The following was originally submitted to the Washington Post, but has not been published. It was sent to Raising Kaine by the National Organization for Women leaders listed below...
November 1, 2006Letters to the Editor
The Washington Post
1150 15th St, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20071
letters@washpost.comGeorge Allen had to reach back almost three decades to find something negative to say about Jim WebbGÇÖs attitude toward women. ItGÇÖs a sign of AllenGÇÖs not so quiet desperation in this the election.
Jim WebbGÇÖs article of 27 years ago was intemperate, but he had both the wisdom and the courage to changeGÇöadmitting the error and excess of the article and apologizing. How refreshing! Few politicians have the guts to do either. Over the past 27 years George Allen, on the other hand, has remained unchanged in his opposition to womenGÇÖs rights. And now he thinks he can dupe Virginia women into not voting.
As long time advocates for womenGÇÖs rights, we know Allen can make no claim of ever having done anything in support of womenGÇÖs rights or even on issues of special concern to women. Allen has voted against or opposed every initiative to better womenGÇÖs lives from when he first ran (1979) and served in the Virginia General Assembly (1982- 1991). He always opposed the Equal Rights Amendment and reproductive rights. He voted against almost all bills of particular interest to women, some of which passed without his support like:GÇó Prohibition of discrimination in housing because of elderliness, parenthood, handicap (1984, 90-8-2 vote);
GÇó Creation of Human Rights Council (1987, 77-20-1 vote); and
GÇó Allowing victims of workplace sexual assault to sue their attacker (1988, 79-20-1 vote).In the 1990GÇÖs, in Congress, he voted three times against the Family and Medical Leave Act, and in 2004 he voted against allowing victims of domestic violence to take leave under the Act(3/25/04).
WomenGÇÖs health and job safety hold little concern for him as he voted for bills to overturn OSHA regulations to cut down on repetitive stress injuries and as Governor vetoed legislation to provide WorkerGÇÖs Compensation coverage for carpal tunnel syndrome both of which disproportionately affect women. And by the way, Allen has voted four times against raising the federal minimum wage.
In 2005, he voted against a budget amendment to reduce teen pregnancy through education and contraceptives and to require equitable prescription coverage for contraceptives under health plans that covered Viagra (3/17/05)
And the list goes on.
Jim Webb supports womenGÇÖs rights, including reproductive rights, the family medical leave act, expanded and better health care to include contraceptive coverage and cheaper prescription drug programs. He further supports raising the minimum wage, an issue of great importance to many women.
Jim WebbGÇÖs record on women in the military is equally strong, despite that 1979 lapse. While he was Secretary of the Navy, he tripled the number of seagoing jobs open to women, opened 16,000 billets for women, initiated training programs to counter sexual harassment, and met regularly with a group monitoring womenGÇÖs issues to identify potential problems and possible solutions.
Virginia voters face a choice between Jim Webb who has had the wisdom to change his views on womenGÇÖs rights and George Allen who has not.
Jean Marshall Crawford - Arlington (1977-1980)
Pat Winton - Rome, Italy (1981-1983)
Emily McCoy - Fairfax (1987-1989)
Denise L. Lee - Chesapeake (1991-1996)
Coordinators, Virginia National Organization for Women
Liberal paper my ass...
Anybody look at the statistics on poverty and single mothers or the equal pay rate lately?
Sure isn't on Allen's agenda list.
Lets shove his teeth down his whiny throat.
This article is so bogus, the first paragraphs are nothing but out of context smears and quotes.
They don't even get to the votes, the record or the position statements.
Seriously, we need to amplify Webb's record and position statements more.
Webb is *the* choice for any woman who doesn't want to be a 2nd class citizen in America.
This is very important, let's face it, if a woman hears just the smear and doesn't find out about the actual positions and record they might not get out of the chair and vote for their right to have equal pay, affordable childcare, end discrimination against single mothers, increase in wages and on and on!