“The initiatives President Obama proposed tonight are important to the country, to future generations, and to women and families right now. America needs to get back on track as a nation where hard-working people can support themselves and their families, and we need lawmakers to put aside partisan differences and put in place the measures America needs. President Obama laid out a solid plan tonight that can make a real difference for millions of women.

In particular, we would like to see Congress enact the Pathways Back to Work Initiative, which can provide job opportunities and training to hundreds of thousands of low-income women, lifting them out of unemployment or out of dead-end, no-benefit jobs. Similarly, the tax cuts for small businesses could be a boon for many women-owned firms that are struggling in this prolonged recession. And cutting the payroll tax will be a lifeline for millions of struggling families headed by single parents and women.

It is important that new jobs be accompanied by a push for fairness; we need Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act and other measures to address the gender-based wage gap and the discrimination that still prevails in our workplaces. And we look to our nation’s leaders to advance paid sick days and paid family and medical leave, to help many more Americans meet the dual demands of work and family. Congress should waste no time in adopting the President’s proposals and advancing these badly needed measures.”