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Thank you everyone for being here.
It is with great honor that I take over the reins as Democratic Co-Chair of the Women’s Caucus from my dear friend Hilda Solis. Her leadership the past two years has been incredible and will certainly serve as a model for how I work to lead this Caucus.
Thank you also to Ginny Brown-Waite, our Republican Co-Chair for the past two years.
I’m thrilled to be stepping into this position and look forward to working with the rest of the leadership team – Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Jan Schakowsky and Mary Fallin.
The Women’s Caucus has always been a beacon of bipartisanship in this often hostile environment. And we certainly have a lot on our plate as we begin the 110th Caucus that will require good bipartisan cooperation if we want to continue being the voice in Congress for women and their families. Luckily, we have Congressional leadership that is behind us 100 percent.
It is rather momentous that as we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Women’s Caucus, Congress finally has a woman Speaker. And we are fortunate that Speaker Pelosi has been so encouraging and willing to bring the Women’s Caucus even further into the limelight. With a record 74 women in the House, we have a diverse membership and I’m so excited to work with each and every one of the women Members of Congress to help further their priorities as part of our overall agenda.
And conversely, with women serving on every Committee in the House, everyone will have a special role to play in bringing the Caucus agenda through their areas of jurisdiction. After all, we have finally reached a point where policy makers do consider how legislation affects their women constituents and women globally.
That is due in no small part to the amazing work of the Women’s Caucus over the past 30 years and I am hopeful that we will continue to be the best and loudest advocates in Washington for women’s priorities.
Thank you all again – I look forward to working with you more closely over the next two years.
Pictured above: (center) Congresswoman Capps meets with Central Coast firefighters to discuss emergency preparedness.
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