The Debt

Floor Speech

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Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, I commend my colleague for her extraordinary remarks and her leadership in fighting for these issues.

It is a privilege to be in the Senate today to listen to the remarks of all of the Senate women colleagues who care so deeply about women in America and how they are literally being used as a pawn in a debate about the budget.

These women have drawn a line in the sand, a line in the sand that we will not let you cross. You may not balance the budget on the backs of women, period.

It is very simple. The election last November was not about a mandate for these social issues. It was about the economy. It was about, How are we going to create jobs? How do we get a body of representatives to come together, work together across party lines, to come up with solutions? That is what the election was about.

The American people voted overwhelmingly for a vote and a discussion of issues relating to jobs. How do we create jobs? How do we create the atmosphere and the landscape so our small businesses can grow?

But that is not what the House of Representatives has focused on. No. They have created an entire agenda around an assault on women. Women's safety nets, women's health care, protections for women and children, early childhood education, prenatal care, Pap smears--you name it--this is what they are beginning to focus their attention on.

Millions of Americans depend on reproductive services. Millions of women depend on prenatal care, on early cancer screenings, breast exams--all of the types of preventive health care that families rely on. In fact, in New York, there are over 200,000 New Yorkers who rely on this preventive care.

For my friends and colleagues, this is a factual statement: Current law already prevents Federal money from paying for abortions. This has been the law of the land for over 30 years.

Shutting down the government to fight a political argument is not only outrageous, it is irresponsible. The price for keeping the government open is this assault on women's rights, equality, access to health care, access to preventive care.

Women shoulder the worst of health care costs, including outrageous discriminatory practices that we worked so hard during health care reform to fix.

The National Women's Law Center tells us that under the previous health care system, a 25-year-old woman would have to pay 45 percent more to get basic health care than a male her same age. Some of the most essential services required by women for their basic health were not covered by many insurance plans, such as prenatal care, Pap smears, or mammograms or preventive screenings, including postpartum depression, domestic violence, and family planning.

The institutionalized discrimination in our health care system is wrong and it is a tax on women and their families. What we did in health care reform was to begin to address these issues to make sure the inadequacies of our current system could be addressed, safeguarding women's health, and making sure this institutional discrimination no longer exists.

Yesterday was Equal Pay Day. Women all across America earn 78 cents for every $1 their male colleagues earn for doing the exact same job. Yesterday was the day it would take a woman to work all of last year and this year to earn exactly what that male colleague earned in 1 year.

Well, who does that affect? It affects families. It affects every family in America who has a working mother who is bringing money home to pay for her children, for her family, for their well-being.

So when we should be talking about the economy and issues about how do we have equal pay in this country, the Republican House is talking about how to continue this rhetoric and assault and negative effects on women and their families and what they need to protect themselves.

The votes we are going to have tomorrow to defund Planned Parenthood, to repeal health care--American women, make no mistake about it, this is an attack on you. It is an attack on every preventive health service, every safety net, everything you care about, whether it is early childhood education, Pap smears, mammograms, or prenatal care when you are pregnant. That is what their efforts are all about, and you should just know you have women of the Senate who will stand by you. We have drawn this line in the sand, and we will not allow them to cross it. We are your voice in Washington, we are your voice in Congress, and we will protect you and the basic safety nets and equality you should expect out of the U.S. Government.

Since I am the last speaker, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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