[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 16395-16396]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     WOMEN AND POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT

  (Ms. SOLIS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to pay tribute to the women 
suffragettes who began their campaign for women's right to vote 157 
years ago today in Seneca Falls in New York. It would take over 72 
years of perseverance for this campaign to succeed and for women to 
gain the right to vote, with the ratification of the 19th amendment.
  Today, almost 85 years later, a higher percentage of women vote as 
compared to men. However, we still have about 32 percent of women in 
the United States who are not even registered to vote. Can you believe 
that?

[[Page 16396]]

Among that group of women between 18 and 24 years of age, 45 percent 
are not even registered to vote.
  We need to do more to energize and engage these young women in the 
political process. Women must have a voice in all national debates that 
affect them, especially on important issues like reproductive health, 
equal rights, and Social Security.
  As an example, in the debate over privatizing Social Security, 58 
percent of seniors receiving Social Security are women. Since women 
have a longer average life span than men, privatizing Social Security 
would harm them. Let us take up the banner, like the suffragettes did, 
and let us work hard for women's rights.

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