinois 
there are now over 336,000 women-owned businesses employing 23 percent 
of all Illinois workers and generating 15 percent of the State's 
business sales.
  But despite the explosive growth in women's business ownership in the 
United States, we still generate only 18 percent of all business 
revenues. So there is still much work to be done, and Congress can help 
accelerate the growth and success of women-owned businesses.
  Women need new and more access to market opportunities and to 
contracts at all levels of government. Women need access to technical 
assistance to develop and grow their businesses.
  Most importantly, like all businesses in the United States, women-
owned businesses must be free from excessive regulation and taxation, 
and they must have access to markets for their products and services 
abroad.
  I thank my colleague for allowing me to participate today on this 
important issue.
  Mrs. KELLY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to my colleague and friend from 
California (Ms. Woolsey).
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleagues, and 
particularly my friend from New York, who put this together tonight and 
for all who have spoken so eloquently in honor of women and Women's 
History Month.
  I come to the floor of the House today to salute the mothers of 
Women's History Month, the National Women's History Project, known as 
``The Project.'' The Project is from the Sixth Congressional District 
in California, the district that I am so very proud to represent.
  Almost 1 year ago, I traveled to Seneca Falls, New York, with a group 
of my colleagues to celebrate our Nation's women, the 150th anniversary 
of the Women's Rights Movement. This was truly a special occasion 
because Sonoma County, which is where I live, is the birthplace of the 
National Women's History Project, the organization responsible for the 
establishment of Women's History Month and a leader in the 150th 
anniversary of the women's rights celebration.
  The Project is a nonprofit educational organization founded in 1980. 
They are committed to providing educational resources, recognizing and 
celebrating women's diverse lives and historic contributions to 
society. Today, The Project is repeatedly cited by educators, by 
publishers and journalists as the national resource for information on 
U.S. women's history.
  Thanks to The Project's efforts every March, boys and girls across 
the country recognize and learn about women's struggles and 
contributions in science,

[[Page 6315]]

literature, business, politics, and many, many other fields.
  As recently as the 1970s, women's history was virtually unknown, left 
out of schoolbooks and classroom curriculum. In 1978, as chairwoman of 
the Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women, I was astounded by 
the lack of focus on women in our education system. Later, The Project 
petitioned Congress to expand the national celebration to the entire 
month of March. Due to their efforts, Congress issued a resolution 
declaring the month of March to be Women's History Month.
  Each year since then, nationwide programs and activities on women's 
history in schools, in workplaces, and communities have been developed 
and shared.
  Under the leadership of Mary Ruthsdotter and through the hard work of 
these wonderful women, the celebration of International Women's Day was 
expanded and declared by Congress to be National Women's History Week.
  Together, the women of the Project succeeded in nationalizing the 
awareness for women's history. I want to acknowledge Molly MacGregor 
for her thoughtful leadership and Lisl Christy, Cindy Burnham, Jennifer 
Josephine Moser, Suanne Otteman, Donna Kuhn, Sunny Bristol, Denise 
Dawe, Kathryn Rankin, and Sheree Fisk Williams. They are the women that 
are at the Project presently. All of these women serve as leaders in 
the effort to educate Americans of all ages about the contributions of 
women in our society.
  I also want to pay tribute to the ``first lady'' of Marin County, 
California, just across the bridge from San Francisco, part of my 
district. This woman's name is Vera Schultz. Vera was the first woman 
on the Mill Valley, California, City Council and the first woman on the 
Marin County Board of Supervisors.
  Vera's career in Marin County during the late 1940's and early 1950's 
was a pivotal era in Marin's social and political history. As the area 
grew in population with the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge, Vera had 
an important vision and dedicated herself to the changing face of Marin 
County. Vera faced great opposition to reforming an unfair tax 
structure that would have taxed newcomers at a higher rate, and she 
also fought hard so that Marin County could have the very best possible 
civic center.
  Vera knew that Marin deserved the best, so she got the best. Due to 
her persistent prodding, in 1959, Frank Lloyd Wright submitted his plan 
for the Marin County Civic Center, and in 1960 construction began. 
Marin County now has another precious treasure to share with our 
country because of Vera Schultz.
  As I pay tribute to Women's History Month, I am truly grateful to 
Vera Schultz and to all the devoted women at the Project because of 
their continued commitment and for making an indelible mark on our 
country. We now understand the importance of women in our history.
  Mrs. KELLY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to my friend, the gentlewoman from 
California (Mrs. Capps).
  Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I want to commend my colleague from New York 
(Mrs. Kelly) for organizing and leading us in this wonderful 
opportunity to speak here on the floor regarding issues which we can 
give our attention to, which really do affect women across this 
country.
  It is a real pleasure to hear the wide range of emphases that have 
been mentioned already today, and we have more coming. But whether it 
is women in their own businesses, and as they own and participate in 
business, whether it is the way Social Security affects women and 
Medicare affects women in all of these areas, there is much to speak 
about pertaining to women in this recognition of Women's History Month.
  I want to rise today, Mr. Speaker, in support of a most important 
piece of legislation which is among us and at our table in Congress 
today, and that is the Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Act.
  Just 2 weeks ago, I joined the gentlewoman from California (Ms. 
Eshoo) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Lazio) in introducing this 
bipartisan bill, which will help to treat low-income women who have 
been diagnosed with cancer.
  In 1990, Congress took a very important first step to fight breast 
cancer and cervical cancer by authorizing a screening program for low-
income, uninsured, or underinsured women through the Centers for 
Disease Control; and they called this program the National Breast and 
Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, and now it is in place over 
this past decade in virtually every part of our country.
  Now, the problem is that while the program covers screening services, 
it does not cover treatment for women who are found to be positive and 
in need of services through this screening program. Thus, these 
vulnerable, poor women are left to an ad hoc patchwork of providers, 
volunteers, and charity care programs, making their treatment 
unpredictable, delayed, and in so many cases incomplete and resulting 
in really disastrous results for themselves and their families.
  Approximately 3,600 women per year are diagnosed through the National 
Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program. And now that they 
are diagnosed, they need services. All the screening in the world will 
not help if women who are diagnosed with the disease do not have access 
to quality treatment for their condition.
  And so, the Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Act, which is before 
us now, gives States the opportunity and the option to provide Medicaid 
coverage to uninsured or underinsured women who have been diagnosed 
through the early detection program but cannot afford treatment.
  I was very heartened a couple of weeks ago to notice in our first 
hearing in the Subcommittee on Health and Environment of the Committee 
on Commerce that the hearing that we held on this particular issue that 
there was unanimous, it seemed, and very bipartisan support for 
enacting this legislation.
  And I was pleased that one of my constituents, Dr. John Cox, the 
Director of Student Services at the University of California at Santa 
Barbara, was one of the expert witnesses; and the various people who 
presented were lauded by both sides of the aisle for their recognition 
that this early detection program is working well. But what it is 
uncovering is the need for services for these very women.
  With that enthusiasm that we felt in the room that day, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Eshoo) and I and some other members of 
the committee have set aside Mother's Day as our goal for obtaining 218 
cosponsors on the bill to bring it to the floor for a vote. What better 
way to honor mothers across the Nation this year than by providing this 
life-saving treatment?

                              {time}  1645

  Mr. Speaker, I pledge my commitment to working in a bipartisan 
manner, and I know my colleagues today will be joining that effort, 
toward passing the Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Act.
  This bill is widely supported by women's health groups and is a top 
priority for the breast cancer community, including the National Breast 
Cancer Coalition and the California Breast Cancer Coalition.
  Over 100 Members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, men and 
women, have already signed on to be original cosponsors. I urge my 
other colleagues to sign on as well.
  I cannot think of a better Mother's Day gift for women across the 
Nation than to pass this legislation.
  Mrs. KELLY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Florida 
(Mrs. Meek).
  Mrs. MEEK of Florida. I thank the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. 
Kelly) for letting us share this particular special order with America. 
I do not think there is any week with any more importance or month as 
significant as Women's History Week. The contributions of women in this 
country are so outstanding until if every woman in Washington were to 
be here today, they could not say enough about what women have done. On 
both the

[[Page 6316]]

local, State and national level, women have made significant 
contributions to our society and they will continue to do so. Our role 
in government is increasing. Our role in the health medical sciences is 
increasing. Our role in science is increasing. Our role in every facet 
of American culture is increasing. But most of all, Mr. Speaker, women 
now are sort of the bedrock of the family. We seek to be the glue to 
hold it together. Regardless of what phase of life that we participate 
in, we still feel that we have the family as our most significant 
contribution. We give, we yield, we culture, we nurture our children 
and we do our best to have them grow into outstanding individuals.
  I came today to talk about a health problem that is so devastating to 
young women. Many of my colleagues may not have ever heard of this 
disease. It is called lupus. It kills women in their childbearing 
years. It cripples them. It maims them. It makes them feel as if they 
have no life-style at all. When you hear the word again, you will say, 
that is a devastating disease that is pretty much outstanding in 
significance and incidence among young women. It is serious, it is 
inflammatory, and for the past 6 years I have tried to get this bill 
authorized in the Congress so that the National Institutes of Health 
would receive at least 20 to $50 million a year for research into 
lupus. If you could see some of the young women that become seriously 
impaired by lupus, you would say to the health subcommittee of Labor-
HHS, that is a disease that needs to be stopped. The immune system 
becomes so overreactive that it goes out of control. The antibodies in 
the woman's body attack her other tissues. This causes inflammation, 
causes redness, swelling, and it affects women nine times more than it 
does men. Between 1.4 to 2 million Americans have been diagnosed with 
this disease. There are so many cases that go undiagnosed and that 
doctors cannot many times diagnose lupus. Many times the diagnosis for 
lupus is worse than the treatment, and doctors are not very adept at 
finding out whether or not a woman has lupus or not. Our body's immune 
system is known for protecting the body, but if a woman has lupus, the 
immune system just goes haywire, it loses its ability to tell the 
difference. It is not infectious, it is not rare, it is not cancerous, 
but it is not well known. It is more prevalent than AIDS, Mr. Speaker, 
sickle cell anemia, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis and cystic 
fibrosis combined. So you can see what a devastating disease it is and 
its impact on women. It is so important that during Women's History 
Month that I call America's attention to this devastating disease and 
how much it is leading to the impairment of women.
  I can relate to lupus firsthand. I had a sister to die from it. There 
are so many people here in this Congress who have had relatives. I have 
had several hearings on lupus. We are losing our children, Mr. Speaker, 
we are losing our sisters, our mothers, grandmothers and friends. We 
need to really do something about this deadly disease. We need to say 
to NIH, look, more research is supposed to be done on this disease. 
There has to be a cure. American women are at high risk for this deadly 
and debilitating disease. There is a need for more professional 
awareness. That is why I am glad that my wonderful colleague gave me 
this opportunity to come to the floor and speak about lupus because of 
its significance to women and during Women's History Week. We must 
fight those diseases that cause morbidity and mortality among the ranks 
of women.
  Mrs. KELLY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from New York 
(Mrs. Maloney) the cochairwoman of the House Women's Caucus.
  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. I thank the gentlewoman for organizing this 
special order and for her fine leadership in this body this year and 
other years in support of women's issues and family issues. I was 
elected in 1992, the so-called Year of the Woman, when many Americans 
voted for women candidates not as a slogan but as a force to be 
reckoned with. We came to Congress. There were 48 of us. Our presence 
did make a difference in doubling moneys for health care for women and 
access to clinics, in child care, in education, in many, many areas. 
And we have made progress since then in the number of women that are 
elected.
  In 1999 there are 89 women who hold statewide offices across this 
country, and there are other positive signs. There are now three women 
governors, 58 women in the House, and nine women Senators. In fact, the 
First Lady might even choose to run for the Senate in New York State. 
We have women in posts that never have been held before. We have the 
first woman to ever serve as Secretary of State, Attorney General, 
Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, head of the National 
Science Foundation, and many, many more.
  But I am still concerned that women did not receive the vote until 
1920, a right that we should have been born with. In fact, my mother 
was born without the right to vote. We all owe a great debt to the many 
women who came before us, on whose shoulders we stand, who worked for 
and fought for women's rights, Alice Paul, Susan B. Anthony, Lucretia 
Mott, Carrie Chapman Catt and many, many others, because the vote is so 
important. The vote is what enables women to be not only at the kitchen 
table but the peace table, the economic development table, the 
congressional table. It is important that we as Members of Congress 
support other women in other countries as they work for and gain the 
right to vote.
  Earlier today, a resolution passed this House authored by the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Kelly) and the chairman of the 
International Relations Committee, the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Gilman). It was supported by every Member of this body. It 
congratulated Qatar on the first ever election to be held where men and 
women could vote and where women could stand for that right.
  The gentlewoman from New York and I traveled all the way to the tip 
of the Gulf to be part of this historic and important event. It was 
held on March 8, International Woman's Day. What better way to 
celebrate the progress and advancement of women and girls throughout 
the world than by giving women the right to vote and stand for office 
in an emerging democracy in the Gulf. The Gulf Cooperation Council, 
which is in the area, this is the first such election to take place, 
and we hope it will encourage the movement forward in other countries.
  In comparison, Kuwait has an elected parliament which exercises 
limited legislative and oversight powers, but women are not allowed to 
vote. In Oman they have an elected consultive council; however, only 
selected male and female citizens are enfranchised, and the Sultan 
retains the final say over who is part of that council. Bahrain had an 
elected parliament which was dissolved by the Emir in 1975, and the 
United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have no elected institutions. So 
we hope this historic election in Qatar will be a banner, a leadership 
step for the region.
  We live now in a world economy and we must recognize that democracies 
help us in our shared world with stable environments and really 
improved rights for individuals. It was very exciting for the 
gentlewoman from New York and myself to meet the six women who were 
running for office. One almost won. She lost by 24 votes, but next time 
we hope that she will win. It looked very much like an American 
election, with banners and rallies and meetings, just good plain 
campaigning.
  Any democracy is a journey. It is one that begins with many steps. 
This was the first step towards a full parliamentary election. It was 
for an advisory council. But it is an important first step. Seeing the 
faces of the individuals reminded me very much of the faces that I saw 
on television of our brothers and sisters in South Africa when they 
first received the right to vote. It was exciting, it was historic and 
it was wonderful to be there. But as we work here in Congress, we are 
working every day to help women and families and children.
  Just this week, along with the gentlewoman from New York, we 
introduced a very important bill that will

[[Page 6317]]

provide screening and protection for breast cancer and prostate cancer. 
Roughly 1,500 cancer-related deaths per day take place in our country. 
Early detection of cancer through screening can extend a patient's 
life, reduce treatment time and cost, and improve a person's quality of 
life. The first step we need to take to reduce the number of cancer-
related deaths is to increase access to screening exams in the private 
sector.
  In 1997, Congress, through the Balanced Budget Amendment, included a 
bill that Barbara Vucanovich and I had authored in 1992. Barbara was a 
survivor of breast cancer. It called for the coverage of annual 
mammograms for women in Medicare. It was very important that this bill 
passed and was part of the Balanced Budget Amendment. It will save 
hundreds of thousands of lives.
  The bill we introduced will extend these same benefits to Americans 
under the age of 65 if they are at risk and if the patient and their 
doctor know that such a test is needed. Most insurance companies 
provide coverage for some cancer screening, but that coverage is 
inconsistent and often does not provide coverage for the appropriate 
type of screening test given a person's risk level. My office has 
received comments from not only colleagues and constituents but doctors 
who talk about plans that do not cover tests that are needed to save 
lives and to prevent cancer from growing. If it is caught in the 
beginning, it is a very minor procedure. Yet if it continues to a more 
life-threatening stage, it is not only costly in terms of suffering but 
also in terms of medical dollars.

                              {time}  1700

  This bill assures that all individuals with health insurance are 
guaranteed coverage for important cancer screening tests such as 
mammograms and prostate cancer screening. Science has proven that these 
screening exams work. If a doctor and patient have decided together 
that the patient would benefit from a screening exam, insurance 
companies should not have the right to deny coverage of a potentially 
lifesaving exam. This bill will save lives and lower the cost of 
treating cancer by increasing the rates of early detection.
  We have worked together on a number of bills, not only in health 
care, but in child care, in helping women-owned businesses and 
strengthening educational opportunities for our young people and our 
people who are displaced from work, and I look very, very much forward 
to working with my colleagues in the Women's Caucus, especially the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Kelly) who has been an outstanding 
leader in so many issues, particularly those that help women in 
business, women, children and families.
  I want to note that the Women's Caucus has probably been the most 
successful caucus in a bipartisan way of actually passing and enacting 
legislation. It was my privilege to work with the gentlewoman from the 
District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) last year when we really enacted into 
law many important measures to help women, children and families, and 
the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Mrs. Johnson) on the other side of 
the aisle.
  So I thank my colleague, the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Kelly), 
for organizing this special order for women's history. We have to 
realize that we are making history every day as we work here to 
strengthen the rights that so many women gave their lives for as they 
worked to gain the right to vote for women in this country. I thank her 
for going to Qatar with us and being part of that exciting election, 
and I thank all my colleagues for going on record and voting in support 
of the elections and the right for women to stand for office in Qatar.
  Mrs. KELLY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from the District 
of Columbia (Ms. Norton).
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding to me, 
and I especially thank her for her initiative in organizing this 
special order.
  Mr. Speaker, I am a former Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity 
Commission, have spent much of my life working on women's issues. Many 
of them are discrimination issues, many of them are not, and if you 
would ask the average woman which of the literally hundreds of women's 
issues are more important, you would have a hard time coming up with a 
single answer. But I think you would probably find more women saying 
that pay today is important than any other issue, and that is because 
women are out here and have to be out here working.
  Senator Tom Harkin and I simultaneously introduced the Fair Pay Act 
just before recess because Equal Pay Day, when we would have introduced 
it, occurred when Congress was out of session. Equal Pay Day is a day 
that women in the year, usually four months, earn about what men earn 
during the entire prior year.
  Thereafter we had a meeting at the White House with the Chief of 
Staff, John Podesta. At that meeting I asked that the President use 
Equal Pay Day to do an event to raise the profile of pay issues because 
they already high with the people of the United States, and to his 
credit the President and the First Lady had an event attended by 
several hundred women leaders on April 7 where, interestingly, they did 
not lecture us but invited in women, four women, to tell their own pay 
stories.
  Why does pay carry so much weight today? Even women who live in two-
parent families, two-thirds of them work. In year-round wages you have 
women up to somewhere in the 70s. It has bounced between 70 and 75 
percent during this decade. The source of the progress we have made in 
the last 20 years has been largely a thin slice of women at the highly-
trained level, and sadly, because of the decline in mens' wages, women 
are catching up.
  There are a number of bills, and I support them all, but I wanted to 
say just a word about the Fair Pay Act, because if you want to meet the 
problem of the average woman today who works, it will not even be an 
equal pay, as much as we still have to do in that. It will be an 
equivalent pay for equivalent jobs in traditional women's occupations. 
It is the mainstream women's occupations that are undervalued.
  Regardless of their education, the women now get more bachelors 
degrees, and women finish high school more often than men, women cannot 
catch up, and it is largely because even when they have working jobs 
where they have the same skill, effort, responsibility and working 
conditions as men, they are not paid the same so that if a woman is an 
emergency services operator and a man is a fire dispatcher, he is going 
to earn more money even though they both may have 2 years of community 
college.
  The Fair Pay Act therefore says that discrimination in jobs that are 
equivalent in skill, effort, responsibility and working conditions 
should be paid the same, and it would add that to the law. Equivalent 
pay for equivalent jobs is going to be the issue of the next decade, 
just as the issue of the 1960's when we got the Equal Pay Act was equal 
pay for equal jobs. The Fair Pay Act does not tamper with the market 
system because the woman has to show that the reason for the disparity 
is not market factors but discrimination.
  I would like to go through and talk about the women who appeared at 
the White House on April 7, but in deference to the woman who still may 
want to speak during this special order, I would like to conclude by 
saying that I think we are off to a good start and we ought to keep 
before the House this entire term the importance of women's issues.
  I congratulate the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Kelly) who 
organized this special order, and I congratulate her strong partner, 
the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney), for her work in a 
bipartisan manner with the gentlewoman from her own home state.
  Mrs. KELLY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from North 
Carolina (Mrs. Clayton).
  Mrs. CLAYTON. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to make sure that the gentlewoman 
from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) had completed her sharing 
with us over the pay equity, which is so

[[Page 6318]]

important for the full House to understand, so I want to, if I may, 
yield additional time as she may want to conclude that statement. She 
was so gracious.
  Ms. NORTON. That is very kind of the gentlewoman and very typical of 
her.
  Unless the gentlewoman from New York needs that time, I do think it 
would greatly illustrate my point to have some examples.
  Mrs. KELLY. If the gentlewoman will just manage to fit it in, I think 
like in 2\1/2\ minutes, it is fine. I personally would like to hear the 
examples, Mr. Speaker, and I would be delighted to have her take that 
time if she would like to have it.
  Ms. NORTON. I very much appreciate it. It will take just a couple of 
minutes.
  These are the women that came. One my colleagues may have read about, 
a woman from Massachusetts Institute of Technology who is a molecular 
biologist who is at the top, who never dreamed of herself as a victim 
of discrimination, at the top at MIT of a tenured professor, the top of 
the scale. Then she found out that she was making 20 percent less than 
men who had come at the same time, had done the same amount of work, 
and she talked to other women, found 14 other tenured women had 
precisely the same circumstance. To MIT's credit, instead of becoming 
defensive, MIT said, ``Let us do a study. We're scientists, let us 
study,'' and have been decided to bring up the women's pay. That is the 
example, it seems to me, that we want to put forward.
  Sanya Tyler who is the head women's coach, basketball coach, at 
Howard University sued Howard University. She now compliments Howard 
University because our university has now moved forward to rectify a 
situation where the only team that was winning was the girls' 
basketball team, and yet they had disparities in everything from 
facilities to her own pay. Her pay was brought up, and again the 
employer has moved forward instead of becoming defensive.
  Patricia Higgins, a nurse from Cleveland, Ohio, who testified that 
her daughter wanted to be a nurse, but the fact is she is a pharmacist. 
People who are not doing the same job, had no more training, did not 
work in the high-pressured nursing and high-skilled nursing that she 
did and yet earned more money, and she expects that she is now in a 
union organizing drive, and she thinks that AFSCME is simply going to 
be able to negotiate up the salaries of the nurses so that they are 
equivalent to the salaries of the pharmacists.
  These were three of the most salient examples, and I think when 
America hears those examples, America wants to do something about it.
  I very much thank the gentlewoman from New York, and I particularly 
thank the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Clayton).
  Mrs. KELLY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from North 
Carolina (Mrs. Clayton); however I would like to retain 1 minute for 
myself.
  Mrs. CLAYTON. Mr. Speaker, I really wanted to congratulate the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Kelly) as well as the gentlewoman who 
is also from New York, our colleague (Mrs. Maloney), in holding this 
special order and allowing me to participate and to thank them for 
raising issues that are important to women in our communities and in 
our Nation. I particularly am interested in supporting the effort of 
encouraging women to take leadership roles in emerging countries. I was 
pleased to be voting on the bill that allowed that to happen.
  I encourage also the whole enterprise effort of women who are now 
becoming the growing percentage of small business people, so those 
issues that would allow our families not only to be viable, but also to 
be businesswomen and to be striving as businesswomen, not just 
existing.
  I just want to bring up one issue, and I will conclude. That is the 
issue of child care. If we are going to talk about ability for mothers 
to go out to work, they have to be concerned about child care.
  I am introducing a bill where we will provide tax credit not only for 
child care, but also for the training of child care workers to make 
sure that we can assure quality child care for mothers who need that so 
desperately. So issues about income, issues about leadership and issues 
about our children and child care are very much issues about families, 
and I want to support that and urge my colleagues also to be ready to 
support those initiatives that come in.
  Mrs. KELLY. Mr. Speaker, I do not think I will take all of the 
remaining time, but I want to note that many women have spoken here 
this afternoon, and, as you can see, women's interests in Congress 
cover a vast array of legislation. One of the positive things about the 
House Women's Caucus is our ability to recognize that we, working 
together, can affect the course of legislation in the United States 
Congress and hopefully, therefore, make life better for all of the 
families, women and children in the United States.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the members of the 
Women's Caucus for having this Special Order tonight and for allowing 
me the opportunity to speak. I would like to focus on the issue of 
Domestic Violence against women. The dynamics of domestic violence can 
be as subtle as verbal attacks or as overt as murder. Nationwide, one 
out of every four women of all women has been battered at some point in 
their lives.
  Violence against women destroys families, takes the lives of women 
and their children, and it traumatizes the young people who witness it. 
It is a well documented fact that children who witness violence in the 
home grow up to repeat the same patterns as adults.
  The tragedy of violence against women is not just a personal problem, 
it is a community crisis. It is up to the community to get involved to 
address this issue.
  Domstic violence affects women of all races and socio-economic 
backgrounds. A high percentage of these victims are women of color. 
African-American women account for 16% of the women who have been 
physically abused by a husband or partner in the last five years.
  According to the Houston Area Women's Center, over 1100 women in 
Houston called for counseling services in 1997 for family violence. 
This counseling included services for women with children and teenagers 
who have also survived violence.
  This figure only accounts for the women who have sought help. There 
are others who continue to suffer in silence. There were also 102 women 
in Houston who were killed by their partners in 1997.
  We all have heard the stories of women who have suffered abuse. In my 
district I have heard the personal stories of domestic abuse survivors 
and I have also heard the tragic accounts of women who lost their lives 
at the hands of their partners.
  One of my staff members recounted for me a story from her days at 
Legal Aid. A young woman with three children came in for assistance to 
get permanent custody of her three small children. She had suffered 
from years of abuse from her husband and she had finally decided to 
leave him.
  Although her husband continued to harass and threaten her, this brave 
young women came to seek help in defiance of his threats. She declared 
that she was better off poor and alone than dead. This woman's story is 
inspiring because she made the decision to speak out about her 
situation. This means that we must continue our efforts to get domestic 
violence out in the open.
  I hope that domestic violence will continue to be viewed as a serious 
public health issue that deserves our attention. We must encourage 
women to speak out and to seek help. As a community, we must provide 
support, encouragement and compassion.
  Mrs. ROUKEMA. Mr. Speaker, I rise to join my Colleague from New 
York--Sue Kelly for her leadership--and the other Members of the 
Congressional Caucus on Women's Issues in the special order. As the 
senior woman in the House, by virtue of seniority, I have been laboring 
in these vineyards for many years. I am always pleased to have fresh 
recruits. So I welcome all the Congresswomen to this special order 
today.


                     All Issues are Women's Issues

  When I first ran for Congress, my experience was that every interview 
with every reporter started off with the same set of question: ``What 
is your position on the `women's issues?''
  And my response was alway the same: all issues are women's issues. 
And I still believe that.
  But I have to tell you, when I got to Washington, I found that some 
of the ``women's issues--the ``family issues''--weren't being addressed 
by the men in power. Things like child

[[Page 6319]]

support enforcement and women's health issues and family safety issues. 
It wasn't that the men were opposed to these issues--they just didn't 
get it. They were not sufficiently aware of them.
  So I realized, in many important areas--if we women in government 
don't take action, no one else will.


                            Need More Women

  That's why we need more women in Congress.
  That's why we need more women State legislators.
  That's why we need more women Governors.
  That's why we need more women in the County Courthouses, the Township 
Municipal buildings and the City Halls.
  Of course, there are countless issues that have been thrust into the 
national spotlight due in large part to the efforts of women in 
Congress--health care, equal pay, family and medical leave, education 
to name just a few.
  I would like to take a moment to examine one issue upon which women 
lead.
  Child support enforcement
  The first issue stems from the national epidemic of child support 
neglect. This epidemic of shame affects over 20 million families where 
parents ignore both the financial and psychological needs of their 
children
  I have a long history of standing up for child support enforcement, 
having been a pioneer on child support reforms and having served on the 
U.S. Commission for Inter-State Child Support Enforcement. It's a 
national disgrace that our child support enforcement system continues 
to allow so many parents who can afford to provide for their children's 
support--both financially and psychologically--to shirk these 
obligations.
  Among those due support, about 50% received the full amount, about a 
25% received partial payment and about 25% received NOTHING. In 1991, 
of the total $17.7 billion owed for child support, $5.8 billion was not 
paid! This figure is unconscionable!!
  Through the years, Congress has taken many concrete steps to crack 
down on child support deadbeats. The most recent major reform was 
contained in the landmark welfare reform legislation we passed in 
1996--beacuse after all, child support enforcement reform is welfare 
prevention.
  Now we have another opportunity to strengthen the child support 
enforcement network.
  One of the major unfinished items of business from the last Congress 
is bankruptcy reform. Indeed the Leadership has indicate that 
bankruptcy reform will considered in the House in the next few weeks.
  I am very pleased that the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1999, H.R. 833, 
introduced by Representative Gekas, strengthens child support 
enforcement in a bankruptcy proceeding. H.R. 833 does the following: 
(1) Makes child support payments number one when determining which 
debts are paid first in a bankruptcy case (2) confirmation and 
discharge of Chapter 13 plans are made conditional upon the Debtor's 
complete payment of child support (3) provides that the automatic stay 
DOES NOT apply to a state child support collection agency trying to 
recover child support payments.
  I will be working with Chairman Gekas and Representative Clay Shaw to 
further refine and improve the language that will eventually be 
included in the final bill.
  It is important to remember that failure to pay child support is not 
a victimless crime. The children are the first and most important 
victims. We must ensure that these children are taken care of and I 
will continue my relentless effort in this pursuit.
  Remember, All issues are women's issues'', nevertheless, women and 
children are sometimes victims because of indifference or lack of 
sensitivity. We pledge here today to give them the sensitivity they 
need.
  Ms. SANCHEZ. What a century this has been for the advancement of 
women's rights in America. Women vote, we own businesses, we explore 
outer space. We fight in our nation's armed services, we represent our 
fellow citizens in our legislature, courts and state houses, and we 
have a greater role in U.S. public policy than ever before. But first 
and foremost among these accomplishments is the ability to control our 
own economic destinies.
  I am here tonight to salute women business owners who have helped 
this remarkable change grow. And in particular, I praise the Women's 
Economic Summit, one of the first gatherings of its kind. It is 
planting the seeds for even greater future successes, and I am proud to 
be a part of that progress.
  Women everywhere build their success on that of the women who have 
gone before them. Tonight I salute women business owners for their work 
in making the American dream available to our friends and daughters.

                          ____________________