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“I applaud Secretary Clinton and Ambassador CdeBaca for their commitment to these issues and pledge to continue my work in Congress as co-chair of the Human Trafficking Caucus to combat human trafficking.”
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WASHINGTON -- Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney issued the following statement in reaction to the President's speech last night on Afghanistan:
"President Obama’s announcement last night of a drawdown of troops from Afghanistan is a welcome development. Unfortunately, the pace of withdrawal falls far short of what I and many in Congress think should be the pace, and what the American people want.
"Our brave men and women in uniform have fought with honor, at great cost, and in the face of great challenges. Their courage and professionalism helped lead to the death of Osama bin Laden and is to be commended. But after years of war, it is time to hand over security to the Afghan people and government and bring our troops home.
"I will continue to work for withdrawal of our troops and bringing this decade-long war to a close."
“The Equal Rights Amendment is still needed because the only way for women to achieve permanent equality in the U.S. is to write it into the constitution,” Rep. Maloney said. “While it’s been thrilling to see how far women have come in my lifetime, laws can change, government regulations can be weakened, and judicial opinions can shift. Making women’s equality a constitutional right—after Congress passes and 38 states ratify the ERA—would place the United States on record, albeit more than 200 years late, that women are fully equal in the eyes of the law.”
“The WalMart case decided by the Supreme Court this week is a classic example of how far attitudes must still come. The facts of the case support the view that over a million women were systematically denied equal pay by the world’s largest employer,” Maloney said. “While the ERA would apply only to government action, its effect would be sweeping, historic—and long overdue.”
“Thousands of 9/11 responders and survivors have been waiting to be compensated for their injuries, so we applaud Ms. Birnbaum’s efforts to release these draft regulations for public comment so quickly – indeed, only 34 days after she was appointed. The draft rules will be available for public comment for 45 days, with the hope that they will be finalized before the tenth anniversary of the attacks.
Queens, NY – U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D Queens, Manhattan), Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, other local representatives, and members of the western Queens community met with EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck and other EPA officials today to press for the expedited cleanup of Newtown Creek. At today’s meeting, members of the community had the opportunity to ask the EPA questions about the proposed cleanup and express their concerns.
WASHINGTON, DC – Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and five other Congresswomen wrote Manal al-Sharif, a Saudi woman who was jailed for nine days after for the offense of driving, offering encouragement and moral support to her efforts to overturn Saudi Arabia’s ban on women drivers. The arrest and jail term sparked much online debate and dissent in Saudi Arabia, and a protest was held outside the Saudi Embassy in Washington, DC today.
The lawmakers wrote:
We have been following your story with great interest as you pursue your campaign against the Saudi kingdom's driving ban. Your efforts on behalf of Saudi women, who only wish to protect themselves, are inspiring and we wish to extend our heartfelt admiration and support.
New York, NY – Last night, U.S. Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney and Hunter College President Jennifer Raab welcomed Professor Elizabeth Warren, Assistant to the President and Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), to New York to discuss the CFPB and the need for strong consumer protections in the wake of the Great Recession. Warren delivered her remarks at Hunter College’s Roosevelt House Institute for Public Policy, which stands at the location where a newly-elected president Franklin D. Roosevelt and Frances Perkins first laid out the concept that would become Social Security, widely considered to be our most important social safety net program.