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WASHINGTON,
D.C. – U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) today joined other Democratic
women in the House of Representatives in repudiating inappropriate remarks
about single mothers by Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX).
It was reported today in Roll Call that DeLay said during a television
interview: "A woman can take care of the family. It takes a man
to provide structure. To provide stability. Not that a woman
can't provide stability, I'm not saying that... It does take a father,
though."
Below
is the text of a letter to DeLay spearheaded by U.S. Representatives Louise
Slaughter (D-NY) and Hilda Solis (D-CA), Chair and Co-chair of the Congressional
Caucus for Women's Issues:
February
10, 2004
The
Honorable Tom DeLay
House
Majority Leader
242
Cannon House Office Building
Washington,
D.C. 20515
Dear
House Majority Leader Delay:
We are writing to express our profound disappointment with the comments
that you reportedly made during an interview, as repeated today in an article
in Roll Call ("Hammering Women," pp. 1, 15). According to this article,
you are quoted as saying:
"A
woman can take care of the family. It takes a man to provide structure.
To provide stability. Not that a woman can't provide stability, I'm
not saying that... It does take a father, though."
We believe that your remarks dismissing single mothers' capabilities reflect
a deeply held bias and explain your efforts, as House Majority Leader,
to weaken federal initiatives that provide women with vital support to
strengthen their families.
As
you are aware, the weak economy has caused tremendous job losses and increased
long-term unemployment, especially among single moms. The unemployment
rate among low-income single mothers increased from 9.8 percent in 2000
to 12.3 percent in 2002, a faster rate than the national unemployment rate.
However, instead of showing compassion for the single mothers who are struggling
to provide for their families, you have waged a continuing campaign against
their interests.
For
example, during the difficult economy over the last few years, you have
supported raising the work-hour requirement under Temporary Assistance
for Needy Families (TANF) to 40 hours for thousands of mothers supporting
families, even though few new jobs have been created. At the same
time, you oppose sufficient childcare funding. Instead, last year
you advocated a paltry $1 billion increase - $10 billion short of what
the states would actually need. Moreover, you support an unproven
$1.5 billion marriage promotion scheme at the expense of safety-net programs
that are already significantly under-funded. In addition, you advocate
weakening programs critical to single mothers through your positions on
the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Community Development Block Grants
(CDBG), the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), and other initiatives.
As
Members of Congress who admire the strength and hard work that single mothers
devote everyday to supporting and caring for their families - including
providing their families with structure and stability - we remain deeply
committed to supporting single mothers and their families within our country.
Studies have shown that families fare better when single mothers succeed
in securing steady work, healthcare, decent wages, childcare and other
vital supports.
We hope that you will reconsider your views on single mothers and your
positions on federal programs that would help them.
Sincerely,
Louise
M. Slaughter
Hilda L. Solis
Tammy
Baldwin
Corinne Brown
Linda
Sanchez
Barbara Lee
Marcy
Kaptur
Diana DeGette
Carolyn
Maloney
Rosa DeLauro
Maxine
Waters
Jan Schakowsky
Stephanie
Tubbs Jones
Zoe Lofgren
Lucille
Roybal-Allard
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