“When our soldiers sign up for service, there isn’t a waiting line and there shouldn’t be a waiting line when they come home and need a job."
That's what EMILY's List alum Sen. Amy Klobuchar said last week, detailing new legislation she's introducing along with EMILY's List candidate Sen. Patty Murray (WA) to make sure the men and women who serve in our military are prepared to join the workforce once their service ends.
Eighteen percent of veterans who have been out of the service for three years are unemployed -- twice the country's unemployment rate.
The Post-9/11 Veterans’ Job Training Act will expand training opportunities for veterans and set up job apprenticeships for recent vets.
“Not every returning soldier chooses to go to college but they still want a job,” said Klobuchar. “Job training, from pipe-fitting to law enforcement, should be covered by the G.I. Bill.”
At EMILY's List, we believe that electing women to office is critical for creating a more representative, progressive democracy. And with women at the table, our issues are a top priority.
This week, that couldn't have been clearer.
EMILY's List women of the Senate took center stage this week, speaking about the essential ways in which health care reform will benefit the country's women. From the House floor to Larry King Live, these women senators spoke out for women across America, describing the obstacles to care many women face.
Here's a great video, highlighting moments from their speeches on the Senate floor.
Here are just a few quotes you won't want to miss, including Sen. Amy Klobuchar's personal health care story after the birth of her daughter.
“I was up all night in labor, up all day trying to figure out what was wrong with her, and they literally kicked me out of the hospital... My husband wheeled me out in a wheelchair because at that point in our country’s history, they had a rule. It was called drive-by births, that when a mom gave birth she had to get kicked out of the hospital in 24 hours.”
--Sen. Amy Klobuchar (MN)
“[I]n all but 12 states, insurance companies are allowed to charge women more than they charge men for coverage. The great irony here is that mothers, the people who care for us when we’re sick, are penalized under our current system.”
--Sen. Kay Hagan (NC)
“For the women in these plans, or who are attempting to get insurance, no amount of money can buy maternity care that they need.”
--Sen. Debbie Stabenow (MI)
“Only 14 states in America require insurance companies to cover maternity care. Imagine, in a country that puts family values first, only 14 states."
--Sen. Barbara Boxer (CA)
"It's shocking to think that, in today's America, over half of this country could be discriminated against."
--Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (NY)
“It’s time to end the insurance discrimination that women face.”
--Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (NH)
Yesterday, four EMILY's List alums -- Senators Amy Klobuchar, Barbara Mikulski, Kay Hagan, and Jeanne Shaheen -- held a press conference focused on impact of health care reform on women. Of course, we already knew that women were central to the health care debate -- and that the women we've helped elect are playing a crucial role in ensuring reform efforts address women's concerns.
Many women face incredible challenges when trying to get coverage, including outrageous claims by some insurers that "pre-existing conditions" should include domestic violence or pregnancies. It's more expensive for women to get health care coverage than men -- so much so that a 22-year-old female stands to be charged up to one and a half times more than the premium for a 22-year-old male. Women also need more frequent contact with their health care providers, due in part to needing more specific care, like mammograms and obstetric care.
Thankfully, our ladies in the Senate are doing something about it. They're working to correct the imbalance between men's and women's health care coverage costs and are working to ensure that women have access to the entire range of reproductive health choices, including expanding insurance coverage of maternity care.
Here are quotes you shouldn't miss:
"When it comes to health insurance, women pay more but get less for our money. We women must end punitive insurance company practices that discriminate against women simply because we are women – practices that say domestic violence or c-sections are pre-existing conditions or that deny coverage for maternity care or basic preventive services and screenings. Just as the women of the Senate fought for equal pay for equal work when we passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, we are fighting for equal health care for equal premiums in health reform."
--Sen. Barbara Mikulski (MD)
"As a former prosecutor I am particularly appalled that in 8 states and the District of Columbia domestic violence is classified as a pre-existing condition. Health care reform must ensure that all women have access to preventative services and maternity care, and that health care that doesn't use 'pre-existing conditions' as a way to deny women care."
--Sen. Amy Klobuchar (MN)
"For too many women and their families today, quality, affordable health care is out of reach. Men and women have very different health care needs, and women are more vulnerable to high costs. We must level the playing field, and pass comprehensive health care reform that makes health care accessible and affordable for all women."
--Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (NH)
"Without health care reform, insurance companies will continue to discriminate against women. Charging women more for coverage and denying comprehensive maternity care are just two of the common insurance company practices. The Senate is working on sending the President a reform bill that ensures women are treated fairly, expands coverage, and provides security and stability to people who have health insurance."
--Sen. Kay Hagan (NC)
For many students, better grades means better attendance at school -- and Senators Amy Klobuchar (MN) and Kay Hagan (NC) are ready to do something about it.
Last week, the senators joined together to cosponsor legislation aimed at combating truancy nationwide, emphasizing the importance of targeting younger students than traditional programs. While some federal programs are aimed at high school students, Klobuchar said that truancy patterns often begin in middle school and early contact is the best means of prevention.
And the effects of staying in school are far-reaching, from better future job prospects to a decreased likelihood of criminal activity. "Truancy is sometimes called the ‘kindergarten of crime’ because it’s an early risk factor for many other kinds of trouble, including criminal behavior," Klobuchar said in a statement last week. "I believe that reducing truancy is one of the surest ways to prevent crime, keep our communities safe and help our young people succeed in life.”
Called the “Student Attendance Success Act," the program would be part of the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind legislation. Klobuchar noted that lack of funding has been a major obstacle for the legislation, and she said it will be important to make major changes when the bill is up for debate this year.
“High expectations are good for our students, and strong accountability is good for our schools. But to get the job done, we need to make sure that No Child Left Behind is measuring the right things and providing the resources to do it.”
We already knew that the confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor would be historic, but I love hearing it articulated by the women we helped elect to the Senate.
Yesterday morning, a number of EMILY's List elected women took to the Senate floor to praise Sotomayor's experience, education, and trail-blazing path to her Supreme Court nomination. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), Amy Klobuchar (MN), Debbie Stabenow (MI), Jeanne Shaheen (NH), and Patty Murray (WA) all spoke in support of Sotomayor.
Klobuchar, who spoke previously about the importance of adding a woman's voice on the court (and blogged about it here!), spoke today about Sotomayor's qualifications: “She knows the law, she knows the Constitution...But she knows America too.”
Click here to watch a great video of Gillibrand on the Senate floor.
I'm glad to know I wasn't the only one bothered by Republicans' questioning about Judge Sonia Sotomayor's "temperament" during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings this month. Before voting on Sotomayor's Supreme Court nomination, Senator Amy Klobuchar made clear she believes the confirmation process of Judge Sonia Sotomayor dealt with blatantly sexist undertones. From the Minnesota Independent:
Klobuchar said she had bristled at “mostly anonymous question[ing of] Judge Sotomayor’s judicial temperament” and cited her own experience in Minnesota: “Where I come from, asking tough questions and showing very little patience for unprepared lawyers is the very definition of a judge.”
Sexist standards implicit in such critiques “irritated me,” Klobuchar said, adding that the country should ”appoint as many gruff, to-the-point female judges as gruff, to-the-point male judges.”
Klobuchar's comments today made the statement of Senator Dianne Feinstein, the only other woman on the committee, even more poignant. Feinstein noted that, although women in the judiciary have made progress, "we're not there yet." Read more about her comments here.
Ever the voice of reason, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (MN) spoke out recently about the importance of filling out U.S. census forms, following Rep. Michele Bachmann's (MN-06) recent illogical rant to the contrary.
Bachmann, who said she believes the questions are overly personal and could be misused by census-takers, has been very public about her plan to boycott the legally required census. And despite understandable pressure from her fellow GOPers to lay off, Bachmann has persisted in her fight. Some of her far-reaching claims -- including door-to-door visits from ACORN members -- have been discredited.
Remember how we just told you that Tarryl Clark has decided to challenge Bachmann in 2010? Couldn't have come at a better time...
During a Joint Economic Committee hearing, Klobuchar emphasized the importance of Minnesotans filling out the Census, noting that Minnesota could potentially lose a congressional seat. Klobuchar then sent out a news release stressing the point.
"The Census has a profound impact on Minnesota's communities," Klobuchar said. "It's important that every Minnesotan is counted, so we get our fair share of congressional seats and federal funding."
As one of two women Senators on the Judiciary Committee, I thought you would like a report about the Sotomayor hearings.
As only the third woman to sit as a Supreme Court nominee before the committee and the first ever Latina in that role, Judge Sotomayor is following in the footsteps of the trailblazing women who came before her -- two women who faced incredible obstacles. For Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, it was getting job offers only for positions for which she was overly qualified. For Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, it was getting passed over for a clerkship simply because she was a woman.
Today, Senators Barbara Boxer (CA), Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), and Amy Klobuchar (MN) offered their support for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, highlighting the importance of having another woman's voice on the highest court in the land.
“[Sotomayor’s nomination is] important because we want our [government] institutions in this country…to reflect the diversity of our country, and the majority of the people in this country are women and we need to be represented. It doesn’t mean women are better but we are equal,” Senator Barbara Boxer (CA) said.
Over the past couple of months Sotomayor has met with many of our women senators, including Klobuchar, Boxer, Gillibrand, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (CA), Sen. Claire McCaskill (MO), Sen. Barbara Mikulski (MD), and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (NH).
Check out photos from her meetings with some of the senators that EMILY's List helped elect.
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