american family insurance nancy

Democratic National Committee: Women

• Voting Tips for Washington State
  

  Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell offer voting tips on how to vote-by-mail to their constituents in Washington state. Watch the video:

• Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Women Highlight Ways Barack Obama is Standing Up For American Women and Families
  

  Today, the Obama campaign hosted a press conference with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to discuss Senator Obama and Senator Biden's record of fighting for issues of concern to women and American families.  Speaker Pelosi was joined by Representatives DeLauro, Diana DeGette, Jan Schakowsky, Linda Sanchez, Donna Edwards and close to 40 Democratic women members of Congress.  
  
  From fighting for equal pay for equal work, to protecting retirement security and tacking the skyrocketing cost of health care, there is a stark difference on where the Obama-Biden campaign and the McCain-Palin campaigns stand on the critical issues facing America's women and families.  
  
  The following are audio clips from today's news conference.  
  
  Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on the Change America's Women "Need, Expect And Deserve:"
  http://s3.amazonaws.com/apache.3cdn.net/d742336ad34c03ac40_eem6b0isx.mp3
  "In the weeks ahead, we will be all over the country bringing a message of positive change, a new direction in America that addresses the economic concerns of the American people, in particular the economic concerns of America' working families and America's women.  And in recent weeks, we have seen the consequences of the mismanagement of the Bush Administration on our economy.  Yet, John McCain says the fundamentals of our economy are strong.  American women know better.  We are here today to focus on the change in America's economy. Barack Obama is the chance America's women need, expect and deserve."
  
  Colorado Representative Diana DeGette on Senator McCain's Radical Health Care Plan:
  http://s3.amazonaws.com/apache.3cdn.net/78e530a3700a37f6ea_nqm6bkepu.mp3
  "Under Senator McCain's health care plan more than 59 million women who receive health insurance through their job or spouse's job risk losing that insurance. More than 30 million women with employer sponsored health insurance who have a chronic condition could lose their health insurance and some of the requirements that some of us have fought so hard for at the state level--requiring maternity coverage and cancer screening and other coverages--would be wiped away under this plan.  The bottom line: Senator McCain's radical health care plan is risky and dangerous for American women.  
  
  Connecticut Representative Rosa DeLauro on Equal Pay for Equal Work:
  http://www.democrats.org/page/-/audio/9_17_2008_A2_DeLauro.mp3
  "Equal pay is at the heart of our debate for president and it has the power to make this a transformational election.  Today, women are getting paid less than men, but John McCain opposes equal pay for equal work. He says, don't worry. All you need to do is get more education and training to get better jobs. And that shows why he cannot rescue this economy or help women to lift themselves up in this economy.  When the Senate brought up the bill to remedy the Supreme Court's decision overturning Lily Ledbetter's pay discrimination claims to make sure it does not happen again, John McCain said he would oppose it.  When it came time to vote, he didn't even bother to show up."
   
  Illinois Representative Jan Schakowsky on the Threat John McCain Poses to Social Security:
  http://s3.amazonaws.com/apache.3cdn.net/344ad3122bfd6ae036_6tm6b6wcg.mp3
  "Barack Obama believes that Social Security is the cornerstone of the Social Compact in this country and he promises to protect it today, tomorrow and forever.  John McCain says Social Security funding is an absolute disgrace. He simply doesn't get how it works in the first place.  And he support privatization.  In March, McCain said, I am totally in favor of personal savings accounts.  Barack Obama opposes Social Security privatization because it would gamble the retirement plans of millions of Americans.  We're talking about people over 65 years old.  We're talking about persons with disabilities.  We're talking about spouses and dependents, including my very own grandchildren, who lost their mother and are being helped by social security payments."  
  
  California Representative Linda Sanchez on John McCain's Outreach to Women and the Health Care Crisis in America:
  http://www.democrats.org/page/-/audio/9_17_2008_A5_Sanchez.mp3
  "Despite his campaign's outreach efforts I think that McCain's efforts to bridge the gender gap is about as effective as the bridge to nowhere.  And I want to take health care as an example.  The lack of universal health care coverage hits women especially hard.  There are over 20 million uninsured women in this country, and women are more likely than men to delay or not get medical care because of high costs.  Health care premiums have doubled in the last seven years alone.  No wonder only 27 percent of women are very confident that they'll be able to afford health care for themselves and their families.  And, what does John McCain offer these women?  John McCain offers a health care plan that would, for the first time in our country's history, tax health care benefits. And John McCain's plan won't even make a major dent in the number of uninsured Americans."
  
  Maryland Representative Donna Edwards on Economic Opportunity and Domestic Violence:
  http://s3.amazonaws.com/apache.3cdn.net/28530c4957ee2e5255_u6m6bpj8e.mp3
  "I know I wouldn't have gone to college if my father, who was disabled, hadn't been able to receive Social Security and we hadn't been able to receive benefits as children.  This is important not as a ceiling, but as a floor and Barack Obama understands that.  For America's women, for America's children, we understand that we want to live in our homes and in a home that's free of violence. Barack Obama, and certainly Joe Biden, understand that.  They understand that when women live in homes that are filled with violence and when children withness that violence that it impacts how they perform in the workplace. It impacts how they are able to take care of themselves and their children.  Barack Obama understands that.  John McCain doesn't."
  
  

• Congress Should Pass the Trafficing Victims Protection Act
  

  On the 3rd of October 2008, an important film on a very serious and devastating problem will open in selected theaters across the country. The film is titled "Call and Response" (http://www.callandresponse.com) and the subject of the film is modern human slavery, which holds captive an estimated 2.7 million sex and labor slaves across the globe. You have heard of narcotrafficking and the arms trade, but right up there with the drug and gun rackets is the global slave market. Victims are targeted and taken for many reasons: because they are poor, because they are in debt, or simply because they are in the wrong place at the wrong time. They work in brothels, in factories, on farms, and anywhere else where their masters can exploit their labor for cash.

  The film incorporates musical performances, interviews with luminaries such as Madeleine Albright and activist/actress Julia Ormond, plus cold, hard facts. It calls for an abolitionist movement for the 21st century, and for a public commitment to ending modern slavery. Here in the United States, human trafficking is a cause in need of more and louder advocates. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) is currently up for renewal. It passed the House, but is currently bogged down in the Senate (see http://www.polarisproject.org/ for more information). The bill (H.R. 3887 introduced by Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA) and S. 3061 introduced by Senator Joseph Biden) outlines protections for victims and makes human trafficking a federal crime, establishing standards for proof and prosecution.

  This is a human rights