Bonnie Watson Coleman: “I want to thank the gentlewoman, my colleague from Illinois, for providing this opportunity for me to share with you…”

“I want to thank the gentlewoman, my colleague from Illinois, for providing this opportunity for me to share with you this evening. I am also honored to join my Congressional Black Caucus colleagues on the floor as we celebrate Women's History Month, and I am particularly grateful to our chairman, Chairman Butterfield. This year's commemoration of the women who have shaped this Nation is especially important here in this body because, for the first time, more than 100 women hold seats, speaking on behalf of Americans from Alaska to Florida. This year, the Congressional Black Caucus includes 20 women who are fighting for working families, for better wages, for more funding for better education, and for the many other policies that will make our Nation stronger and our families healthier. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to be the very first African American woman to represent the State of New Jersey in Congress and to be the only woman currently serving in this delegation. These are outstanding firsts, and I am thrilled to be one of them, but this is 2015, Mr. Speaker, and we shouldn't still be speaking about ``firsts'' and ``onlys'' when it comes to women. There may be 104 of us, but women still make up only 20 percent of Congress while we make up more than half of the population. Women across this country still earn just 78 cents for every $1 that is earned by men, and we have heard that women of color, particularly African American women, earn even less than this.…”