The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“PRESIDENT BUSH'S RECORD ON WOMEN'S ISSUES” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H4734 on June 22, 2004.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
PRESIDENT BUSH'S RECORD ON WOMEN'S ISSUES
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I am joined tonight by several of my colleagues to do a short series of 5-minutes to help shed light on President Bush's record on women. We are very grateful to the National Women's Law Center that produced a report called ``Slip-sliding Away: The Erosion of Hard-won Gains For Women Under the Bush Administration,'' and the National Center For Research on Women that wrote a report called ``Missing: Information About Women's Lives.'' They compiled reports on the actions taken by the Bush administration that have eroded hard-won gains for women. These are rights and guarantees for equality that my colleagues and I, and those who came before us, have worked for years to gain in order that our daughters and our granddaughters would not have to endure inequality, violence, or lack of opportunity.
During the last 3\1/2\ years, so many of those gains have been rolled back, chipped away and, in some cases, obliterated all together. My colleagues will elaborate on some of these actions, but let me at least provide my colleagues with a list of the administration's actions. I have only 5 minutes, so this list will be a sample rather than an exhaustive list.
Despite a persistent wage gap and barriers to equal opportunity like sexual harassment and pregnancy discrimination, the Bush administration has advocated policies that make the situation worse for women at work.
The Bush administration has completely eliminated the Equal Pay Matters initiative.
The Department of Justice has weakened enforcement of the laws against job discrimination and abandoned pending sex discrimination suits without notice or explanation.
The Department of Labor repealed regulations that allowed paid family leave to be made available through State unemployment compensation funds.
The Bush administration has proposed new regulations that would deprive millions of women the right to overtime pay.
The Bush administration has been proactive in undermining title IX, a program that promotes equality for girls in education and sports, a landmark piece of legislation that our late dear colleague, Patsy Mink, had so much to do with passing.
The Department of Education ``archived'' a guidance on sexual harassment in violation of title IX, making this guidance unavailable to victims of harassment, parents, schools, and the public.
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The administration has tried to eliminate funding for the Women's Education Equity Act, which provides curricula and materials to help schools comply with Title IX and research on model programs to promote gender equity.
The Justice Department urged the Supreme Court to strike down the use of affirmative action to achieve diversity in higher education, while the Department of Education encouraged colleges and universities to avoid using affirmative action instead of guiding them on ways they can permissibly do so.
The Department of Education has proposed removing existing safeguards that ensure all girl and all boy classes and schools do not perpetuate stereotypes and second-class status for girls.
President Bush's most recent budget proposal would result in 300,000 children losing child care assistance by 2009.
The Bush administration has proposed modifications to the welfare law that would impose harsh new work requirements on mothers in poverty while opposing increases in their child care assistance.
The Bush administration has proposed privatizing Social Security which would hit older women especially hard by siphoning money out of the system, thus reducing benefits for poor women.
The administration has proposed eliminating the savers credit that gives additional tax credits to low and moderate income individuals and families who contribute to retirement accounts. At the same time, the President has proposed weakening the protections for low and moderate income individuals in employer pension plans.
President Bush signed a Medicare bill that prohibits the government from using its bargaining power to get lower costs on prescription drugs hurting the 80 percent of older women who use prescription drugs every day.
The Bush administration has proposed changes in Medicaid that would result in the denial of health care coverage to many poor women who are now eligible for Medicaid.
President Bush, for the first time since Roe versus Wade, was decided in 1973 signed into law a bill that unconstitutionally restricts a women's right to choose and that blatantly disregards any consideration for possible threats to a woman's health.
President Bush has cut millions of dollars in funding for international women's family planning which is used to promote maternal and infant health and reduce unwanted pregnancies and infant death.
Too bad I could not get through the long list which was just a summary in itself of the ways that women's rights have been eroded under this administration.
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