Key Lawmaker Says Moment Is Now For Legislation Benefiting Women

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) said in an interview that aired Monday on “Rising” that the window of opportunity has opened in Congress to pass legislation benefiting women.

“It’s also the timing. So I view now, with our being in the majority, that this is the moment,” DeLauro told Hill.TV.

“The windows in Washington don’t open for a very long time. The window is open. We are now going to go through,” she said.

DeLauro’s comments come days after a historic wave of women and minorities were sworn into the 116th Congress.

The veteran congresswoman said the new face of the Congress will impact what kind of legislation is pushed through.

“You take a look at the most recent elections. All of these pieces of legislation, all of these policies are part of a central discourse at the heart of the debate,” DeLauro said.

DeLauro has been pushing for equal pay legislation for over two decades.

She, along with Republican and Democratic lawmakers, pushed last year for the Government Accountability Office to start on a new study of pay differences between men and women in the federal government.

“It’s the timing also,” she said. “I was like the crazy aunt in the attic introducing in 1997 the Paycheck Fairness Act. Some people would say you can’t be very good at what you do if it’s taking this long,” she said. “But we have gotten the message across every year in greater numbers.”

— Julia Manchester