WASHINGTON — AAUW is pleased to support the nomination of Rep. Hilda Solis for Secretary of Labor. President-elect Barack Obama announced the nomination at a news conference this afternoon.
"AAUW is delighted at the prospect of Hilda Solis having a seat at the cabinet table," said AAUW Executive Director Linda D. Hallman, CAE. "Throughout her career, she has been a champion for working women and their families. President-elect Obama has made a wise choice."
Hilda Solis has a long history of being on the right side of issues that matter most to America's families. As a state legislator, she was instrumental in raising California's minimum wage in 1996. She also authored pioneering legislation on environmental justice issues, for which she became the first woman to receive a Profile in Courage Award from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library. Solis was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000 and, for the past eight years, has fought for women on a national scale.
"Hilda Solis received a perfect score from AAUW in the 110th Congress for votes on such critical issues as pay equity, paid parental leave, and reducing the cost of college," said Lisa M. Maatz, AAUW director of public policy and government relations. "Solis has been a leader on pay equity, co-sponsoring both the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act, two bills that would go a long way toward closing the persistent wage gap faced by American women."
Maatz noted that Solis is a co-sponsor of the Healthy Families Act, a bill that would guarantee the availability of paid sick leave to working Americans. Solis has also been active in efforts to preserve the integrity of the Department of Labor's Women's Bureau in the face of efforts to weaken or eliminate the program. The bureau is the only federal agency whose work is solely devoted to the concerns of women in the workplace. "Clearly, Solis understands the critical role women play in today's workforce, and she cares deeply about the issues of pay equity and work-life balance," said Maatz. "It will be a wonderful change of pace to have a proactive Department of Labor that is responsive to these universal concerns."
