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Good morning.

It is my honor to join you today along with my colleague and fellow Congressional Black Caucus member, Congresswoman Robin Kelly of Chicago and Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii for today’s program.

I represent Ohio’s 11^th District, and currently serve as the Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, the seventh woman to do so since we were established in 1971.

Last year, I spoke on the state of Black Women in America and in honor of one of my personal heroes, Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman to be elected to the U.S. Congress and the first woman to run for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Shirley was also one of the 12 founders of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Shirley once said to an audience of women, that of her two “handicaps”, being female put many more obstacles in her path than being black.

For me, depending on the day, that is often the truth.

I just want to share a few numbers with you:

To date, only 294 women have served in the United States Congress. Mind you, the 1^st Congress met in March 1789.

Of those 294 women, only 47 have been women of color, and currently, 30 women of color are serving in the 113^th Congress.

However, in 2012, women made up about 54 percent of the electorate.

More than one out of every two voters in the last Presidential election was a woman, and African American women voted in higher rates than every other demographic.

I mention these statistics because in light of the very, very busy lives we all live and have to balance, the future of this country really is within our hands.

We have the ability and the power to shift this country in a direction that will improve the lives of every individual, no matter their gender, age, race or socioeconomic background.

No matter what side of the political spectrum we are on, I believe that as women there are core concerns and beliefs that we all share.

Most of us believe that every child should have the right to a quality education.

Most of us believe that everyone should have the ability to make fair wages that allow us to take care of ourselves and our families.

Most of us believe that every person should have access to affordable healthcare.

Most of us believe that no child should lose their lives to a proliferation of gun violence, and that our communities should be safe places for us to live and to raise our families.

Many of these issues are the ones we’re debating right now.

But instead of debating the best approach to ensuring these issues are addressed, we are debating if they are really issues at all.

I do believe that if more women were in control, this would not be the case.

At present, our country needs women's idealism and determination, perhaps more in politics than anywhere else.

We as women must understand the power we have to change our communities, and we must realize the unique ability we have to lead.

With the current state of our democracy and our country, we must also not shy away from the opportunity to do both.

The times when women have been successful in confronting and overcoming the sexism that persists in our society, have been when we are thoughtful and strategic about speaking up.

It’s when we’ve done what it takes to introduce and implement our ideas and our plans to make things better.

Whether it is in the boardroom, the courtroom, the living room or on the House floor where you’ll find me, women must have the courage to speak up for ourselves, for our families and for the communities we are a part of and represent.

We owe it to ourselves and we need our voices more now than ever.

Not sure how many of you have noticed, but just within the past few years our democracy has been severely compromised, and now, it is for sale.

Our economic, civil and constitutional rights are being challenged and frankly, they are being lost.

If we do not realize our responsibility in this moment, we risk allowing the work Ms. Shirley Chisholm, Ms. Mary McLeod Bethune. Ms. Susan B. Anthony and Ms. Elizabeth Cady Stanto, among so many other women who made a difference, to have been done in vain.

We must work together to make sure we don’t allow that to happen.

I thank you all for inviting me to join you today.