Date: 2006-03-08
Speaker: LINDA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I am excited and honored to be here tonight to help celebrate Womens History Month. I am hoping" tonight that my colleagues and I can share with everyone what it is like to be a young woman in Congress and how we got our start here. In addition. I am interested in sharing my thoughts on where women stand in todays workforce. I am proud to stand here tonight with Representative DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ and RepreseDtative STEPHANIE HERSETH because together we make up the youngest women in the U.S. House of Representatives. It is my hope that someday soon there will be more than just three of us standing up here. In fact. I think it would be fantastic if we could fill up at least half of this Chamber with bright energetic women from across America. I want to talk for a moment about women in the workforce. because every morning in households across America. women rise. We rise for work. we rise to care forchildren. we rise for the love of our jobs and for the love of our families. We rise to put food on the table. and we rise to make ends meet. Above all. we rise to our calling because we can. because we are capable. No matter what a woman does for a living. we as women have a lot in common because it was not so long ago thatwomen were forced to hide in the shadows of the American. workforce. Today. we are a strong and vital part of the American economy and more women work outside the home than ever before. We continue to gain more career opportunities and achieve professional successes in all fields. But have we truly reacled equality in the American workforce? Sadly. the answer is no. The Equal Pay Act. was passed more than 40 years ago. yet women still only make 76 cents for every dollar that a man makes. even when accounting for factors such as occupation. industry. race. marital status and job tenure. This gap has persisted for two decades. The glass ceiling is as shiny as it ever has been. According to a recent oped in USA Today. we still have miles to go. before we can claim true equality. Women make up less than 15 percent of Congress and lawfirm partners. 12 percent of bigbcity mayors. 9 percent of judges. and just 1 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs. Women and men have had equal levels of posthigh school education for 30 years. but the gender and color of those in power has not changed much in that time. My experiences during my first year in Congress are very similar to the experiences that I had as a young female attorney. You have to work twice as hard as men to dispel peoples doubts about preconceived notions that they might have of you. I had to deal with that from day one in Washington. Many people in Washington. D.C. are still not convinced that I am a Congresswoman because I am young. female. and Latina. A lot of people still assume that Members of Congress are men. and that leads to a whole lot of double standards here. In addition. I was surprised to learn that I am the first Latina in the history of the United States House of Representatives to serve on the Judiciary Committee and the Immigration Subcommittee. In every field. the higher up you you look in the other direction. women still remain disproportionately concentrated in lowerpaying jobs: This means that it is far more likely for women to live in poverty than men. The bottom line? Dont be fooled. While we are making gains. true workforce equalitystill remains an elusive goal. But it is a goal I am not willing to give up on. Tonight. we celebrate Womens History Month because we have come so far after so much struggle and we deserve an opportunity to reflect our successes. Today. we are here to honor the successes of pioneering women who came before us. to examine where we are now. and to prepare for the future. We already know that women are smart. but no matter how smart you are. it is tough to win when the rules dictate unequal pay for unequal work. A colleague of ours. Congresswoman DELAURO. has introduced the Paycheck Fairness Act. legislati6n that would take critical steps to empower women to negotiate for equal pay. create strong incentives for employers to obey the* laws that are in place. and strengthen Federal outreach and enforcement efforts. I encourage people to contact their Member of Congress and let them know they support H.R. 1687. the Paycheck Fairness Act. Right now. there are only 88 cosponsors on Congresswoman DELAUROs bill. Out of the 435 elected voting Members of the Houseof Representatives. that still leaves 347 Members of Congress who have yet to support this bill. Now. I cannot imagine why 347 Members are not willing to stand up for womeis pay equality for our daughters. mothers. and sisters. Mr. Speaker. I hope people pick up the phone and remind their Representatives to get. on this bill and show that they truly value womens contributions in the workforce. Womens increased access to higher education will be a moot point -until our society provides better policies for working women. We owe it to our mothers. sisters and daughters. And while talking about better policies. I want to briefly touch as well on the minimum wage. Democrats in Congress are committed to raising the minimum wage to ensure that no one who works for a living lives in poverty. While the number of Americans in poverty has increased by 4.3 million since President Bush took office. the minimum. wage has been frozen at $5.15 since 1997. Democrats introduced the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2005. legislation that would raise the minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour and help lift millions of Americans out of poverty. Women and children are the number one victims of poverty in this country. so I think it is important to remember that by raising the minimum wage we will be significantly raising the status of women and children. In order to truly commemorate Womlook. the fewer women you see. And if ens History Month. I think we need to remember that actions speak louder than words. I know the American public is tired of hearing politicians highlight our countrys -problems without offering any reallife solutions. Tonight. I have touched on two problems and I have named two real solutions that are on the table right now. All that is left for us to do is to act. Let us achieve real pay equity for women and raise the minimum wage. Together. America can do better on behalf of all women and all working families. Mr. Speaker. at this time. I am pleased to yield back to the Representative from Florida.