|
Sen. Gillibrand hosted a breakfast summit with over 100 Latina leaders, many from the Bronx and northern Manhattan. Sen. Gillibrand emphasized that when women are part of the decision making process, the outcomes are better.
Story by Sherry Mazzocchi and Debralee Santos
Photos and video by Sherry Mazzocchi
If women made up 50 percent of Congress, the DREAM Act would have passed long ago. America wouldn’t be embroiled in wars with Iraq and Afghanistan.
And there’d be a much better education system.
That was the vision U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand imparted to over 100 New York Latinas this past Fri., Nov. 11th at a breakfast summit entitled “An Important Conversation on Latina Empowerment.”
Envisioned as an opportunity for women, specifically Latinas, to speak directly with a sitting U.S. Senator on issues of particular concern to their communities, the discussion was held in the airy uptown penthouse Rio II Gallery, at the Broadway Housing Communities on West 135thStreet and Riverside Drive, where women from northern Manhattan and the Bronx gathered for coffee, and for a substantive discussion on the policy issues of the day.
Only the state’s second female U.S. Senator, and an outspoken advocate of women’s rights, Sen. Gillibrand was one of the first national voices to voice unequivocal support for the nomination of Justice Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. During her opening remarks, Sen. Gillibrand emphasized that when women are part of the decision making process, the outcomes are better.
As the women laughed, she smiled and said, “It’s true, and you all know it.”
And while Sen. Gillibrand lamented that not enough women vote or advocate for causes, the women before her soon proved themselves the exception to the rule.
The Latina leaders presented Gillibrand with their concerns on topics ranging from proposed cuts to Medicare and Social Security, curtailing hydo-fracking, raising taxes, better education and jobs.
On the issue of the Congressional Super Committee, which is tasked with cutting more than $4 trillion dollars from the federal budget over the next ten years, the Senator pledged to work with like-minded colleagues to ward against deep cuts in Social Security and Medicare.
“We will work on Becerra on our own,” said Sen. Gillibrand, referring to Rep. Xavier Becerra, the Hispanic Democratic Congressman from California, one of 12 members of the Super Committee who will play a central role in negotiations. The committee's recommendations are due by Nov. 23, and the full Congress is set to vote on the proposal by Dec. 23.
Gillibrand said she too was worried about the proposed cuts, and would fight “tooth and nail” to save safety-net programs like Medicare, W.I.C., and Head Start. Proposed cuts to Social Security could mean seniors living on $16,000 a year, she said.
“Women will bear the brunt of these cuts,” she said. “We’re the only ones left in our 90’s.”
Sen. Gillibrand said she was also in favor of lower taxes – in a growing economy. But taxing wealthy people at 39 percent, she argued, would bring an immediate and a higher return on investment than taxing them at lower rates. The tax revenue could be reinvested in early childhood education, infrastructure, small businesses, job creation and new energy resources.
“In a shrinking economy,” she said, “you have to make tough choices.”
In addition lending support to state resolutions to extend the millionaire’s tax and banning hydro-fracking, long-time Northern Manhattan Democratic District Leader Maria Luna urged Gillibrand to work for passage of the DREAM Act.
“It’s very important that young people who’ve come here are given the opportunity to continue their education,” she said.
Sen. Gillibrand offered good news on this front, saying that even in a divided Congress, the DREAM Act has a good shot at being passed.
When Carmen Flores and Aurelia Manuel of DC 37, of the city’s largest public employee union, spoke on the acrimonious divide between public and charter schools and the loss of manufacturing jobs, Sen. Gillibrand shifted the focus on long-term goals in education.
There is manufacturing in the United States, she said, but it is now in high technology sectors. To be competitive in the American marketplace, children need proficiency in what the mother of two called STEM: science, technology, engineering and math.
“Women don’t aspire to STEM because they think they will end up in a cubicle looking at numbers and papers, and they are never going to help people,” she said. Not so, she argued, noting that it is those with degrees in the sciences who find cures for cancer or create sustainable energy systems.
She implored the audience to reframe those ideas and tell children, especially young girls, that science, engineering and math are transformational careers, and can solve some of the world’s greatest problems.
“That’s something they are going to be interested in,” Gillibrand said, “is helping people.”
Afterwards, the women who’d gathered for an early morning exchange of ideas spoke highly of their female representative in the nation’s capital.
Gregoria Feliciano, of the Bronx, said, "It was refreshing to know that she had her pulse on the DREAM Act and education."
“It was moving for me to have her here to listen to our issues,” explained Pierina Sanchez. “A lot of my colleagues came with questions, and the Senator was very well prepared.”
Sonia Ivette Dueño, of Washington Heights, said she thought it was important for Sen. Gillibrand to reach out to local Latinas. "I think it was a very smart move on her part."
To hear from Latina leaders who attended the breakfast, and their thoughts on Sen. Gillibrand, community engagement and policy decisions to come, please visit http://bit.ly/MT013.
|
