WASHINGTON, DC—Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) released the following statement today celebrating Women’s History Month:

“March is Women’s History Month, a time when we recognize women leaders and honor their many contributions. It used to be that the only women you would find in American history textbooks were First Ladies and the occasional suffragist. But now, 34 years after the first official Women’s History Month, generations of women have been written back into the American story.

“Colonial midwives, antebellum reforms and settlement house workers now grace the history books next to presidents and generals. Students learn about women like Connecticut’s own Ella Grasso, the first woman elected governor in her own right in the United States. Important events like the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, where reformers first demanded for women the right to vote, have been restored to our story.

“It is on the shoulders of those women who met at Seneca Falls that 165 years later I worked with my colleagues to launch “When Women Succeed, America Succeeds: An Economic Agenda for Women and Families.” The agenda focuses on policies that address real economic needs facing women and families: ensuring equal pay for equal work, promoting work and family balance, and providing access to quality, affordable child care.

“That agenda strives to continue the progress that was made by women activists in every generation that preceded us. By addressing the economic challenges facing women and families in our time, we honor the accomplishments of women who paved the way for today’s successes, and make future successes possible.”