Date: 2014-03-13
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. this morning we are now in the midst of Womens History Month. I want to associate myself with the womens history Special Order that was on the floor last evening. I look forward through the rest of the month of March to continue or to acknowledge women from my own congressional district. This morning. however. I wish to comment on a woman who has loomed large in our political eyes. and I thought out of fairness to give the record of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton a fair shot. The reason I chose to do that. Mr. Speaker. is over the weekend. as many occurrences occur. political meetings abound in this Nation. and the Conservative Political Action Conference met. Interestingly enough in the reporting. the newspaper noted that Hillary Rodham Clinton had a presence at the Nations largest gathering of conservative activists. Interestingly enough. former Secretary Clinton was not there. obviously not invited. I think it is important to take note of some of the comments that were made that really require some kind of addressing. One comment was that women should not be used. Another came from the former Speaker and charged that if Secretary Clinton decided to run for President. it would be like a prison guard for the past. Words I think that may be political rhetoric but really do a great disservice to a woman with a very strong historical record. Early in her life. former Secretary Clinton met Dr. Martin Luther King. born in Chicago to parents whose political beliefs. or part of their political beliefs. were different from Secretary Clintons today. She was an active young woman and through her church had the opportunity to meet Dr. Martin Luther King. You can imagine her thoughts a few years later when Dr. King was assassinated. It may have had a major impact on her belief in serving her country and helping America. Hillary Clinton is a graduate of Wellesley College and Yale Law School. She worked on migrant worker issues for Walter Mondales staff. Also. she was on the law editorial boardI would suggest. at that time. certainly one of the pioneering women at Yale Law School. Of course many of us know that she worked for the Childrens Legal Defense Fund and really honed her skills of concern about making children our number one priority. I would offer to say that when I came to the United States Congress. former Secretary Clinton was First Lady. At that time I organized and founded the Congressional Childrens Caucus. During the 1990s it was very clear that the First Lady at that time was very concerned still with childrens issues and held one of the first conferences on 0 to 3 months. and how a baby could learn and how we should be nurturing that infant. It was a very major conference to focus our legislative agenda on that issue. It was during that time that Marian Wright Edelman continued to work with the former Secretary of State on the issues of dealing with the whole comprehensive child. what a child needs from 0 on to adulthood. Even today I would argue that we do not have a childrens agenda. I will soon be offering a briefing promoting a childrens budget that came out of the efforts and collaboration with the former Secretary of State during her tenure in the White House as First Lady. As First Lady she traveled to emphasize the importance of freedom for women around the world. She was not yet Secretary. One of the first acts that we remember. among the acts that we remember. is her going to China and declaring that womens rights are human rights. I would venture to say that the words at the CPAC convention do not in any way characterize the leadership of Hillary Rodham Clinton. Certainly she has gone on to many other successes. which include her leadership as Secretary of State. the constant work of freeing women. womens rights. I would say. Mr. Speaker. that she is a fine example of a mother. a wife. a leading national figure. a historic figure who represents Womens History Month.