The Senate is about to leave town for August recess without acting on several pending nominations important to women. Hearings have been held on the nomination of Ida Castro for Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, but no vote has been scheduled for her confirmation. If this nomination is not confirmed by fall, the EEOC will be forced to halt enforcement and pursuit of sexual harassment and other discrimination complaints, due to lack of a quorum. And Judge Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina to be nominated for the U.S. Court of Appeals Second Circuit, has been waiting for over a year for her nomination to be confirmed. The reason? R's are on record as holding up the nomination "to make her less likely to be picked by President Clinton for the Supreme Court." Tell Senator Lott (R-MS, fax 202-224-2262, E-mail) and Don Nickles (R-OK- not!) (fax 202-224-6008; E-mail) to stop stalling and schedule confirmation votes.

...that's how Hollywood director Daisy Mayer describes her film Madeline. In order to bring a take-charge positive girl character to the screen, Mayer had to win back-room battles with colleagues who wanted Madeline to be a shy misfit. "I said absolutely not. She's a strong, brave, popular, well-adjusted pretty girl who gets into various predicaments. I looked at boy's movies, and they were usually about a strong well-adjusted boy who plays sports. Girls deserve to have equally strong role models," Mayer says. WFF applaud Mayer (and hopes you will too at fax 310-244-1734 or www.spe.sony.com/movies/jump/f_madeline.html.) We need more women with this kind of pluck in Hollywood, so the screen will have more girls with the same.

With your help, Southern Nevada's NOW campaign for letters to the Nevada Athletic Commission [urging denial of a boxing license to convicted rapist Mike Tyson] was a huge success. We responded to press inquiries from Canada, Europe, the UK, and all over the USA." --- letter to WFF from Nevada NOW. As a result of the campaign (WFF 6/26), Tyson has abandoned his application in Nevada and applied for certification in New Jersey instead. Time is short - the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board has scheduled a hearing for July 29. Keep the pressure on the New Jersey Athletic Control Board to tell Tyson to find another line of work (609-292-0317; fax 609-292-3756). Ask Governor Christine Todd Whitman (609-292-6000; fax 609-292-3454; or send e-mail) to use her influence and make a statement that New Jersey is not a haven for violent, convicted rapists to make millions of dollars.

In a week in which a Michigan judge blocked the parents of a 12 year old (pregnant by her older brother) from taking her to Kansas for a late term abortion, the House passed HR 3682, making it a federal crime to transport a minor across state lines for the procedure. Rabids on the Senate Judiciary Committee were so bolstered by the House action that they immediately approved the companion bill (S.1645), sending it to the floor. Although the bill exempts parents from prosecution, other adult family members, such as siblings or grandparents, can go to jail if they help a minor. Urge your Senators at 202-225-3141 (or e-mail your Representative or Senator) to ditch this latest chipping away at the right to choose -- it will definitely come up for a vote before August recess beginning 8/3.

This week marks the 150th Anniversary of the first Women's Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York. In 1848, feminists gathered there to push for basic equality through the Declaration of Sentiments demanding equal custody of children, right to own property, right to keep one's own wages, right to education and votes for women (believe it or not, suffrage was the only provision that didn't pass unanimously). Thanks to our foremothers, the greatest U.S. rights story of the 20th century has been the progress of women. We've gained the vote, equal credit, protection from pregnancy discrimination, and equal custody rights to our children (maybe too equal, WFF wishes men would change a few more diapers).

Since Alice Paul and her followers picketed the White House with placards (asking "Mr. President, How Long Must Women Wait for Liberty?") before getting the franchise in 1920 , we've put lots of laws on the books prohibiting discrimination of all kinds. But somehow, we still haven't reached equality with men. We make less money, and get sexually harassed more. We are by far the most frequent victims of domestic violence. We're shorted in social security, health care research, and money for educational programs. Women are only 12% of the U.S. Congress. Without an Equal Rights Amendment, we are still left out of the Constitution.

Women from all over the country have gathered here this week to celebrate our progress -- and to plan for a 21st century of true equality. Early in the week we came together for Forum '98, a dialog to set a future course for women's progress. And the dialogue was not just talk; it produced a blueprint for real change.

The National Council of Women's Organizations (110 groups representing 6 million women) brought a blueprint for progress in the form of guidelines for a National Women's Equality Act for the 21st Century. Echoing the Declaration of Sentiments, the document calls for comprehensive national legislation that will help women overcome barriers to true equality. The guidelines have been approved by the national NOW convention and the national convention of Commissions for Women, and were adopted this week in Geneva, NY, by Forum '98. We know that many more women, in groups and individually, will join in the push for a truly comprehensive legislative program; 150 years is long enough to wait.

The House voted late last month to bar the Food and Drug Administration from testing or approving RU-486, or any other drug that induces abortion. They attached an amendment to the Agriculture Appropriations Bill, which would also provide $23 billion in food stamps to poor people -- mostly women. If this anti-abortion provision prevails in the Senate, President Clinton will be faced with a choice of going along (he stopped short of saying he will veto) to get the food stamps and food safety, or vetoing an otherwise popular bill. Make sure the Prez doesn't have to make that choice by urging Senators to support abortion rights -- keep RU486 out of Agriculture at 202-225-3121. Fax the White House at 202-456-2461; [email protected].

The bi-partisan Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues has come out with its seven priorities for passage before Congress adjourns in October. We commend them for pushing Violence Against Women (WFF 3/13), contraception coverage by insurance companies (WFF 9/97), and mammography standards (WFF 6/6). But we're astounded that the Caucus left out pay equity, the issue that consistently polls as women's top concern. Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-Conn) says its because there are no Republican co-sponsors for the Fair Pay Act (not true, Connie Morella (R-MD) is a co-sponsor) and no hearings have been held on it (true, but Johnson could change that with a call to her buddy Newt). Let Johnson (fax 202-225-4488; e-mail) and co-chair Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC; phone 202-225-8050; fax 202-225-3002) know that if the Caucus is for women, it has to be for fair pay (HR. 1302).