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Ms. CHENEY. Madam Chair, I would like to start by thanking my dear friend and colleague, Ms. Foxx, the Republican leader of the House Education and Labor Committee, for her tremendous work and leadership on behalf of all American women and families.
Madam Chair, I rise today in strong opposition to H.R. 7, the so- called Paycheck Fairness Act. This should be called the ``Pay the Trial Lawyers Act.''
Madam Chair, my State of Wyoming launched the fight for women's equality and rights when we became the first jurisdiction in the world to grant women the right to vote 150 years ago. Here in this Chamber, 100 years ago, the House agreed that women should have the right to vote on a national basis. Leaders of the women's suffrage movement were fighting on behalf of women's rights. They were not fighting to provide greater payouts to trial lawyers. We should honor those women, and the generations of women who came after them, by defeating this sham bill.
The bill my Democratic colleagues have put on the floor today offers no new protections for women in the workplace. It paints job creators, many of whom in the Trump economy are increasingly women, as evil. Republicans know that economic policies that generate growth, create jobs, and increase wages benefit women and men. Our policies empower women and facilitate the success of women-owned businesses, which account for roughly 9 million jobs and $1.7 trillion in revenue.
Madam Chair, today's bill is just the latest example of the misguided and damaging policies Democrats in this body are attempting to pursue. They claim to be ``for the people,'' but in the nearly 3 months that they have been in charge, they have embraced socialism; they have enabled anti-Semitism; they have passed legislation that violates the First Amendment and the Second Amendment; and they have repeatedly refused to take steps necessary to protect the lives of babies after those babies are born.
Now, Madam Chair, they are telling us they are fighting for women when really they are simply fighting for trial lawyers. We have seen this movie before. The Democrats are not really for the people. They are for the government and for the special interest groups that support them. The American people know better, and we deserve better.
Madam Chair, I urge a ``no'' vote on this bill, and I call on my Democratic colleagues to come together with us, to work with us, so that we can actually make real progress for America's women and their families.
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