Senator Gillibrand & NWBC Chair Carla Harris on Women's Equality Day

WASHINGTON, Aug. 26, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- In recognition of Women's Equality Day, marking the 94th Anniversary today of the historic certification of the 19th amendment that granted women the right to vote, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and National Women's Business Council (NWBC) Chair Carla Harris released the following statement:

"As we celebrate women's Equality Day and honor all the brave women who fought tirelessly for the right to vote, we must also recognize that their work is not done. We must take the baton and take another step forward in the march for equality. We must continue to empower women to make their voices heard and ensure that every working woman has a fair shot to earn their full economic potential," said Senator Gillibrand. "We know the face of the American workforce has changed significantly with the dramatic increased participation of women. But the federal rules of the workplace leftover from the Mad Men era haven't kept pace with the modern workforce - these policies need to catch up to the reality of today's American families. One common sense place to start is by modernizing the American workplace for women workers with policies that treat them equally, allow them to reach their full economic potential and reflects our values."

"As we honor Women's Equality Day, we celebrate the victory of women's equal right to vote and we are proud of the great strides women have made, but we remain ever cognizant of the economic challenges still facing women," said NWBC Chair Carla Harris. "Our latest research on women's access to capital provided us with challenging statistics such as male entrepreneurs start businesses with six times as much capital as women entrepreneurs. This must change. Increased capital access for women would significantly add to the current $3 trillion economic impact that women have today and the 23 million jobs contributed by women owned businesses. That's the future we're working towards."

With more dual income households than ever before, and 40 percent of women with children at home serving as sole breadwinners, when women face obstacles to access to capital, the entire middle class and American economy gets held back too.

Krystal Glass
Communications Director
National Women's Business Council
[email protected]
O: 202.205.6829

Glen Caplin      
Director of Communication                
Office of Senator Gillibrand          
[email protected]

SOURCE National Women's Business Council