On March 5, the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues (CCWI) held a press conference to announce the newly elected Co-Chairs and Vice-Chairs for the 108th Congress. Reps. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Louise Slaughter (D-NY) will serve as the Co-Chairs, and Reps. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL) and Hilda Solis (D-CA) will serve as Vice-Chairs.
The Co-Chairs during the 107th Congress, Reps. Judy Biggert (R-IL) and Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-CA), introduced their colleagues and noted the successes of the bipartisan Women’s Caucus. Rep. Biggert cited the enactment of the Afghan Women and Children’s Relief Act (P.L. 107-81) as one of the Caucus’s biggest achievements during the 107th Congress and praised the bipartisan work of the CCWI. “That’s what the Caucus is all about; women from both sides of the aisle working together to improve the lives of women, both here at home and abroad.”
Rep. Millender-McDonald elaborated on the Caucus’s activities during the 107th Congress, stating that members of the Caucus had sponsored/cosponsored 44 briefings; met with the U.N. Secretary General, the Secretary of Defense, and the Chair of the New York Stock Exchange; and held two meetings with women ambassadors.
In looking ahead, Rep. Slaughter said, “The whole of the Women’s Caucus is greater than the sum of its parts,” and stated that the Caucus would work as a conduit to advance issues important to women. In particular, she noted that the Caucus would work toward enforcing the goal of awarding 5 percent of federal contracts to women-owned businesses and ending violence against women both at home and abroad.
Noting that while the members of the CCWI were of diverse ideological backgrounds, Rep. Capito said, “We have one thing in common; we are all women, and we are proud to serve in the House.”
