R 126 |
2019 -- H 5821 Enacted 03/07/2019 |
H O U S E R E S O L U T I O N |
RECOGNIZING MARCH 8, 2019, AS "INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY" IN THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND |
Introduced By: Representatives Fogarty, Tanzi, Walsh, Ajello, and Donovan |
Date Introduced: March 07, 2019 |
WHEREAS, International Women's Day has been observed since the early 1900s, at a |
time when women's oppression and inequality were causing women to become more vocal, |
active, and demanding of change; and |
WHEREAS, The first National Women's Day was observed in the United States on |
February 28, 1909, in honor of the 1908 garment worker's strike in New York City, where women |
protested and demanded shorter hours, better pay, and voting rights; and |
WHEREAS, The first countries to honor International Women's Day in 1911 were |
Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland, where together more than one million women and |
men attended International Women's Day rallies campaigning for women's rights to work, vote, |
hold public office, and to end discrimination in general; and |
WHEREAS, In 1977, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed, once and for all, |
throughout the world, March 8th as International Women's Day, a day that is celebrated in the |
United States and the world; and |
WHEREAS, International Women's Day has, since then and more recently, assumed |
even larger national and international dimensions for women in developed and developing |
countries alike; and |
WHEREAS, The United Nations has declared the 2019 theme for the International |
Women's Day celebration to be #BalancedForBetter, demanding more balanced government, |
boardrooms, courtrooms, pay parity and wealth. Gender balance is essential if our state, our |
nation and our world are to thrive; and |
WHEREAS, Gender parity unfortunately remains elusive with white women earning |
approximately 82 cents for every man's dollar, and with women of color faring even worse; and |
WHEREAS, Gender parity is further elusive, with sexual harassment and gender violence |
remaining pervasive problems, as demonstrated by the sweeping #MeToo and #TimesUp |
Movements; and |
WHEREAS, Although those statistics can be daunting and dim, there are nonetheless |
numerous bright spots which we recognize and celebrate today. One of those bright spots is that |
Rhode Island has not one, not two, not three and not four, but five female University and/or |
College Presidents, and for that reason, the Rhode Island General Assembly has chosen "Women |
in Higher Education," as this year's theme for International Women's Day; and |
WHEREAS, Those five female Presidents are Christina Paxson, President of Brown |
University; Dr. Meghan Hughes, President of the Community College of Rhode Island; Mim L. |
Runey, Chancellor of Johnson and Wales University; Rosanne Somerson, President of the Rhode |
Island School of Design; and Dr. Jane Gerety, RSM, President of Salve Regina University; now, |
therefore be it |
RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and |
Providence Plantations hereby recognizes these five prestigious, smart, elite and distinguished |
women who have blazed educational trails and broken glass ceilings to land at the top of their |
institutions. This Rhode Island House of Representatives encourages all citizens to celebrate and |
pay tribute to the contributions of these women, and all women, nationally and in the State of |
Rhode Island; and be it further |
RESOLVED, That this House hereby recognizes March 8, 2019, as "International |
Women's Day" in the State of Rhode Island; and be it further |
RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to |
transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to the first woman Governor of the State of Rhode |
Island, the Honorable Gina Raimondo. |
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LC002082 |
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