Lynn C. Woolsey: “I come to the floor tonight in celebration of National Women's History Month, the month of March. I come here to salute…”

“I come to the floor tonight in celebration of National Women's History Month, the month of March. I come here to salute the women in this country. This month is unique to me, particularly because Sonoma County, in my district, is the birthplace of the National Women's History Project, the nonprofit educational organization that is responsible for establishing Women's History Month. In 1978, the Education Task Force of the Sonoma County Commission on the status of women, which I happened to be chair at that particular time, initiated a Women's History Week. Later in 1987, with the help of museums, libraries and educators across the country, the National Women's History Project petitioned Congress to expand the celebration to the entire month of March. Mr. Speaker, a resolution recognizing Women's History Month was quickly passed with strong bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate. Although the month of March gained this distinction about 20 years ago, and a lot has happened since then, we still have a lot of work ahead of us. When we celebrate women and when we look at women and children and the challenges ahead, we must do more for women and we must do more for families. We must do more for our communities and for our Nation, and one place where we can start is by improving education. Females make up slightly more than 50 percent of this country's population. Yet, less than 30 percent of America's scientists are women.”