Women's Commission Proposed Today
(via Politico)
A California congresswoman is pressing forward with legislation to set up a permanent federal commission on women just weeks after President Barack Obama created an interagency council to focus the government’s policies towards women and girls.
“I don’t see them at all in competition. I see them as complementary to each other,” Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) told POLITICO.
Speier said she plans to introduce a bill Thursday that would set up a 13-member federal commission similar to one President Kennedy created in 1961 at the urging of Eleanor Roosevelt, who also served as the panel’s chairwoman.
“I would say, ‘We’ve come a long way, baby’ … not,” Speier said, putting a twist on the old Virginia Slims cigarette slogan. “If you look at statistics, it’s very telling. Women represent only 17 percent of Congress. The amount women make in comparison to men is only 77 cents on the dollar. … It’s that kind of insidious discrimination that lingers.”
