WASHINGTON - Today AAUW released its Congressional Voting Record for the 110th Congress, which gives the public critical information about how members of Congress voted on AAUW priority issues.
This Congress was noticeably more supportive of AAUW's position in the areas of education, economic security, and civil rights. More than half the representatives and senators supported AAUW's issues on at least 80 percent of the votes in this voting record, a tool to both educate voters and make legislators more conscious about issues important to women and families.
"AAUW has had some critical legislative victories this Congress, but we must also protect and enforce hard-won laws already on the books," said AAUW Executive Director Linda D. Hallman, CAE. "With the November elections just around the corner, AAUW is urging voters to hold their elected officials accountable on the issues that matter most to women and their families."
To help the electorate make an informed decision, AAUW also released voter guides for the November elections – not just for the presidential race but also for some key Senate races. Additional voter guides will be added throughout the fall.
"We don't tell women how to vote," said Lisa M. Maatz, AAUW director of public policy and government relations. "We encourage them to speak their minds and get involved in the political process, to ensure that the issues they most care about get the attention they deserve-and education and economic security are very much on the minds of women voters this year."
The AAUW Capitol Hill Lobby Corps, a group of AAUW members who lobby Congress each week it is in session, will make a special effort to thank members of Congress with a 100 percent voting record.
"After a five-year delay, the Higher Education Act was reauthorized, which takes steps to make college more affordable and creates the AAUW-inspired Patsy Mink Graduate Fellowships," said Maatz. "AAUW was also instrumental in the House passage of two equal pay bills: the Paycheck Fairness Act, which updates the Equal Pay Act of 1963 to provide better remedies for victims of pay discrimination, and the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which would correct the Supreme Court's misstep in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co."
In addition to the nonpartisan voter guides and the Congressional Voting Record, AAUW's nationwide Voter Education Campaign features an online resource kit for field campaigns on issues such as affirmative action and measures requiring employers to provide a minimum number of paid sick days. The Woman-to-Woman Voter Turnout manual is an in-depth guide for AAUW members and coalition partners who want to run campaigns in their communities that encourage women to turn out on Election Day. AAUW also awards public policy impact grants for projects designed to increase member advocacy on state- and federal-level issues. This year AAUW state affiliates in Alabama, Delaware, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin have received funding for projects ranging from student registration drives to candidate forums.
