Women's History Month

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mrs. BEATTY. Madam Speaker, it is my honor to rise today to join my colleagues for this Special Order hour. I cannot think of a better time that I would stand in this House and be able to salute women, especially Black women.

I thank our coanchors, the Honorable Jonathan Jackson and the Honorable Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, my good friend, for reminding us of our rich history.

Today, we will hear many members of the Congressional Black Caucus come forward and talk about a list of women, especially Black women, who came before us and whose shoulders we stand on, like Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, and Shirley Chisholm. Later this week, in this very Chamber, for the third time, a woman will sit in the seat where you are sitting, Madam Speaker, as we hear the State of the Union Address--a Black woman, who also happens to be the first woman ever to become Vice President of these United States of America.

We also celebrate this month--sadly, that we are giving it 1 month. Obviously, if I had my way, we would celebrate it every day, but we will honor women like those who have been able to sit in that seat running Fortune 500 companies--people like Ursula Burns; my good friend, Roz Brewer; and now Thasunda Duckett. We also honor young women like poet Amanda Gorman.

We think of the women who have done so much, whether they are doctors or athletes or educators or judges like Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson--another Black woman whose shoulders we stand on.

But let me end with this, Madam Speaker, as we saved the best for last. There are 31 Black women serving in the United States Congress. If I had enough time, I would do a roll call telling you that they hail from Alabama to Washington, D.C.

Let me just leave it at this: 31 Black women--thank God we put people over politics; 31 Black women serving in this Chamber that understand that we have a right to women's reproductive rights; 31 Black women understanding that we support the child's tax credit; 31 Black women who understand that more women are now insured because of the Affordable Care Act; 31 Black women who understand that the first act that then-President Obama signed was the Lilly Ledbetter Act.

I could go on and give you a walk through this amazing history that I have been allowed to serve in as the ninth Black woman to have chaired the Congressional Black Caucus. I say to you that we have been fortunate to have another female sit in that chair as the Speaker, Nancy Pelosi.

To those who are witnessing us tonight, I say to all watching, we celebrate, we honor, we stand on the shoulders of women, especially Black women, because we know when women succeed, America succeeds. Let us continue to put people over politics.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source