President and First Lady mark International Women's Day

It is a distinct pleasure to share the video below of President and First Lady Obama celebrating International Women's Day in the White House.

I was proud to hear the President mention in his remarks a key DOT program, our partnership with Spelman College, the Entrepreneurial Training and Technical Assistance Women and Girls Program.

But--as a father and grandfather, and as Secretary of Transportation--I am even more proud that the President showed no complacency about our progress toward equality for women. As you can hear him say:

"I didn’t run for President so that the dreams of our daughters could be deferred or denied. I didn’t run for President to see inequality and injustice persist in our time. I ran for President to put the same rights, the same opportunities, the same dreams within the reach for our daughters and our sons alike."

President Obama is right. There is much work to be done, and our partnership with Spelman is one effort this Administration is making to extend the economic progress made since 1911's first International Women's Day.

The Entrepreneurial Training and Technical Assistance Women and Girls Program, which I wrote about here last September, encourages girls to pursue careers in science, engineering, and technology and helps women in those fields achieve their goals. This program provides internships and mentoring for young women as well as entrepreneurial training for female small business owners.

Our first group of interns from Spelman College

We also have a vibrant set of in-house resources for women and girls. From our Women in Transportation seminar to our support for women-owned businesses, I think you'll be surprised by the depth of our commitment.

Transportation is an exciting field for young engineers. America is developing high-speed rail and alternative-fuel vehicles. We're developing intelligent transportation systems and advanced safety measures. And we want to make sure that women become transportation leaders in the 21st century and that talented women come to work here at the Department of Transportation.

So, yes, I am proud to be serving in an Administration that--from the President himself all the way to agencies like DOT's own Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization--celebrates the progress made since 1911's first International Women's Day and takes on the hard work still to be done.

Comments

[Michael E. Bailey]

The program at Spelman is an important first step to eliminating discrimination in the transportation industry, allowing women cadets into the Merchant Marine and Coast Guard academies are other important steps that have been taken. But we need a program like Spelman's at each states university system. We also could use transportation programs down at the community college level like Santa Ana College's Air Transportation Program of the 1970s and early 80s that was a coed program that trained students for passenger cabin and airport terminal jobs, including a semester internship, and you could get either a Certificate or a full AA Degree in it. And one community college in Texas has a program to train students for jobs in the railroad industry. The 21st Century should be the century of full inclusion in the transportation industry. Best wishes, Michael E. Bailey.

[jewelry reviews]

We need a program like Spelman's at each states university system. We also could use transportation programs down at the community college level like Santa Ana College's Air Transportation Program of the 1970s