May 15, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 81 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session
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WOMEN IN THE ARMED FORCES; Congressional Record Vol. 165, No. 81
(House of Representatives - May 15, 2019)
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[Page H3836] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] {time} 1800 WOMEN IN THE ARMED FORCES The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2019, the Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Houlahan) for 30 minutes. General Leave Ms. HOULAHAN. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on the subject of my Special Order. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania? There was no objection. Ms. HOULAHAN. Madam Speaker, there are over a dozen caucuses in Congress today that address issues facing servicemembers and/or veterans, but none of these are geared towards addressing the issues faced by the fastest growing cohort in our Nation's military: women. Today, that changes. My name is Chrissy Houlahan, and I represent Pennsylvania's Sixth Congressional District. Today I am announcing the launch of the first ever Servicewomen and Women Veterans Congressional Caucus. When the draft ended in 1973, women represented just 2 percent of the enlisted force and 8 percent of the officer corps. Today, those numbers have grown to 16 percent and 18 percent, respectively. Currently, there are 2 million living women veterans in the United States, and in the next 25 years, women veterans are projected to nearly double their population and will account for one in five living veterans. We cannot afford to wait, and the time to act is now. Twenty-seven years ago, I gave birth to my first child, my daughter Molly. I was Active Duty at the time, and I was given 6 weeks of maternity leave. When I returned, I intended to enroll my daughter in the on-base childcare but discovered that there was a 6-month-long waiting list. I looked for private care in Boston where I was serving, but the cost was too high. In fact, my entire paycheck would have gone to childcare. I was a lieutenant in the Air Force, stationed at Hanscom Air Force Base at the time, and my assignment, my job, was to determine what kind of information people needed and in what order and in what visual display when ballistic missiles were raining down on them and the end of the world was coming. I am a very well-educated engineer. I became an engineer in the Air Force, and yet I couldn't, with my skills and my education, figure out how I was supposed to make ends meet and make childcare work to fulfill my military responsibilities and serve our country. I was going against the system in many ways, a new mother serving in the military with a working civilian husband. That is not what most people picture when they picture a traditional military family. It wasn't even what I saw as a young girl when I was growing up. I was the daughter and granddaughter of career Naval officers and career Navy wives, and I watched as my mother and my grandmother moved us all around the country and cared for us while my father and my grandfather served. My mother's job was to create a sense of home in every new place that we moved. Her job was my brother and I. So there I was with a new baby of my own and a mission to deal with ballistic missile defense, no viable options for childcare, and working within a system that had not yet caught up with me and my career. So I decided to make a very difficult choice, and I separated from the Air Force. You see, at that time, I didn't really have any role models, anyone that I knew or could look up to who had walked in my boots, so to speak, and had navigated being a new mother while simultaneously serving our country. So few women were really high up in the Air Force's ranks at the time, so there were very few I knew who could show me what Active Duty looked like as a mother. But that is changing. In 2019, women represent the fastest growing cohort in America's military. More and more women are hearing that same call that I and my friends here heard--the call to serve. What is upsetting, though, is 27 years later, despite women's increased presence across all branches of the military, we all still struggle with many of the same issues, including access to quality and affordable childcare, and I find this unacceptable. In this 116th Congress, we set a record. For the first time in history, there are more than two women veterans serving in the House of Representatives. There are now four. It was the realization that I was surrounded by three other women who served our country that inspired me to start this caucus. Now is the time to address these issues that have been plaguing our servicewomen and women veterans for years, and that is what today is about. That is what the Servicewomen and Women Veterans Congressional Caucus is about. We four women are here to enact change to better support the brave women who have also answered the call to serve. We four are here as four women veterans who will lead this caucus with our lived experiences in the Armed Forces and who will evaluate the unique issues that our women face and who will work towards enacting legislation that better serves them and better serves their families. This is not a Democratic issue nor is it a Republican issue. It is neither a man's issue nor a woman's issue. It is an intrinsically American and human issue, and that is why this caucus has members from both sides of the aisle, and that is why we have veterans and nonveterans as participants, men and women. This caucus is comprised of people who are held together by a shared understanding that, when Congress neglects its duty to support the men and women who serve, it hasn't done its job. It undermines our country's national security and our military's readiness. I remember thinking to myself when I got here that I was just one person. Then when I got here, I met Representative Tulsi Gabbard, Representative Elaine Luria, Representative Mikie Sherrill, and the one became four. And now, today, I am launching that Servicewomen and Women Veterans Congressional Caucus, the very first caucus in our country's history to specifically address the issues facing servicewomen and women veterans. We are more than 50 strong in number now; 1 became 4, and 4 became more than 50. We have a mission. We have our marching orders. And speaking as an Air Force veteran, I can promise I won't stop fighting until our mission has been accomplished. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time. ____________________
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