CHARLOTTE — Led by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a slate of Democratic congresswomen flooded the stage here Tuesday night and took turns talking about their families, their lives in Congress and why they’re supporting President Obama.
“I’m Nancy Pelosi, but my grandchildren call me Mimi,” Pelosi said. For me, politics is an extension of my role as a mother and a grandmother. For the Democratic women of the House, our work is not about the next election, but rather the next generation.”
Rep. Rosa DeLauro extolled fair-pay legislation, the first thing President Obama signed into law:
America’s women still make just seventy-seven cents for every dollar men earn. It’s even tougher for women of color. Those pennies add up to a real difference to middle-class families: trying to pay their bills, trying to get ahead, trying to achieve the American dream. …
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, to give victims of pay discrimination their day in court, was the first bill President Obama signed into law. Now we want to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act: real protections to ensure equal pay for equal work. The Democratic women of the House are committed to closing the wage gap for American families to move America forward.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney said the Affordable Health Care Act helped women by bettering the financial and physical health of entire families:
Healthy moms mean healthy families. When my Republican colleagues held a hearing about birth control and refused to include a single woman on the first panel as a witness, I asked, “Where are the women?”
Where are the women? The women are here. And we are on our way to re-elect our president. The Democratic women of the House are committed to women’s health and to moving America forward.
Rep. Allyson Schwartz said Obama would protect Medicare, an issue especially important to her “as a daughter who cared for an elderly parent.” Gwen Moore touted Vice President Joe Biden’s work on the Violence Against Women Act. Rep. Nydia Velasquez celebrated women’s role in fueling small businesses. Congressional candidate Tulsi Gabbard, an Army National Guard captain, celebrated women in the military.
Joyce Beatty, who is running for House in Ohio, closed them out by urging women to “unleash the power of moms in the economy.”
The women stood on the floor afterward, smiling and waving, to sustained applause.
