Newsroom: Speeches
- Democratic Women for Change Remarks, June 17, 2008
- Senate Floor Transcripts, June 18, 2008
DEMOCRATIC WOMEN FOR CHANGE REMARKS
TUESDAY, JUNE 17, 2008
Senator Barbara Mikulski:
We are the Democratic women of the Senate. We had different candidates in the primary, but now we have come together to offer America our Checklist for Change. We women are a force. We are here to be the voice for women and the voice for families and to fight for change!
You know what women do to get things done, we make checklists. Your Democratic Women Senators have looked at the macro issues that affect the world and the Macaroni & Cheese issues that impact families. * Yes - It is about gender. And yes - it is about an agenda.
My issue is equal pay for equal work. Equality in a woman's checkbook means change in the federal law book. Women are earning just 77 cents for every dollar our male counterpart makes. Look at the Supreme Court's decision on Ledbetter v. Goodyear. Lilly took her case to the Supreme Court. Well the Supreme Court made an outrageous decision - said she waited too long. Chief Justice Ruth Ginsburg said we needed to fix this in Congress - she called on Congress for action and said we must correct this mistake.
We brought our resolution to Senate floor and lost by 4 votes when our Republican colleagues filibustered. When the vote was over, Republicans thought the issue was over. But they hadn't reckoned with us. I went to the Senate floor to call for a new American revolution. I said it's time to square our shoulders, put on our lipstick and work together to fight for America.
We need you to join us to fight! For Lilly Ledbetter and for women all over Americans. We will bring the FAIR PAY RESTORATION ACT back up for a vote. Because equal work for equal pay is about fairness, justice and respect.
We're riled up! We're revved up! And we're ready to go!
Senator Blanche Lincoln:
As mothers, daughters, wives, sisters, and legislators, we know that access to quality and affordable healthcare matters to America’s working families. They want nothing more than the security that health insurance offers.
As federal employees, each of us standing before you today is blessed with access to a quality, affordable health plan. Every American, young and old, deserves this same peace of mind.
In our great country, however, 47 million Americans lack health insurance. Eight out of 10 of these uninsured Americans are working.
The majority of uninsured Americans are small business employees or self-employed individuals. Small businesses need innovative ways to offer affordable, accessible healthcare to their employees. That’s why I’ve worked to design a comprehensive solution that will allow our small businesses to band together and spread their risk, much like the program for federal employees.
It’s hard to imagine that with 47 million uninsured Americans, we’re only on the verge of a national healthcare crisis—a crisis which will explode once the Baby Boomers hit Medicare age. Critical reform of Medicare is needed if we have any hope of ensuring our seniors—those who have built our great country—continue to receive essential care.
Today, access to quality and affordable health care is out of reach for millions of American families. We believe that providing the kind of security health insurance offers is worth fighting for.
Senator Diane Feinstein:
America has been called a beacon of hope, because people all over the world look to American justice and human rights for inspiration. We have represented a brighter future, a government by the people, for the people, with justice for all. But now, that beacon has been dimmed.
Despite President Bush’s promise that the United States would fight the war on terror consistent with American values and “in the finest traditions of valor,” the decision was made, as Vice President Cheney said in 2001, to “go to the dark side.”
Indeed, this Administration has put our nation on the wrong track in so many ways, including:
- Creating a prisoner of war detention facility at Guantanamo Bay with a separate, lesser system of justice – now repudiated by the Supreme Court.
- Authorizing interrogation techniques that constitute torture.
- Reopening the nuclear door by seeking to develop low-yield battlefield nuclear weapons and 100-kiloton bunker busters.
- Countenancing the first use of Nuclear Weapons against a non-nuclear threat; and
- Preemptively invading Iraq, under the guise of weapons of mass destruction and a false nexus to Al Qaeda.
So, today, we see America’s credibility in the world diminished -- and the Administration’s policies have become a recruiting tool for our enemies. So, in seven and a half years, America has gone from a nation embraced, to a nation often tarnished. The time has come for a change.
The time has come to:
- Lay out an exit strategy in Iraq, so we can begin to bring our troops home.
- Close Guantanamo. Shut it down.
- Stop America’s use of torture. Establish a uniform standard for detentions and interrogations across our government.
- Use robust diplomacy. Create coalitions. Listen to allies. Talk with adversaries. This makes us stronger, not weaker.
- Develop a new, more sensible nuclear weapons policy – so that we don’t encourage the very proliferation we are seeking to prevent.
Senator Patty Murray:
The time has come for a change. The time has come to restore America’s credibility as a moral and just nation, dedicated to liberty and justice.
I come to the issue of veterans’ care from a very personal place. My father was a disabled World War II veteran who never talked about his service. It wasn’t until after his death – when we found his diaries – that we learned that he had been awarded a Purple Heart. Like my dad, there are so many veterans who have sacrificed for our nation, who deserve care and respect – even if they don’t reach out and ask for help. But our nation needs to reach out to them.
When I was in college, during the Vietnam War, I interned on the psychiatric ward of the Seattle VA at a time when veterans were criticized for their service. Today, no matter how Americans feel about the war, we are united in our support for our veterans and their families. That’s why it’s so frustrating that this Administration has failed year after year to step up and honor their sacrifice with support and leadership.
Too many military families are struggling just to get by while their loved ones are at war. Too many service members are returning home, only to have to battle their own country for benefits they have earned. Too many veterans are suffering from untreated PTSD and TBI. And too many are winding up on the streets, unable to find jobs or housing.
Democrats have fought to help our wounded warriors get their benefits, to ensure we’re doing critical mental health research, and to help service members transition from the military to civilian life.
But we’re still fighting to get the VA to be honest about its needs. Too often, we learn through leaks and scandals about rising suicide numbers, long waiting lines, and sub-par conditions at VA hospitals. And we have a White House threatening to veto the most substantial modernization of the G.I. Bill in a generation.
Our veterans and military families are worth fighting for and it’s time for an Administration who is dedicated to them – not just their bottom line.
SENATE FLOOR TRANSCRIPTS
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2008
Senator Barbara Mikulski
Senator Claire McCaskill
Senator Dianne Feinstein
Senator Mary Landrieu
Senator Barbara Boxer
Senator Debbie Stabenow
Senator Amy Klobuchar
Senator Blanche Lincoln
