Mother's Day is a special time for the Paulsen family. We get to celebrate some amazing women in our lives - my mom Jan, who along with my father raised four children in Chanhassen; her mother Mildred, who continues to serve as a role model for all of us at the age of 97 years-young; my mother-in-law Mary Ellen, who with her husband raised three children in Brooklyn Park; and of course my wonderful wife Kelly, who is a teacher and loving mother to our four beautiful daughters and who holds our family together while I am in Washington. Mother’s Day only comes once a year, but we all know that we should be celebrating our mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, and friends all year long.

This weekend is also a reminder to honor all of the women who play an integral role in our community - the household leaders, educators, entrepreneurs, and public servants who work every day to ensure that our world is left better than we found it. 

It’s no secret that small businesses are the backbone of our economy and will be the key to our economic recovery. Right here in Minnesota, there are more than 13,000 women-owned small businesses that employ over 121,000 people. While that sounds good on paper, the reality is that according to some studies Minnesota ranks 44^th out of the 50 states in growth of women-owned businesses. Minnesota is a great state teeming with endless possibilities, but we need to be doing more to encourage women to take the leap into entrepreneurship. 

To better understand and serve these entrepreneurs, we should learn from those women who have already succeeded in opening their own businesses. I recently spent an entire day conducting a Women-Owned Business tour where I traveled throughout my congressional district touring women-owned businesses and highlighting their work here in our community. My hope is that learning from these successful women will serve as an inspiration for more women to realize their entrepreneurial dream. I will be the first to stand up and say that women have a keen business sense and unique understanding of the world – two of the most important qualities needed for opening a business. 

We all know that businesses won’t be successful if they don’t have a qualified work force, means ensuring that we provide our children with a solid educational foundation. My mother was a teacher and my wife Kelly, currently teaches middle school. So for all of the parents and teachers here in our community, rest assured that I hear your needs and concerns loud and clear around the dinner table! I believe that we must give every young person the opportunity for a first-class education. A child’s success should not be determined by his or her zip code or parent’s annual salary. That’s why I am a supporter of charter schools, scholarships, and nutritional programs in schools so that our students receive healthy meals.

It is probably no surprise to hear that women make over 80% of the health care decisions in their households. I know that statistic is true in mine. For that reason, they need affordable options to make the choices that best suit their families. Recently in Congress, we held a hearing on the new restrictions that now prevent families from using their own health care dollars in Health Savings Accounts or Flexible Spending Accounts to buy simple over-the-counter medications.  Instead of walking into your local drugstore to buy pain or allergy medication with these accounts, Americans are now forced to first visit a doctor, pay a standard co-pay, and get a doctor's prescription for simple medicines like Claritin and Advil. This is not only an inconvenience to mothers with sick children, but also to the doctors who are seeing added office visits and more paperwork. I strongly believe we must fix this onerous new requirement to give more flexibility to working families.

I continue to be inspired and amazed by the incredible women in my life. This Mother’s Day make sure to thank the mothers in all our lives for all they do for our families and community.