[inaudible conversations] [applause] ladies and gentlemen the honorable nancy pelosi, speaker of the united states house of representatives. >> in morning everyone welcome to statutory hall on this very special occasion as speaker of the house it is my honor to welcome each and every one of you to the united states capital to celebrate women's history month especially a season to paid tribute to many leaders on his shoulders we stand. today we have the privilege of honoring an all-american

icon, billy jean king. [applause] and all of the women in sports. not only is billy jean one of the greatest tennis players of all time, men or women, that has blessed our country with her devotion to activism. a fearless voice from women and lgbtq americans and for many friends in congress, a partner. and he thinks we need to honor her this year 50 years after we enacted title ix. [applause] thank you for fighting so fiercely for that. also joined by the daughter of the legendary congressman meek.

[applause] that i always went to acknowledge senator byrd to lead the way in the senate. and now that is salute and offer back to that education and labor committee only half of congress in the country i will come billy jean in their family and friends and the remarkable athletes and dedicated leaders joining us here today and we'll hear more about them. the first we will hear from our distinguished chairman it will be introduced by the voice of god. [laughter] thank you. >> ladies and gentlemen the honorable bobby scott.

[laughter] [applause] >> thank you very much speaker pelosi and for your extraordinary work as speaker of the house and the us representatives. [cheers and applause] it is great to celebrate national women's history month. we are here with billie jean king not only and then a driver of pivotal policy initiatives including the education act and the comprehensive child development act and of course title ix. thank you for being with us today. this is an important time to reflect in the victories we

have achieved to women's equity as well as the unfinished work that remains to be done. take for example the continued efforts on wage equality. six years ago the equal pay act codified the basic principles of equal pay for equal work regardless of sex. i worked to realize this has also been entirely too slow gender-based pay discrimination continues to run women, particularly women of color of the wages they deserve. the covid-19 pandemic has added a new obstacle while putting millions of women out of the workforce. the gender gap would become only so that if we strength equal pay protections for women. last april the house passed the paycheck fairness act. the bill was to help women

enforce their right to equal pay for equal work and the legislation prohibits employers from potential employees to provide salary history during the hiring process and returning to the workforce provision to help prevent existing disparity from being perpetuated. our workers can we no longer that time for the senate to pass the paycheck fairness plot and that is now. and with pay equity in america. thank you to all of the speakers for continued leadership and i look forward to working together with all of you. hence the promise of equal pay for equal work. think characters.

on —. >> ladies and gentlemen miss monique steele. [applause] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

♪♪ ♪♪

♪♪ host:

[applause] [applause]

>> good morning it's nice to see all of you today. i like to think speaker pelosi for inviting me here to spend a few minutes remembering my mother passing a little makes the first woman of color elected to congress. [applause] my father would summon legislators to against all i could put equality on the legislative agenda. beginning around 1969 my mother helped germany the policy principle that was title ix. in 1972 she help to shepherd

that principle into law. between 1973 and 75 and those entitled with. >> he will return in the end of the month and she defied all on —- defended title ix that arose frequently especially in this respect to athletics. before title ix exclusion and reputation is passed the potential of the role of women to teach with her interest. the inequality was cascading of their status and society

many that found sex discrimination in education she was coming in. from the age of four she said is often a course to become a physician. but when the time came to go to medical school every school she applied to turned her down because she was a female. she was also among the millions of others whose pat —- daughters were locked out for socialized by inequality. she saw her own daughter forbidden from taking on certain rules in school and required to engage in others, because i am female and to be rejected one of the colleges the admission. title ix opens doors.

>> the fraud reach really ripples through society for me. did he exercise? any parenting protections? what were they going to reduce. >> and for girls and women is still have weeks to go is celebrated the 30th anniversary of title ix. and with remarks on the house for she appealed for vigilance

and ask me greet each and every not only as a commemoration of the past achievement that as an opportunity to rededicate ourselves to build a future based on equality and the future that title ix will help us reach. so in my mom's memory and otter of that heard then doesn't help you today. thank you. ♪♪

>> thank you madame speaker, chairman scott, and all the distinguish members of congress in my allowed to call her thanks for all you do and also continuing your legacy of social justice. it is only fitting as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the passage of title ix that we are here this morning in the very building the 37 words of title ix were drafted. it is one of the most important legislation in our

but a few miles down the road, arthur ash had a full tennis scholarship. he forgot to go that by the time you get a room but then i was living and as a playground director at the elementary school which i love then i worked in the law firm handing out equipment which i did not like. [laughter]

you could never understand inclusion but today things are different with an increased number of women getting college degrees. also celebrating 50 years of them in a laying with the scholarships today the law states that no person in the united states shell shell basis on the purpose of sex be excluded in the united the fermented on —- promote

benefits under any education program or activity and then to change the word activity and he was so happy they left it in. without the word activity, women were not have received. >> looking at we must increase compliance with the law and find a solution for image and likeness and.

[applause] over the years there have been many champions of title ix and they come from all walks of life. the real champions of title ix are the women and men who worked in the's halls 50 years ago to cast a vote to stand up for equality. five of them are some of my favorite he rose. congresswoman senator ted stevens, doctor sanders, not an economist but very helpful to make it happen. without their leadership, title ix may not have become law. and for the sake of them, every time you are told you want to raise a challenge

, title ix it is our job to protected and respected. thank you. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen the honorable nancy pelosi speaker of the united states house of representatives. >> now it is still morning. is that wonderful to just ask and the flow then to be so encouraged. >> and we need to know covid

preventing us from happening. the director protocol has given us the maximum number of it so many women this is an unusually large number. and we are joined by our distinguished with father of three daughters. he never misses a women's event. [laughter] [applause] and as we all know, this june me lines the 50th anniversary title ix in these women may have met with america taking a major leap forward. when the founding is.

>> that was my title of title ix. [applause] >> i want to take a little bit because we had the honor of serving.

>> overcoming much discrimination to become a progressive champion and the first woman of color to ever serve in the congress of the united states. [applause] you would never know it because she always had a smile and in the acting tattle on —- title and getting it back and forth is a sheer force of will. me just tell you about that. this is story from when i came in 87.

she wanted the ability to bring it to the floor. that coming up, the night before the that cannot be brought up but then she tries to bring it to the floor. let me just say it wasn't easy. trying to keep people away from the circuit away from that we had fight or flight understand that. but she defended it to lead the charge against efforts to exempt athletic events. >> and then to triumphantly washington as a contentious

place. which yields itself at this point it would be here so she can be celebrated for all walks. it's about time. [applause] it is so exciting for us to be appear and the next speaker is wonderful. just like the best tennis player in the world. >> and then when an athlete that thought for you will be

the top-ranked player in the world. [applause] >> in the battle of the sexes and you also went in sports. also announced can advocate. she was and is, when tennis association was a better future for the sport also with the lgbtq community and a champion of title ix. >> today determined when they are carrying on the fight for the women's national soccer team demanding equal pay. [applause] to wnba players as they

looking walking on the halls of justice. also we are fortunate to have coach deadly. she is an all-star and several stellar players from the 2022 championship the best girls team in the country. [applause] there is the coach. thank you. how much fun it is to be joined by the next generation. led us congratulate your program for making history as a coach and a player with the prestigious award in the same

year. >> so as we gather here today our thoughts are with the people of ukraine. we must be prayerful and helpful and how that legislation to do just that. we especially saluted them and women fighting to defend their democracy and protect the family. at the same time let us pray for the wnba stars. there is a picture in the orange shirt. she was visiting the capital recently. now she is in prison detained by the russians. we want her to know we are thinking of her and praying for her we want the russians to know that. same prayers to her and her wife and her family.

so we celebrate all women athletes who have left slave trails for mice —- and then to provide and then presented to us. so somehow the adoptable spirit who as the title of her assigned that for women and equality and justice. and those who knew us to carry on the fight of full equality for every american because we know in terms of women, when women succeed, america succeeds. [applause] thank you again everyone for being here today. please enjoy that receptionnow's

explore our nation's past with american history tv and watch television for serious readers with book tv. today on the presidency our series that highlights the politics policies and legacies of the us presidents. we hear from betty ford in her own words on the role of the first lady and her time in the white house. that's just one of many programs. you'll see today on american history tv find a full schedule on your program guide or visit cspan.org/history now, it's time for lectures in history and opportunity for you to join students in college classrooms on