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Klobuchar Named "Best of Congress" by Working Mother Media

August 12, 2008

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar has been honored by Working Mother Media and Corporate Voices for Working Families with the inaugural Best of Congress award for improving the American quality of life through family-friendly work policies. The award spotlights Klobuchar’s commitment to supporting working families through legislation and by employing family-friendly policies in her own office.

A profile of Senator Klobuchar is featured in the August/September 2008 issue of Working Mother magazine and at www.workingmother.com.

“Not only did we judge Senator Klobuchar on her exceptional voting records for supporting working families, we also examined the benefits that her own employees receive like paid leave and flextime,” Carol Evans, CEO, Working Mother Media, said. “Senator Klobuchar is stepping up voluntarily because she believes in progressive policies and acts on her beliefs in the real world managing her staff.”

“Senator Klobuchar has shown what can be accomplished through legislation and a personal commitment to policies that benefit working families,” Donna Klein, president and founder of Corporate Voices for Working Families, said. “As our nation wrestles with a host of economic and other issues involving working families, Senator Klobuchar deserves to be congratulated and recognized nationally for her leadership and support.”

Klobuchar’s leadership on family and consumer issues was a large factor in her selection.  In her first two years in office, Klobuchar has been successful in strengthening the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool Safety Act; authoring key toy safety measures, including the first ever ban on lead in children’s products; and pushing to prorate cell phone fees that are breaking middle class family budgets.  Klobuchar has also introduced legislation to help families care for aging parents, sponsored legislation to help families pay for higher education, and supported children’s health insurance and an increase in the minimum wage.

“Whether it is caring for their parents, helping their kids pay for school, or helping balance the family checkbook – American families deserve an advocate for them in Washington,” said Sen. Klobuchar, herself a working mother.  “This session, we stood up for middle class families by increasing the minimum wage for the first time in ten years, making college more affordable, taking on the special interests, from the oil companies to the toxic toy manufacturers.  But there’s more we can and will do to help working families.”

Klobuchar was one of just 10 award winners in the Senate.  Other Senate recipients are Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-Delaware), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Robert P. Casey, Jr. (D-Pennsylvania),  Christopher J. Dodd (D-Connecticut),  Elizabeth Dole (R-North Carolina),  Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-Texas),  Johnny Isakson (R-Georgia), Herb Kohl (D-Wisconsin), and Gordon H. Smith (R-Oregon).  Klobuchar is the only Member of Congress from Minnesota to receive this honor.

A bipartisan steering committee co-chaired by Ted Childs, Founder and Principal of Ted Childs, LLC and Jane Swift, Founder and Principal of WNP Consulting, LLC and former Governor of Massachusetts were responsible for choosing the award winners.  Other members of the steering committee were Patricia Kempthorne, Founder and Executive Director of the Twiga Foundation and Pat Schroeder, President and CEO of the Association of American Publishers and former congresswoman from Colorado.
 
Working Mother magazine has been in the forefront of the movement to improve the quality of life for working families for over 29 years and annually honors the 100 best companies whose policies create family-friendly workplaces.

About Corporate Voices for Working Families
Corporate Voices for Working Families is the leading national business membership organization representing the private sector on public policy issues involving working families.  We aim to improve the lives of working families and the competitiveness of American businesses. For more information visit their Web site: www.cvworkingfamilies.org.

About Working Mother Media
Founded in 1979, Working Mother magazine reaches 2 million readers and is the only national magazine for career-committed mothers.  Its 22-year signature initiative, Working Mother 100 Best Companies, is the most important benchmark for work/life practices in corporate America. Working Mother is published by Working Mother Media, which was founded in 2001. WMM includes the National Association for Female Executives (NAFE), Diversity Best Practices, the WorkLife Congress, the Multicultural Women's Conference and Town Halls.  Working Mother Media's mission is to champion culture change. For more information, please visit www.workingmother.com.

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