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September 2006 | July 2006 | June 2006 | May 2006
September 2006 Conversation
Deva Kyle, Younger Women's Task Force
Congresswoman Hilda Solis (D-CA)
Each month, a member of the Younger Women's Task Force interviews a woman member of Congress to ask questions about issues that are impacting young women across the country. This month, Deva Kyle, Project Director of theYounger Women's Task Force interviewed Congresswoman Hilda Solis from California.
About Deva and Congresswoman Solis
 At 27 years old, Deva Kyle is a founding member of YWTF and comes to the National Director position after serving as Chapter Director for YWTF’s Washington DC Metro Chapter and as a National Advisor on New Chapter Development. She currently works as a full time pension lawyer. Deva attended Vassar College where she received a BA in Sociology with a focus in women’s studies. Deva has regularly worked and volunteered in the interest of women’s empowerment. She was on the advisory board of the campus Women’s Center, and on the board of directors for the national non-profit Alternatives to Marriage Project (AtMP). She was an executive member of the LGBTQ campus organizations at Vassar College and Georgetown Law and participated in a number of organizing efforts in Poughkeepsie, NY and Washington DC including organizing a tri-state feminist conference.
Deva received her Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University Law Center. In law school, she was the editor-in-chief of the Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law— the first law journal to address the intersection of gender and sexuality.
 Congresswoman Hilda Solis was first elected to public office in 1985 as a member of the Rio Hondo Community College Board of Trustees. She served in the California State Assembly from 1992 to 1994, and in 1994 made history by becoming the first Latina elected to the California State Senate. As the chairwoman of the powerful Senate Industrial Relations Committee, she led the battle to increase the state's minimum wage from $4.25 to $5.75 an hour in 1996. She also authored a record seventeen state laws aimed at combating domestic violence. Now serving in her third term in the U.S. House of Representatives, Congresswoman Solis has worked to expand access to affordable health insurance, protect our environment and improve the lives of working families.
In 2003, Solis became the first Latina appointed to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce where she continues her career long commitment to improving the quality of health care and fighting for environmental justice. As the Chair of the Democratic Women's Working Group, Solis continues to advocate for issues of importance to women and their families, including workplace rights, violence against women and international women's rights.
Questions for Congresswoman Solis
DEVA KYLE: Young women, especially poor young women and young women of color, are still vastly underrepresented in all levels of government. Do you support any traditional or non-traditional affirmative action policies to bring about better integration? If so, what?
CONGRESSWOMAN SOLIS: I support affirmative action in educational settings. Encouraging more women and minorities to enter into a wide variety of fields will produce the qualified candidates needed in the public and private sectors. With the growing diversity of our country, our workforce and government will need to reflect and understand our population. I continue to encourage women and minorities to run for office.
DEVA KYLE: As an organization of women in their 20s and 30s, many YWTF members are currently pregnant or are mothers of young children. Many are also just beginning their careers. Without assuring paid leave, the current law does very little for young and/or moderate-to-low income working families. What efforts are you taking to ensure paid leave for working American families?
CONGRESSWOMAN SOLIS: I am a cosponsor of The Balancing Act (H.R. 1589), legislation introduced by my colleague, Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, to provide a workplace environment that is more understanding of working families. This legislation would provide for paid family leave for caring for young children and elderly relatives, increased child care options for working families, funding for after-school programs, universal pre-k, and other important improvements to help working families across the country. The United States is far behind the rest of the world in providing paid parental leave. A recent study showed that the U.S. ranked 163 out of 168 countries in providing some form of paid maternity leave. We need to do better for our working families and pass common-sense legislation like the Balancing Act to help mothers and fathers stay afloat and support their children.
DEVA KYLE: Are you a feminist? If so, what do you see as the value in that title? If not, why not?
CONGRESSWOMAN SOLIS: To me, feminism is about equal rights and status for men and women, so in that regard I am a feminist. Some mistake feminism for a movement that is trying to ensure more rights for women over men. As a Member of Congress who has the opportunity to shape the laws of our country, I strive to pass laws that foster equal rights and discourage discrimination or second class status for any group, especially women and minorities. While men and women have unique qualities and inherent differences, the goal of equality can celebrate these qualities and differences while ensuring equal right
DEVA KYLE: More than any generation before us, young women see environmentalism as a distinctly feminist issue. This is particularly true when one considers that our most egregious environmental hazards disproportionately affect poor women and children. I grew up in East Los Angeles and due to the poor air quality there I suffer from asthma. As a longtime environmental activist and as a member of the Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, what do you think our national lawmakers can do in the next five years to significantly reduce the environmental racism that is the cause of urban asthma and other environmental afflictions?
CONGRESSWOMAN SOLIS: Minorities and under-served communities are often the most likely to have their health impacted by poor environmental quality because of their proximity to polluting industries. I have been working hard in Congress to raise the level of attention to the relationship between the environment and public health. As policymakers, I believe we need to provide more oversight on the Environmental Protection Agency, stop cutting the funding for implementation and enforcement of environmental regulations, and work to empower communities to learn about the environmental causes of public health problems. Through education, local communities will have the power to take action to protect them, and policymakers will have the power to pass strong legislation which protects public health.
DEVA KYLE: Many young women do not look to the formal political and legislative processes to enact societal change both because of the perceived corruption within politics and because of the limited effect legislation often seems to have. Is there any truth to that observation? What can be done to bring more visible change through the legislative process?
CONGRESSWOMAN SOLIS: I think a lot of people who are disengaged and disenchanted with the legislative process because of the focus on the culture of corruption in Washington. However, there is a high number qualified women candidates running for Congress this year. Voters have more confidence that women, rather than men, can clean up Congress and promote positive change. We need a new direction in America and can achieve that through sweeping change in the leadership in Washington. Until that time, the politics as usual that divide and distract our country will sadly continue.
DEVA KYLE: In recent years, the media has made special note of the fact that some educated women within my generation are choosing not to enter the workforce or leave the workforce mid-career. Moreover, many of those journalists have used this data to suggest that society is returning to the feminine mystique. When I speak to my peers, however, I find the motivation to leave the work force (as much as it exists) stems instead from a venerable boycott of the American corporate culture that does not value its workers commitment to family. Beyond parental leave, what do you think can be done through regulation or otherwise make corporations responsible to the needs of young women in the workplace?
CONGRESSWOMAN SOLIS: All mothers are working mothers, because being a parent is a 24/7 job. The so-called "mommy wars" are a convenient media angle that has been invoked quite often in recent years. This debate focuses on one-sided arguments which preclude meaningful solutions. Most women do not have the option of working. With the rising costs of gas, child care, and housing, most families need two incomes just to stay afloat, and if a woman is a single parent, her options are extremely limited.
If a woman wants or needs to work, she should have the flexibility in a workplace to be a good worker and a good parent. There are many options that companies can utilize to improve a parent's work-life balance. The best option is offering flexible work hours, telecommuting, and other options so that parents can be as productive employees as possible.
DEVA KYLE: YWTF was built on the value of sisterhood: the idea that we as women must support, mentor, and share resources with one another to best meet our generation's potential. Considering the competitive nature of politics what has been your experience of sisterhood within congress?
CONGRESSWOMAN SOLIS: I have had a number of positive experiences with the other women Members of Congress. The possibility of Nancy Pelosi becoming the first woman Speaker of the House in January is incredibly exciting and her leadership and assistance has been invaluable to me and many other Members. Other women Members who have served for many years have helped me learn more about Congress, how to navigate a predominantly-male institution and be successful in policymaking.
Learn more about Congresswoman Solis
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