On the recordApril 12, 2016
Mr. President, I am very pleased to be here with both of the Senators from Washington, one of the few States that have two Senators who are women. It is great to be here with both of them. I would also like to thank Senator Barbara Mikulski for leading the effort for the Paycheck Fairness Act. She is the longest serving woman in congressional history. She has opened many doors for all of us. When she first wrote her book about women in the Senate, it was called ``Nine and Counting.'' Well, today, our count is even higher, as there are 20 women in the Senate. She was the first woman--Barbara Mikulski was--to chair the Senate Appropriations Committee. Because of her groundbreaking work in this Congress, 10 committees have either a chair or a ranking member who is a woman. Today, as the presiding officer knows, President Obama formally dedicated a new national monument to honor women's suffrage and equal rights. I am a cosponsor of the bill to have the Sewall-Belmont House named as a national historical site. The Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument is named after Alice Paul and Alva Belmont, two leaders of the National Woman's Party. It will house an extensive collection that documents the history of the movement for women's equality. What has happened in the last decade or so?…