Here's an interesting missive from Senator Boxer:
Dear Friend:
Each March, Americans celebrate Women’s History Month by remembering and by teaching a new generation about the critical role that women have played in our nation’s history.
Like so many other great ideas, this observance began in California. Sonoma County established an annual Women’s History Week in 1978 during the week of March 8th, when International Women’s Day is celebrated worldwide. The idea quickly caught on across the country and in Congress, where resolutions celebrating Women's History Month have been passed with bipartisan support since 1987.
Women have made great strides throughout American history, from winning universal voting rights to keeping our economy moving during World War II. Women have fought wars for this country, and they have helped to end them. They have kept our children safe, healthy, and well-educated. Within my children’s lifetimes, women’s voices have grown louder in the boardroom, in science labs, and in the halls of government. Within my grandchildren’s lifetimes, I have faith that we will move closer to true equality.
But we have a long way to go. We are more than half of this country, but we’re just a sixth of the people representing it in Congress. Women still earn an average of 77 cents for every dollar men make. Just 15 women run a Fortune 500 company. And now women’s health is under assault in Congress.
The Republicans’ 2011 budget would end funding for the critical Title X family planning program, which provides millions of breast cancer screenings and STI tests and which helps prevent hundreds of thousands of unwanted pregnancies every year.
Republicans also want to eliminate federal funding for Planned Parenthood. That means more than 730,000 Californians – men and women – who rely on Planned Parenthood’s services will lose access to quality, affordable health care, for cancer and STI screenings, and for counseling on issues ranging from family planning to dealing with sexual assault - and this budget would decimate all of those services.
Women’s History Month gives us a chance to honor the past achievements of American women. We can honor them and their legacy by giving every American equal treatment and support under the law, in the workplace, and in the classroom. We can honor them by ensuring that being female will never be hazardous to anyone’s health. And we can honor them by building on, not undoing, all of their hard work. Every woman and girl deserves to leave her mark for the next generation, and it’s up to all of us to give them that chance.
Each March, Americans celebrate Women’s History Month by remembering and by teaching a new generation about the critical role that women have played in our nation’s history.
Like so many other great ideas, this observance began in California. Sonoma County established an annual Women’s History Week in 1978 during the week of March 8th, when International Women’s Day is celebrated worldwide. The idea quickly caught on across the country and in Congress, where resolutions celebrating Women's History Month have been passed with bipartisan support since 1987.
Women have made great strides throughout American history, from winning universal voting rights to keeping our economy moving during World War II. Women have fought wars for this country, and they have helped to end them. They have kept our children safe, healthy, and well-educated. Within my children’s lifetimes, women’s voices have grown louder in the boardroom, in science labs, and in the halls of government. Within my grandchildren’s lifetimes, I have faith that we will move closer to true equality.
But we have a long way to go. We are more than half of this country, but we’re just a sixth of the people representing it in Congress. Women still earn an average of 77 cents for every dollar men make. Just 15 women run a Fortune 500 company. And now women’s health is under assault in Congress.
The Republicans’ 2011 budget would end funding for the critical Title X family planning program, which provides millions of breast cancer screenings and STI tests and which helps prevent hundreds of thousands of unwanted pregnancies every year.
Republicans also want to eliminate federal funding for Planned Parenthood. That means more than 730,000 Californians – men and women – who rely on Planned Parenthood’s services will lose access to quality, affordable health care, for cancer and STI screenings, and for counseling on issues ranging from family planning to dealing with sexual assault - and this budget would decimate all of those services.
Women’s History Month gives us a chance to honor the past achievements of American women. We can honor them and their legacy by giving every American equal treatment and support under the law, in the workplace, and in the classroom. We can honor them by ensuring that being female will never be hazardous to anyone’s health. And we can honor them by building on, not undoing, all of their hard work. Every woman and girl deserves to leave her mark for the next generation, and it’s up to all of us to give them that chance.
Sincerely,
Barbara Boxer
United States Senator
Barbara Boxer
United States Senator
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