Celebrating Women: A Note from Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz

This entry is part of a series in celebration of Women's History Month.

This March, during Women’s History Month, women across the country are doing everything they can to help make history. What we do now is going to determine if during next year’s Women’s History Month we can look together toward 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and see the first female president in American history – President Hillary Clinton.

Young and old; rural, urban and suburban; students, businesswomen, doctors, waitresses, teachers, stay at home moms – it is up to all of us to make history. We have the power and strength of our vote and our voices, and it is our responsibility to use it for our families, communities, nation, and for ourselves.

As women, we will decide the future of our nation.

In 2006, it was women voters who pushed the numbers high enough to elect Democratic majorities in the United States House and Senate. Women voters have made the difference for Hillary in key primary states including New Hampshire, Nevada, Tennessee, Ohio and Texas. Women voters will decide the outcome of this tough primary race, and odds are female voters will be the decisive factor in the general election. For more than 40 years, the number of female voters has exceeded the number of male voters in every presidential general election and in 2004, an astounding 9 million more women then men voted.

I point out these numbers and the power inherent in them, because this presidential race isn’t about what the pundits on TV say, and it is not about what the media writes or reports.

Hillary Clinton’s race is about you, and your concerns and values.

It’s about every little girl who has ever worn a T-shirts that says, “I can be president.”

It’s about all the 18 year-olds who will go to the voting booth for the first time ever, and cast a ballot for America’s first female president.

It’s for all the mothers who know, that like them, Hillary understands what it takes to juggle the huge demands and enormous joys of both family and career.

It’s for every American woman in her 80s and 90s, born before women had the legal right to vote.

And it’s for every woman who has had a door shut on her simply because of her gender, and for every woman who has had to work twice as hard for serious praise or a serious raise.

Hillary has devoted her life to working on behalf of American families. She has the vision and experience, determination and strength – the tremendous leadership we need to move our country forward.

I look at Hillary Clinton, someone who I’ve known now for more than 15 years, and I see the possibility for new opportunities for women and young girls across America. I see in her an American president who will put her strength, passion, and grit to work for all of us. The fight to elect Hillary Clinton as the first female president of the United States is for us. And, it is up to us. We are in this together.

Women are making a huge difference in this election – and could well make the difference. Working together, every hour and everyday, we are getting closer to shattering the highest glass ceiling in our country.

In honor of Women’s History Month, let’s make history. President Hillary Clinton.