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Women and children across the country, including those in the Wyoming Valley, need a voice.
Women are grossly underrepresented in all levels of government. I sit on a five-member city council as the only woman, in a city whose population is 51.1 percent female. As women, we need people elected across all levels of government that represent our best interests and identify with both our successes and our struggles.
Women still have a long way to go in the United States. For the longest time, I felt ashamed when people told me that they believe I will be voting for Hillary Clinton simply because she is a woman. Clinton has spent a lifetime fighting for justice. She fought for children and women for four decades. She is the most qualified person ever to have sought the presidency of the United States, and yet women all over the country are accused of supporting her solely based on her gender.
It is neither shameful nor irresponsible to want to elect a woman to public office, especially a woman who has a proven track record of fighting for women and children for four decades.
As first lady, Hillary spoke at a United Nations conference in Beijing and declared “women’s rights are human rights.” The enormity of this statement in a nation that is not known for its feminism is often overlooked. As secretary of state, Clinton set the stage and made women’s rights a major point of her foreign policy. She worked across the world to help women gain access to basic tenants of independence, including credit and markets.
After graduating from law school, Clinton started a career with the Children’s Defense Fund. She helped children from every background, not just those from a certain ZIP code, to ensure they had quality public education and equal opportunity to succeed. During her time at the Children’s Defense Fund, she worked with teenagers who had been incarcerated in adult prisons.
Clinton once again proved to be a champion for public education as first lady of Arkansas. She investigated public schools across the state and helped to create a policy that would better prepare students for their professional lives.
Over her entire career, Hillary Clinton has proven that she can implement these agenda-setting policies while also reaching across the aisle to work with Republicans. Clinton, for example, worked with elected officials from both sides to help create the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which most of us know as CHIP. Today, CHIP provides health care to more than 8 million children. At the time of its inception, it cut the uninsured rate of our nation’s children in half.
Clinton’s work in children’s health care and education did not stop after her husband was no longer in executive positions. As U.S. senator, she wrote legislation to ensure that every child can reach his or her God-given potential. She fought to improve the safety of pediatric medication and promoted quality education in every public school.
Clinton also fought for immigration reform to help keep families together. She knows that our nation performs best when we have people from all backgrounds working together to ensure economic prosperity.
Clinton does not spew rhetoric or hate; she gets things done. She understands not only the economic needs of a nation, but also its social needs. Hillary understands that it takes a village to raise a child, and that the success of our nation depends upon the prosperity of our children.
The enormity of having a woman as president of the United States is not only critical for women, but for children as well. Girls across the nation finally will know that they truly can be anything they want to be, even president.
We are a nation known for our opportunity and equality. Let’s reiterate that with our vote on Nov. 8.