Following is a letter I recently sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on behalf of the Federation:
January 25, 2007
Roberta Ferron, President
214 Bayside Road
Bellingham, WA 98225
360-715-9588
rferron@comcast.net
Dear Speaker Pelosi,
The Washington State Federation of Democratic Women congratulates you on your election as the first woman Speaker of the House of US Representatives. A member of the National Federation of Democratic Women, we are the voice of women in the Democratic Party in Washington State. We are exuberant that you have smashed the glass ceiling in Congress! Or was it concrete?
We applaud the Democratic Declaration for Honest Leadership and Open Government. Elements reflect women's paradigm, focusing on integrity and compassion for those adversely affected by a culture of corruption. While making Congress more ethical, please look at the corruption inherent in the financing of campaigns. This culture can change when Congress enacts a Clean Money Election Law as implemented in Arizona, Maine, and Connecticut. Imagine members of Congress with strings only attached to their constituents and not large contributors!
We urge your attention to the following issues affecting women in the six areas you have declared as objectives.
Making Healthcare More Affordable is vital to women as the traditional caretakers for children and the elderly. Single mothers head one third of all households. One fourth of working women hold only part-time jobs. Of those who work full-time, many do not receive healthcare benefits. The wages of many render health insurance impossible. Speaker Pelosi, this is our collective 'watch' and we must do something!
We are concerned about the cost of screening and treatment for breast and cervical cancer. Cancer is increasingly curable if caught in time, but women’s lives continue to be lost because of the cost of timely screening or treatment needed. More funds for women's health research are needed.
Do consider four women's healthcare issues not directly related to affordability.
First, please apply the Precautionary Principle, i.e. prior to approval of any legislation or products assurances that the product or legislation will "do no harm" is essential. This principle is particularly important in healthcare as there is increasing evidence of new drugs being approved without adequate testing or as the result of pressure from pharmaceutical companies. At same time, for political reasons, women are denied access to drugs that have been adequately tested in other countries.
Second, we must make government funding of stem cell research legal. Thank you for your efforts thus far. Please move forward on this issue, notwithstanding a potential veto from the current President. We are confident that accurate information and new breakthroughs in science will cause the public to demand that stem cell research be legal and adequately funded.
Third, an increasing number of insurance companies, employers and clinics refuse to cover or provide reproductive health services. Without these services, women have unwanted children whom they cannot adequately support – financially and emotionally. This feeds the eternal cycle of poverty, despair and violence. Congress must cease discriminating against women by denying them reproductive health services.
Fourth, we need to reinstate funding of programs overseas that promote birth control. Without birth control women in third world countries often have children destined for death by starvation and disease. These programs curb the rise of AIDS. We must not allow the destructive conservative views of a very few determine this policy.
We support your efforts to develop an Energy strategy that actually works toward Lowering Gas Prices and Achieving Energy Independence.
We know that the beneficiary of our Invasion of Iraq has been the military industrial complex that subsumes oil companies. We are bonded to women throughout the world. Our aggressive presence in Afghanistan and Iraq has destabilized those countries, making them vulnerable to conservative autocratic religious leaders. Women are at high risk for suicide when their options are so limited that death is the only escape. The relationship between war and a rise in violence towards women is well documented. Beside women being raped and killed by soldiers attacks, women soldiers experience attacks within. War increases domestic violence when soldiers return home.
Achieving Energy Independence requires that we look to alternative 'clean' energy sources. Global Warming is changing weather patterns throughout the world. In the Northwest, we have experienced uncharacteristic severe and damaging weather this winter. With unpredictable weather women struggle to pay unexpected heating, repair, and insurance costs. As women, we are concerned for the future and well being of our children and grandchildren. The health of our planet is in serious jeopardy.
In Helping Working Families the detrimental effects of the Invasion of Iraq must be taken into account. As funds are wasted, less is spent on the social safety net upon which so many women depend - particularly those who head single parent families. Less is also spent on aid to working families in third world countries and on adherence to the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights." As the Super Power, our failure to be unabashedly humanitarian causes distrust and resentment, leading people who feel powerless to retreat to terrorist organizations.
As working families struggle for economic survival, frustration too often results in domestic violence against women and children. Domestic violence persists through generations. More funding is needed for prevention programs and assistance to victims. If we fail to break this cycle our society will become increasingly violent.
As a result of tax breaks for the very wealthy, the gap between the rich and poor has widened significantly in the last seven years. More women leave their children to work just to make ends meet, even in families with two parents. Many parents work more than one job. We look forward to your leadership leading to the repeal those tax benefits.
Thank you for your work on raising the minimum wage. We hope for a living wage for all.
Improving student loan programs will Make College More Affordable. Single mothers are hampered by the need for safe affordable childcare. We hope to see some emphasis placed on providing sufficient childcare support.
Curing the issues raised above will help Insure Dignified Retirement for women. At least one quarter of unmarried women over 65 live at or near the poverty level. This life status indicates the hardships women face throughout their lives. Because on average women work less time and earn lower wages, the average amount they collect from Social Security is significantly less than that collected by men. For those who get a pension, the benefit on average is less than half of what men receive. Women dependent on the retirement benefits of their husbands face significant decreases when their husbands die. With healthcare reform, affordable and adequate childcare and decreased college expenses more women can look forward to and experience a dignified retirement.
Requiring Fiscal Responsibility will lead to a healthier economy, one that benefits all not just the rich. When the economy is in trouble, women suffer more for reasons cited above. The first and most significant requirement to achieving fiscal responsibility is to end the “war” that drains funds every minute it continues.
How refreshing to know that we are in the same "choir". We are confident that you will do what is possible to improve the lives of women. Hopefully your time as Speaker of the House will continue past this administration. Know that we support you and sincerely wish you the best of success.
With joyful respect,
Roberta Ferron, President
Washington State Federation of Democratic Women
Enclosure: Washington State Federation of Democratic Women Platform for 2006