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REMARKS BY:  DONNA E. SHALALA, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
PLACE:	     150TH Anniversary of  the First Women's Rights Convention, Seneca Falls, New York
DATE:        July 17, 1998

We are here to honor women who made a difference in all of our lives.

Their voices thunder down the years.

Their legacy is alive and thriving today.

Their language is part of our lives.

Generations have come and gone since Lizzy Stanton added two crucial words to the most hallowed phrase in our history. She said, "All men -- and women -- are created equal." As, the First Lady said yesterday, it was a shout heard `round the world. A newspaper man called the convention at Seneca Falls "the most shocking and unnatural incident ever recorded in the history of womanity."

Well, thank the Lord for shocking women. Thank the Lord for women who've shaken up the status quo. For women who've dreamed and dared. Thank the Lord for the rights we've declared. For the fights we've endured. For the dignity we have struggled to win.

I saw that dignity in Beijing. Thousands of women from all over the world -- women of different colors, wearing different clothing, speaking different languages. Different women -- but one clear message: The progress of nations depends on the progress of women. All of us have felt that dignity flowing through the words of our greatest poets and patriots. Through the words of Toni Morrison and her character Sula, who captures the essence of the strong, audacious women who've made a difference in our lives. Women who are tenacious. Inventive. Disruptive. Imaginative. Modern. Uncontained. And uncontainable.

Witness the wave of women's dignity surging through every field of American life. We've been called the "everyday revolutionaries." We are changing how businesses are run. How language is heard and used. How families are structured. We're changing how communities are organized. How children are raised and taught. We're changing how goods and services are conceived, marketed, and sold.

We've come to Seneca Falls to celebrate women who -- quite literally -- are changing the course of human events. The world of sports. The exploration of space. The hand of healing. The science of curing. The march of technology.

Let us also celebrate women who are shaking up the political world. We have put more women in Congress and the state capitals. More women in the courts. More women in charge.

And more women in the President's Cabinet. There's Madeleine Albright, Janet Reno, Alexis Herman, Carol Browner, Aida Alvarez, Janet Yellen, Charlene Barshefsky - - and me.

What are these women doing? With the leadership of the President and the First Lady; of the Vice President and Mrs. Gore; With the dedication of all women who've advanced the cause of Seneca Falls, we are reordering our national priorities. Reshaping our national agenda. Rewriting the definition of "national security." Recognizing the importance of family issues, from the kitchen table to the national stage. Realizing the real needs of women, children and families.

What has the power of women achieved? We've defended every woman's right to reproductive freedom. We've expanded the enforcement of child support. We've defined violence against women as a public health crisis. We've stood fast for affirmative action, keeping the President's promise to "mend it - not end it." We've advanced women's education, training and economic opportunities. We've stopped drive-by childbirth deliveries. We've advanced women's health. We've protected children's health. We've supported the breast cancer action plan. We've advocated for a patient's Bill of Rights. And, we've helped parents relieve their child care headaches. We've helped working families succeed. Not only by raising their incomes. But by raising all incomes -- by building a stronger economy. All in the human interest. All in the national interest.

But as everyone in this room knows, the road from Seneca Falls has been long and hard. Our feet are sore. Our backs are tired. Our hearts are strained. Sisters -- let me tell you -- the struggle isn't over yet. We have miles to go before we sleep. Miles to go before our dreams come true. As we celebrate the memory and the meaning of Seneca Falls, we cannot rest or claim victory. Not when we have so much to do. So much to lose.

Just look at the cover of Time Magazine a few weeks ago. It asked -- "Is Feminism Dead?" Well, we have a two-word answer for them. HELL NO. Is Feminism Dead? HELL NO. Women have far to go. Our movement will take us there. The women's movement must continue to thrive because men and women are still not created equal everywhere.

Just imagine if women controlled 51 percent of Congress. Imagine the sentiments we would declare on Capitol Hill. Sentiments we will declare. Sentiments that embody every American's fondest hopes. And the dreams for their children and their families.

Parents want Congress to protect their children from tobacco. Women will declare it. Consumers want Congress to guarantee their rights in the health care system. Women will declare it. Families want Congress to help them get child care they can afford and trust. Women will declare it.

Women want Congress to protect their right to reproductive choice and health. We will declare it and defend it. We will never, never go back.

As our fight goes on, let me sound a note of caution. As we change the world around us, let us not forget about the world within us. It would be a Pyrrhic victory, to win our human rights, but lose our precious health. We must respect ourselves. Think about ourselves. Take care of our bodies, and ourselves. Sisters -- the Declaration of Sentiments must begin from within. Not only in our souls. But in the strength of our hearts, our minds and our muscles, our blood and our bones.

Sojourner Truth knew something about the strength of women. She said, "If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, -- women together ought to be able to turn it back -- and get it right side up again!" If we're going to turn the world right-side up, we must stay strong.

That is the best way to honor the Declaration of Sentiments today. To remember how far we've come. To imagine how far we'll go. The best way to honor the Declaration of Sentiments is to appreciate the women who've shocked and shaken up every generation, everywhere. To keep fighting in their name, in their memory, and to never stop struggling until we win.

So, on this 150th anniversary, we must gird ourselves to take our battle into the next century. Our enemies are putting on their armor to end opportunity and decent lives and fairness for waitresses in Topeka and corporate executives in New York. This is not a class war -- every American family -- rich or poor -- will lose if they win. This is a fight for hard-working families. It is a fight for our children -- for our daughters and our sons. It is a fight for old and young -- strong and weak. It is about race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and disability. It is about Asian and African, Native American and Hispanic. It is about all of us -- Republicans and Democrats.

And we will win. We will win in the name of women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Alice Paul, Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, Carrie Chapman Catt, Bella Abzug, Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem. And the countless others -- men and women, Republicans and Democrats -- who opened up the steel doors with their sacrifices and courage in factories and offices and homes and clinics. On battlefields and playing fields they stepped up with us -- so that all of us could walk right through to the dream -- and the opportunity -- of this extraordinary country.

One of them is my friend, Dr. Elizabeth Karlin. Outside of Madison, Wisconsin today, Liz Karlin lies very ill from cancer. Dr. Elizabeth Karlin is one of this country's most courageous abortion providers. For years -- day and night -- she and her nurses endured harassment from demonstrators outside their clinic and their homes. She never wavered in her commitment to protect a woman's right to choose.

More than anyone I have ever met, Liz Karlin has the courage of her convictions. Like our founding mothers, she is tenacious and brave. A hero of our movement.

Last weekend, I flew to Madison to see her. I promised her I would never, never give up -- that we would never, ever give up our struggle for equality. I intend to keep that promise -- and I know you will too.

Thank you, sisters.

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