Frank Riggs (R-CA) will offer an amendment to the Higher Education Act next week that will outlaw affirmative action in colleges nationwide. Calls are needed beginning today to members of the House (202-225-3121 or e-mail your Representative) to stop this amendment (HR3330) that would be a federal version of California's Prop. 209.

The State Department's 1997 country-by-country report on human rights practices is now available from the U.S. Gov't's printing office ($61; 202-517-1800). The report documents that women's human rights are violated worldwide. In presenting the report to Congress, Asst. Sec. of State John Stattuck highlighted the department's commitment to women's human rights, including women persecuted by the Taliban (for more on this particular issue, see Outrage of the Month). Check it out at www.state.gov/www/ind.html (under Women's Issues).

VOTE YOUR VALUES

This is an important election year -- the last Senate and House races in this century. To help you cast your vote for someones who believes as you do, the Women's Voting Guide, a non-partisan web site, goes online Tuesday April 21 (www.womenvote.org). The voting guide will tell you where incumbents and their opponents stand on 27 categories of issues, from abortion to the workplace. The Women's Voting Guide will be unveiled at a Washington reception on April 21. The site is supported by contributions, and any amount is welcome. P.O. Box 33843, Washington, D.C. 20033 (202-463-4292).

is the theme for Take Our Daughters to Work Day, coming up on April 23. This year coincided with the release of a new book, Girls Seen and Heard: 52 Life Lessons for Our Daughters, released by the Day's sponsor, the Ms. Foundation for Women. The book will be available in bookstores nationwide. For info on how you can organize your own day or get merchandise and activity suggestions, call Heidi Burbage at 212-742-2300; fax 212-742-1563, or visit www.ms.foundation.org

WFF joins women of the world in mourning the passage this week of Bella Abzug, advocate extraordinaire. Born the year women got the vote, Bella taught us to kick ass and take names, and -- most of all -- to never give up. She continued the fight for a better world for women 'till the last day of her life. Dedicate your action this week to Bella, and honor her memory with a contribution in lieu of flowers to the Women's Environment and Development Organization, 355 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10017.

For the first time in thirty years, a presidential administration has endorsed a pay equity bill. Today is Equal Pay Day, marking the day in '98 that women finally catch up to the '97 earnings of men. One step is to beef up enforcement against pay discriminators and remedy the 26-cent wage gap is S. 71, the Paycheck Fairness Act, introduced by Senator Tom Daschle (D-ND) and launched with a news conference at the White House yesterday. Vice President Gore also announced a number of non-legislative initiatives for paycheck fairness. Ask your member to sign on as a co-sponsor (202-224-3121 or e-mail your Representative or Senator in Congress) and give the Administration a boost for their boost at 202-456-1111; fax 202-456-2461; [email protected].