Welcoming Congresswomen: Seeing Girl Power in Action
To my fellow women, I know [most of] you are upset by the outcome of the election. I, like so many others, was thrilled to finally see a woman be a candidate for a major party. After a stunning defeat, I tried to find a shred of hope in amongst a pile of trash with the newly elected congresswomen . . and I did! Here are four women elected to Congress that we can look up to in these difficult times.
Tammy Duckworth
1. She is the first Asian-American woman to be elected
to congress in Illinois.
2. First member of Congress born in Thailand
3. Iraq war veteran
4. Served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Illinois Army National Guard
5. Disabled woman, losing both legs during her tour in Iraq
6. First disabled woman to be elected to the U.S.House of Representatives
7. Was the Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs
8. She helped establish the Intrepid Foundation to help injured veterans
9. Was awarded an honorary doctorate by Northern Illinois University
10. Duckworth was honored by Chicago's Access Living for her work on behalf of veterans with disabilities
On the issues (from on the issues.org):
1. Voted NO on prioritizing spending in case debt limit is reached
2. Equal pay for equal work
3. Push for total equality for the LGBT community
4.Voted YES on reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act
5. Opposes defining traditional marriage
6. Endorsed by The Feminist Majority indicating a pro-women's rights stance
7. Corporate political spending is not free speech
8. Support light rail and low-carbon modes of transportation
9. More funding & services for victims of domestic violence.
10. Supports restricting the Second Amendment
11. Opposes repealing ObamaCare
12. Endorsed by VoteVets.org; against wasteful defense spending
13. Pathway to citizenship as well as DREAM Act
14. Raise the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour by 2016
15. Iraq was a distraction from the real threat of terrorism
16. Voted NO on maintaining work requirement for welfare recipients
17. Sponsored maintaining SNAP nutrition assistance program
Kamala Harris
1. The second black and first Indian woman to be elected to the Senate since Carol Moseley Braun in 1993
2. Was the 32nd Attorney General of California and was endorsed by Senator Dianne Feinstein and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
3. Recognized by The Los Angeles Daily Journal as one of the top 100 lawyers in California
4. Stuck to her values during the trial of Officer Espinoza when she refused to seek the death penalty
5. Participated in the National Mortgage Settlement against five banks: Ally, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Citi Bank, and Chase
6. As San Francisco District Attorney, Harris create the Hate Crimes Unit focusing on LGBT teens
7. Created the Environmental Justice Unit
8. Honored as a “Woman of Power” at the National Urban League
On the Issues (from ontheissues.org):
1. $20B for struggling homeowners during mortgage crisis
2. Fight for equal rights for all
3. Ensure marriage equality for all Californians
4. Don't require cops to wear body cameras
5. Acknowledge that certain communities distrust police
6. Imprison violent criminals, not the non-violent
7. Make fighting transnational gangs a top priority
8. Recognize the war on drugs was a failure
9. Back on Track: re-entry instead of incarceration for drugs
10. innovate smart solutions to climate change
11. Fight to protect our coast
12. Served as attorney in Division on Children and Families
13. The way to keep us safe is NOT to keep outsiders out
14. Distinguish Islamic religion from terrorism
15. Companies should provide contraception under ObamaCare
16. An undocumented immigrant is not a criminal
Catherine Cortez Masto
1. First latina woman to be elected to the Senate
2. First woman elected to represent Nevada
3. Was a civil attorney for four years in Las Vegas
4. Was the attorney general of Nevada for eight years
5. Was a criminal prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C.
6. Served as Bob Miller’s chief of staff
7. Was executive vice chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education
On the Issues (from ontheissues.org):
1. Prosecute fraudulent foreclosure rescue & loan modifications
2. Pass real equal-pay-for-equal-work legislation
3. Marriage equality is a landmark, but more work to do.
4. Fight making Yucca Mountain a high-level nuclear waste dump
5. Established crime of sex trafficking of children and adults
6. Fight against reckless trade deals
7. Citizens United has been a disaster for our democracy
8. Don't turn Medicare into a voucher program
9. As A.G., refused to join lawsuit against ObamaCare
10. Comprehensive reform with earned path to citizenship
11. Privatizing subjects Nevada seniors to whims of stock market
12. Created a senior protection unit as Attorney General
13. Lower tax burden & higher wages for the middle class
Pramila Jayapal
1. First Indian-American woman to serve in the House of Representatives
2. First woman to represent the 7th District in Congress
3. Founded Hate Free Zone after 9/11(pro-immigration advocacy group)
4. Executive director of OneAmerica (Hate Free Zone name change)
5. Prevented the deportation of 4,000 Somalis when her group sued the Bush Administration’s Immigration and Naturalization Services
6. Honored as the “Champion of Change” by the White House
7. Received endorsement from Bernie Sanders
On the Issues (pramiliaforcongress.com):
1. Strengthen Affordable Care Act
2. She passed a bill to invest $5.25 million in pre-apprenticeship programs specifically for people of color and women
3. Introduced a bill requiring an equity impact analysis of education proposals to determine disproportionate impact on kids of color
4. Introduced an initiative to proactively change racist names on state lands
5. Restore and expand the Federal Voting Rights Act
6. Re-enfranchise the more than two million ex-felons who are African-Americans and paid their debt to society
7. Stop the systematic efforts to disenfranchise minority voters by requiring IDs or gerrymandering voting lines
8. raising the federal minimum wage
9. Stand up to the climate change deniers
10. Push for a clean energy economy that invests in alternative energies
11. Pramila created OneAmerica (formerly called Hate Free Zone)
12. Played a key role in passing the 2014 DREAM Act
13. Legalization and a path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants
14. Accept refugees in numbers that reflect America’s global status in the world
15. Efforts to pass the Early Start Act that put an additional $158 million into early childhood education
16. Increased teacher pay and benefits
17. Against TPP
18. Directing We Belong Together — a campaign to bring a gender lens to immigration reform policy that keeps families together and empowers women
19. Securing $5.25 million to fund pre-apprenticeship programs to create economic opportunities specifically for women
20. Join the Congressional Equality Caucus to pass the Equality Act and the Every Child Deserves a Family Act
21. Make it easier to access supplemental benefits for disabled care
22. Reform the funding formula for Social Security benefits