Thank you, Cindy.

Tonight we celebrate the 30^th Anniversary of the Women’s Caucus.  And we do so in another momentous year for women in politics.  We see today all around Capitol Hill the progress women have made.

We have come from a time when one brave Congresswoman was forced to share a chair on the Armed Services Committee…

…to a time when twenty six women now are The Chair in  committees and subcommittees in the House.

That is progress.

It’s not yet victory, but it is progress.

Tonight we pay tribute to the founding Members of the Women’s Caucus who are so responsible for this progress.  As any woman knows – on or off the Hill – it has always been an uphill battle to achieve equal footing with our male counterparts.

The founding Members of the Caucus confronted that challenge every day in slights like that pushed on Pat Schroeder.  They were committed to making our country live up to the promise of equality for all that is at the core of America.  They brought to the national conscience the desperate need for action on issues like child care, family and medical leave, the wage gap.

They set the stage for the work that I and my 73 women colleagues in the House engage in everyday.  And, of course, they paved the way for our keynote speaker here to take her rightful place in the biggest chair of all in the House.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has accurately been described as one of the “most savvy political figures around.”

She has led the fight to protect Social Security benefits, she has been an ardent champion of Title IX and equality in education for girls.  She has served as leader of her party in the House and today leads the House as an institution.  She demonstrates everyday what this country has missed out on by taking 218 years to put a woman in the Speaker’s chair.

She is committed to building on the progress that woman have made in Congress and across America for the last 30 years.  We are so lucky to have her here tonight.  I am so proud to introduce my fellow Californian and my dear friend, Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Madame Speaker…

Pictured above: (center) Congresswoman Capps meets with Central Coast firefighters to discuss emergency preparedness.