TOPICS:
		Overview
		Pay Equity
		Violence Against Women
		Reproductive Rights and Access to Reproductive Health Care
		Women's Health

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Overview

I am a strong and outspoken advocate for women’s rights. Throughout my life, I have worked toward equal rights, justice and equal protections for all women, both here in the U.S. and abroad. I proudly serve on the Congressional Caucus on Women’s Issues as the Democratic Co-Chair of the Young Women and Girls Task Force.


Pay Equity

Women’s participation in the labor market has expanded considerably in the last few decades. Although women’s pay relative to men’s has increased over time, women still earn only 77 cents for every dollar earned by men. The Institute of Women’s Policy Research found that this wage disparity will cost women anywhere from $400,000 to $2 million over a lifetime in lost wages. In 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act (EPA) into law, making it illegal for employers to pay unequal wages to men and women who perform equal work. I am also a strong supporter of the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which President Obama signed into law in January 2009. I believe that gender discrimination is still a prevalent problem in the workplace and I will continue to work to end pay inequities.


Violence Against Women

Since my first years in Congress when I helped lead a successful effort in the House Judiciary Committee to make the Violence Against Women Office within the Department of Justice a permanent entity, I have been a strong supporter of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). VAWA first passed in 1994 and is an integral part of the national effort to stop domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. I support fully funding the numerous grants VAWA provides every year to a wide range of organizations and service providers to combat these problems and create the social change necessary to end sexual violence.

I am the lead sponsor of a resolution to support the goals and ideals of National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. Studies show that one in six women and one in thirty-three men will be a victim of rape or attempted rape in their lifetime and that on average, a person is sexually assaulted in the U.S. every two-and-a-half minutes. In Wisconsin, there were 5,628 sexual assaults reported in 2004, the last year statistics are available. Despite the alarming prevalence of sexual assault, there is a clear and significant need for more public education and awareness. We still have far to go in eradicating the harm inflicted on our communities by sexual assault and domestic violence and I will continue to advocate for an end to all forms of violence against women.


Reproductive Rights and Access to Reproductive Health Care

As you are aware, abortion is a difficult and divisive issue, but one on which I have a firm position. I am pro-choice and support the United States Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, which protects a woman’s right to reproductive health and freedom. I believe that the abortions protected by that decision should be rare and safe, but that it should be a decision made between a woman, her family and her doctor, based on her own health and circumstances.

I also strongly support domestic and international family planning to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies and abortions worldwide and to save lives. I believe that all women, abroad and in the U.S., should be free to make their own reproductive health care decisions and should have access to legal, safe, and affordable contraception. In addition, I support efforts to reduce unwanted pregnancies, particularly teenage pregnancies.


Women's Health

I am a very strong advocate for women’s health issues and serve on the Health Task Force for the Congressional Progressive Caucus. I firmly support increasing funding for research on breast and cervical cancer, incidence of HIV/AIDS in women, heart disease, diabetes, and other health issues impacting women’s health.

I was the lead sponsor of the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program Reauthorization Act, which President Bush signed into law on April 20, 2007. This legislation reauthorizes a successful program that provides breast and cervical cancer screenings to low-income, uninsured, and underinsured women. It also gives states greater flexibility to reach more women who are eligible and in need. The bill increases funding for the program from $202 million currently, up to $275 million over the next five years, allowing it to serve hundreds of thousands more women nationwide.

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