Women's Issues
While our country has made great strides toward women’s equality, I believe there is still more to be done. Women make up half of our population, yet they are not getting an equal share and full opportunity to participate in our economy. I will continue to work to expand women’s rights, especially when it comes to guaranteeing a woman’s ability to make her own health care decisions, ensuring women get equal pay for equal work, and pushing for stronger economic opportunity.
Accomplishments:
Women’s Health and Wellbeing
- Original cosponsor of the House version of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, which passed both houses of Congress and was signed into law March 7, 2013.
- Introduced the Women Veterans and Families Health Services Act of 2015, which would give veterans with service-connected disabilities access to in vitro fertilization and adoption assistance.
- Voted repeatedly to protect women’s health care by standing with Planned Parenthood and the women who rely on the organization for their health care. Decisions about health care should remain between a woman and her doctor.
- Supported increased funding to expand women’s healthcare, including maternal health and ovarian cancer research.
Equal Pay for Equal Work
- Cosponsored the Raise the Wage Act, to raise the federal minimum wage to $12 per hour and tie future increases to the median hourly wage. Nearly six in ten minimum wage workers are women. Women, who make up 49 percent of the workforce, account for 56 percent of low-wage earners.
- Original cosponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Act, to ensure that women are paid based on their skills and experience, not their gender.
- Cosponsored the Schedules That Work Act, which allows low-wage workers to request for flexibility of their schedules without retaliation.
- Cosponsored the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act to help end discrimination against pregnant women and mothers in the workplace.