Creative Commons photo by jimmywayne via Flick

The bills — Senate File 2219 and House File 2281 — are identical, and both have been approved by their respective legislative committees. Although the House bill passed on a party-line vote, the Senate version has one Republican supporter, Sen. Merlin Bartz of Grafton.

Bartz did not respond to a request for comment concerning his vote. The House version is now ready for full floor debate while the Senate bill has been referred to appropriations.

If passed as currently written, the legislation would expand Medicaid coverage for family planning services to women who meet the income guidelines and who have insurance that does not cover such services. For the first time, men meeting existing income guidelines would also be eligible for family planning services, and income guidelines for all services would be increased to 300 percent of the poverty level. While the existing program arbitrarily cuts off services for women over the age of 44, the new legislation would keep women on the program up to the age of 54.

“The bottom line, from our perspective, is that this is a bill that helps patients,” said Kyle Carlson, staff attorney for Planned Parenthood of the Heartland. “This is a bill that includes a lot of people who are currently excluded from receiving services. For instance, women who have insurance, but are under-insured. Women who are 44, but can still become pregnant. And, of course, men. Why are we excluding men from access to family planning services? That’s what the current program does. We are trying to stop cutting people out [from services], who shouldn’t be cut out.”

To date the only opposition declaration made by a lobbyist against the bill has come from Tom Chapman, representing the Iowa Catholic Conference. Lobbyists for the Family Planning Council of Iowa, Planned Parenthood, Iowa/Nebraska Primary Care Association, AARP Iowa, the March of Dimes and the Iowa Department of Human Rights have all signaled their approval.

The measure received a boost earlier this month when researchers at the University of Iowa’s Public Policy Center and the University of Northern Iowa released a study showing the cost of unintended pregnancy in the state. The researchers — Dr. Belinda Udeh, Dr. Mary Losch and graduate student Erica Spies — determined that publicly funded family planning services are cost-effective for women who would use Medicaid and other public assistance programs if they became pregnant and gave birth. Using data from women being served by Iowa’s publicly funded family planning clinics during 2009, the study reported a weighted average of $3.78 saved for every $1 spent on family planning services in the first year for women newly eligible for assistance, and $15.12 when the savings are forecast for five years.

The savings are even more significant given that funds used by the Iowa Family Planning Network (IFPN) are assigned via a waiver request to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and carry a 90-10 federal match. That means that for every $1 invested into the program by the state, the federal government kicks in $9. If the state puts in $1 million, the federal government contributes $9 million, making the total investment $10 million.

Using the study’s weighted average, that $10 million could then be translated to a total cost savings of$37.8 million in the first year alone.

“This is not just a little cost-savings initiative,” Carlson explained. “This is a major cost-savings initiative.”

In its fiscal review of the bill, the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency estimated that an additional 35,491 women would be eligible, and that roughly 75 percent of those eligible would use the services during the first two years. The additional cost to the state’s general fund would be $332,000 in fiscal year 2011, and $901,000 in fiscal year 2012 — both well below the estimated cost savings.

“According to the Congressional Budget Office, providing family planning services to women between the age of 15 to 44 with incomes under 200 percent of the federal poverty level saves more than the program costs,” wrote analyst Jess Benson. “It is difficult to quantify what the savings will be by expanding age and financial eligibility requirements, but if there are fewer unintended pregnancies there will be some cost avoidance in the future considering Medicaid currently covers pregnant women and infants up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level.”

According to The Iowa Initiative, a program that aims to reduce the rate of unintended pregnancies among Iowa women ages 18 to 30, roughly half of all pregnancies in Iowa are unintended.

“Approximately one-half of the 52,000 women who will become pregnant in Iowa this year will become pregnant unintentionally,” said Christie Vilsack, executive director of the Iowa Initiative. “Helping low-income or uninsured women to avoid unintended pregnancy can save taxpayers thousands of dollars in health care costs, food assistance and child care assistance for women, infants and children.”

Vilsack notes that more than 170,000 Iowa women and teenage girls qualify for publicly funding contraceptive services. However, only 41 percent of them are served by family planning clinics. The Guttmacher Institute estimates the 72 clinics operating in 49 Iowa counties help women avoid as many as 16,000 unintended pregnancies annually. Yet the state ranks 48th nationally in the availability of family planning services. Patients who qualify for services under IFPN are free to access services from any Iowa provider that accepts Medicaid funding.

Federal law mandates that taxpayer funds, which include Medicaid assistance, cannot be use for abortion services.

Rumors have circulated around Vilsack as a potential candidate for months, peaking two week ago when she told Des Moines NBC affiliate WHO-TV that she had been talking to people about entering the race. Her announcement comes days after Des Moines attorney Roxanne Conlin said she would likely enter the race to unseat five-term Sen. Chuck Grassley.

Below is Vilsack’s statement:

“My life in public service has taught me many things but one of the most important is an understanding that there are many ways to serve at different points in life. As a career educator, activist and advocate, I have a deep appreciation for the role elected officials play in our communities. My varied experiences – teaching Iowa’s children, advancing literacy across the state during Tom’s term as Governor and now working to support preventative health care – continue to inspire my passion for public service.

Commiting to a campaign for the US Senate next year requires more than the confidence that I have the right experience, the necessary support and the resources to be successful. It must come with an understanding that it is the best way for me serve our State and my fellow Iowans in the most effective way possible at this time. I have decided not to run for the United States Senate in 2010. I will continue my work with the Iowa Initiative to Prevent Unintended Pregnancy and will be active in our Party and across the state in issues that affect the quality of life for all Iowans.

I am flattered and humbled by the requests from Democrats, Independents and even some Republicans to consider running. My careful consideration of the opportunity to represent Iowa in the Senate was done with great respect for those who came to me and the office itself.

While I will not be a candidate for office in 2010, never doubt I am committed to a life of service and to Iowa.”

The October poll of 600 likely voters commissioned by the liberal blog Daily Kos found Branstad bests Culver 48-43 in the hypothetical matchup, with a margin of error of  plus or minus 4 percentage points.

It was the only scenario that produced a close race, as Culver polled more than 20 points higher than two other potential rivals, Republicans Bob Vander Plaats and Chris Rants.

The favorability ratings for Vander Plaats and Rants found a majority of those polled have no opinion. Culver and Branstad’s favorability ratings were almost identical, at 56 percent and 57 percent respectively.

Branstad is expected to formally enter the gubernatorial campaign Friday afternoon.

A recent Iowa Poll conducted for The Des Moines Register by Selzer & Co. Inc. last month found Culver’s approval rating to be 50 percent, compared to 70 percent for Branstad. That poll did not do a head-to-head matchup of the candidates.

A poll last month conducted by Rasmussen Reports found Culver losing to both Branstad and Vander Plaats.

The Research 2000 poll also looked at U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley and several potential Democratic challengers looking to unseat the six-term senator in 2010.

Grassley’s favorability rating was 55 percent. In hypothetical matchups with declared candidates Bob Krause and Tom Fiegen, Grassley wins by around 20 points. When matched with two candidates rumored to be interested in entering the race – Roxanne Conlin and Christie Vilsack – Grassley wins by around 10 points.

Though Vilsack’s appointment does not completely preclude a bid for the U.S. Senate, it probably precludes one in 2010.  A campaign against Grassley would have to start early — likely within the next six months — and the President-elect probably got an assurance from Vilsack that he would not skip out on his new job so soon.

A lot of Democratic insiders seem to think that Vilsack was their party’s only hope against Grassley in 2010.  They might be right, but that is no reason to offer an unconditional surrender.

The U.S. Senate race will be at the very top of the ballot in two years, and Democrats should have learned the lesson of 2004 by now: Running a laughable candidate against Grassley can cost you the “straight ticket” votes you need in other races.  If Art Small had lost to Grassley by only 300,000 votes instead of the nearly 600,000 votes he lost by that year, don’t you think Sen. John Kerry could have gotten the paltry 10,000 votes he needed to win statewide?

Gov. Chet Culver could face a tough race for reelection in 2010.  He could do without the added weight of another landslide victory for Grassley holding him down.

So let’s take a look at the Democratic bench.

Most of the big name Democrats in Iowa politics are likely to sit this race out, unwilling to launch a losing battle against such a behemoth.  But there are a few possible candidates who would see little political downside to running a respectable-but-unsuccessful campaign to unseat Iowa’s senior senator.  (As far as I know, none of the individuals listed below has expressed an interest in running, but each could conceivably lose to Grassley by less than 10 percentage points.)

Christie Vilsack, wife of the incoming Secretary of Agriculture, has indicated that she will continue some of her work in Iowa when her husband starts his new job in Washington, D.C.  She has always been at least as popular statewide as her husband, and, after years of appearing and raising money on behalf of Democrats and liberal organizations across Iowa, she has a thick Rolodex of favors to call in.

Iowa Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal might have bigger hopes for his political future, but if he is content with his seat in the State Senate, he could run against Grassley without giving it up, since his term lasts until 2012.  Because he represents a district in Western Iowa, he should have better name recognition there than most Democratic candidates.  And because of his work for the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, he has a national fundraising network to tap.

Former Congressman and Economic Development Director Mike Blouin, who was Tom Vilsack’s unenthusiastically anointed pick to replace him in 2006, is keeping a relatively low profile these days.  But if the 2010 election is about the economy, he might have enough expertise and political acumen to hold Grassley to a tight race.  His 2006 runningmate, Dr. Andrea McGuire, might also be an interesting case if she can survive the 2010 Democratic primary.

Liberal gadfly and former State Rep. Ed Fallon, who has lost two high-profile Democratic primaries over the past four years, would be an interesting choice to run against Grassley.  Fallon has fairly strong statewide name recognition, and if he played along with the Democratic establishment enough to communicate a coherent message on behalf of his party’s whole ticket, he could lose by less than 10.

State Sen. Jeff Danielson had a political near-death experience in this year’s election, but he could still be a formidable candidate.  His biography is pitch-perfect (think “Navy,” and then think “firefighter”).  Under the right conditions, he could put together a coalition that would swamp his opponents out of the Democratic primary.  And he probably would not embarrass himself in the limelight.

There are also a few lesser-known state senators who have the ambition and energy needed to run statewide.  Tom Rielly, a moderate from conservative-leaning Oskaloosa, might be the strongest general election candidate among them.  A race like this would lay the groundwork for higher ambitions down the road.

Any names I missed?

“Gov. Visack’s appointment will not impact Christie’s work as the executive director,” declares an e-mail sent today by Mary Triick, Vilsack’s assistant.

“She loves her job and is looking forward to continuing to work with all of you,” Triick continued. “You all do important work and we are confident that together we will be able to decrease unintended pregnancy here in Iowa.”

The e-mail added that Christie is proud of her husband and that he is excited about the chance to solve problems and “move this country forward.”

The Iowa Initiative, a privately funded program that targets unintended pregnancy among Iowa women between the ages of 18 and 30, was launched in January by Christie Vilsack. The group does not dispense contraceptives but partners with existing groups who do so. Vilsack hopes the partnerships that are being forged with Planned Parenthood, the University of Northern Iowa and other entities will help spark awareness for both the general public and elected officials at all levels of government.

“[Unintended pregnancy] touches an emotional chord,” Christie Vilsack said in an interview with Iowa Independent when the program launched. “I think in every room that I speak in, those listening are going to think of someone they know who’s affected by this issue. I think it is a conversation we need to have, and one that will maybe make some people uncomfortable. But, we need to talk about it because it is impacting individuals, it is impacting communities and it is also impacting taxpayers.”

The Vilsacks are well-versed in the “emotional chord” of unplanned pregnancy. Tom Vilsack was adopted as a child. Shortly after he announced his bid for president in 2006, he received word that nuns from the orphanage that handled his adoption had information about his birth mother, a 23-year-old woman who took the assumed name Gloria when she entered a home for unwed mothers.

“When I held a press conference in January to announce the goals of the [Iowa Initiative] and my association with it, I mentioned Gloria’s story, and said that she would motivate me every day as I travel the state educating people about the high rate of unintended pregnancy among adult women, which most voters and decision-makers know little about.,” Christie Vilsack recalled in a recent blog post.

The organization, nearly a year old, has four more years of funding, primarily from the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation. The hope is that the research being done here in Iowa — a state where roughly half of all pregnancies are unplanned — will provide a clear path as to what educational and outreach offerings are most effective. When the group’s funding runs out, it plans to present its findings to state and national elected officials.

Another passion for Christie, a former teacher, is literacy. She founded Iowa Stories as first lady of Iowa and then elected to continue her work in that area by launching The Vilsack Foundation. Her decision to stay active in Iowa as her husband moves to Washington will likely strengthen the speculation that she may run for office herself.

A partnership has been formed in the battle to reduce unintended pregnancies in Iowa.

Today, the University of Northern Iowa has announced a research program, funded by $11.5 million over the next five years, to determine the effectiveness of projects aimed at increasing knowledge and use of pregnancy-planning services. The program is a part of the recently announced Iowa Initiative, headed by former Iowa First Lady Christie Vilsack.

Mary Losch, assistant director of the UNI Center for Social and Behavioral Research and associate professor of psychology, will direct the research efforts. She was selected to lead the project because of her long-standing work in the field of maternal and child health in Iowa.

The Iowa Initiative is focusing on women between the ages of 18 and 30. The research program through UNI is also targeting that age group.

“Our goal is to gain a solid understanding of the best ways to increase knowledge and influence attitudes and behaviors that will result in fewer unintended pregnancies and fewer abortions,” Losch said.

In Iowa, roughly half of all pregnancies are unintended — either mistimed or unwanted. The majority of women who do not want to be pregnant report that neither they nor their partners were using contraception at the time of conception. The research project hopes to better understand Iowa women’s attitudes and beliefs about contraception and how community partners may be able to increase referrals to services designed to reduce unintended pregnancies.

The overall research effort will include five individual projects led by faculty collaborators at UNI, the University of Iowa College of Public Health and College of Pharmacy, and the School of Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Each of the projects will test the effectiveness of a specified method of educating women about family planning and contraceptive services. Projects will take place throughout the state, and all will partner with local businesses and organizations. At least one project will be a statewide effort.

“We are excited about this partnership,” said Vilsack. “Research and education are key to this effort. From talking to women in local diners to hair salons and everywhere women in Iowa gather to chat, we need to get the word out about where women can find accurate information and access to contraceptives that work for them. UNI’s research program will give us the data we need to move this effort forward.”

The first year of the five-year project will be devoted to working with communities and businesses and developing test project materials. During the next three years, the projects will take place. In the final year, results will be tabulated, analyzed and reported. In addition to the primary goal of reducing unintended pregnancies in Iowa, the research findings will be used to strengthen and expand existing programs within Iowa and across the nation.

The UNI project is being funded by a grant from the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, the same organization that has funded the Iowa Initiative. Details about the exact design and implementation of each project will be provided over several months.

“When I learned these figures, I was shocked,” said former Iowa First Lady Christie Vilsack during a phone interview today. “I have to think that many other Iowans will be shocked as well.”

Vilsack’s shock prompted action this morning in Des Moines when she launched the Iowa Initiative to Reduce Unintended Pregnancies, a program focused on overall awareness and helping women between the ages of 18 and 30 receive family planning information. While the group will not provide contraception and services directly, it does intended to partner with existing groups that do and, hopefully, prompt the public to request funding for such services from the state legislature. In order to fulfill it’s mission of reducing unintended pregnancies, the Iowa Initiative will partner with the University of Northern Iowa to employ “a number of exciting, cutting-edge social marketing techniques,” exact details to be released in upcoming weeks.

“This is a real opportunity,” an excited Vilsack said of her position as executive director. “I feel like I got the perfect job and now I can focus on one issue I really care about.”

The position came to Vilsack by way of the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, which has provided $1.5 million to fund the program. The foundation, named for the late wife of Nebraska investor Warren Buffett, is known for providing scholarships to Nebraska youth and outstanding teacher awards. The late Buffett, who died unexpectedly in July 2004, was a civil rights and contraceptive advocate.

Vilsack, who has spent her adult life working for and on behalf of the state’s adolescents, said the program is extension of what she’s already accomplished.

“Everything I’ve done in my life is about empowering young people to make wise decisions and giving them the tools to do that,” Vilsack said in a telephone interview today. “Everything I’ve done has been about building things and being creative — building something from the beginning and working with adolescents, particularly adolescent women to build physically and emotionally healthy women. I think that’s at the heart of a strong society.”

According to the Guttmacher Institute, only half of Iowa counties have at least one family planning clinic. The institute, a national, non-profit group that tracks reproductive health services, determined there are 327,580 women in Iowa who are in need of contraceptive services and supplies. Iowa is ranked overall in 36th place in terms of how well the state is meeting existing needs for subsidized contraceptive services and supplies, whether laws and policies are likely to facilitate access to contraceptives and information, and the extent to which the state devotes its own revenues to support delivery of publicly supporter contraceptives and services. Iowa ranks 48th in the nation for making family planning services available.

“As a woman, teacher and mother, I believe we have a responsibility to give every woman in the state the knowledge and means to prevent pregnancy,” Vilsack said.

Reducing unintended pregnancy, she said, may also reduce the number of abortions in the state. Currently, between 10 and 12 percent of all pregnancies in Iowa end in abortion.

Vilsack praised the state legislature for passing a bill last year that called for all sex education in Iowa schools to be medically- and scientifically-based.

“There is federally money that comes [into Iowa] for abstinence education, but we know that
abstinence education doesn’t work,” she said. “Fourteen states so far have refused that federal money. That’s pretty amazing because states, when they can get federal money, like to take it. But since abstinence programs don’t work, there’s now a movement among states to just decline the money — although Iowa has not.”

Iowa receives money through two abstinence streams — Title V, Section 510 and the Administration on Children, Youth and Families (Family Youth Services Bureau). The Title V monies — just over $300,000 per year — are given to the State Department of Health for abstinence advocacy and redistribution to other groups. The other stream is a new addition to the state and came in the form of a $600,000 non-matching grant to Bethany Christian Services of Northwest Iowa.

Vilsack is currently in the process of staffing the organization’s offices, located at 300 E. Locust St. in Des Moines’ East Village. She is also joined by a board of 10 that includes health care professionals, businesswomen, people of faith and former legislators. In the coming months, Vilsack intends to speak to various civic and social groups about the organization and its mission.

“[Unintended pregnancy] touches an emotional chord,” she said. “I think in every room that I speak in, those listening are going to think of someone they know who’s affected by this issue. I think it is a conversation we need to have, and one that will maybe make some people uncomfortable. But, we need to talk about it because it is impacting individuals, it is impacting communities and it is also impacting taxpayers. For young teenagers, it is costing taxpayers over $80 million dollars a year. We don’t know what the costs are for 18- to 30-year-olds.”

Iowa’s former First Lady says Hillary Clinton is going to close Iowa caucus-goers, make the final sale, with the argument of experience.

“I think in the end when people are thinking not only who they like for the Democratic nomination but who can win in the fall – because it’s not just about nominating somebody who we like in Iowa (they’ll go with Clinton),” Christie Vilsack said in Carroll. “We have to think beyond that. We have to think about who can win against the Republicans.”

Vilsack, wife of former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, met with about 30 residents and visitors at the Regency Park long-term care center (formerly known as Carroll Manor).

Vilsack received laughs and light applause after noting that her first political experience was meeting President Harry Truman when she was 3 years old.

The Vilsacks have been diligent Clinton surrogates around Iowa.

Tom Vilsack campaigned here weeks ago for Clinton and appeared with the Democratic presidential candidate at Northwest Park this fall.

After mingling with residents and posing for pictures, Vilsack stopped for an interview with Iowa Independent, Daily Times Herald and Carroll Broadcasting.

Vilsack said she thinks Clinton has crossover appeal with Republicans, something the New York senator has demonstrated in the Empire State in her re-election there.

Moreover, Independents and women are likely to be in Camp Clinton on caucus day, Jan. 3, says Vilsack.

“I think our secret weapon, our margin of victory, lies with a lot of people who will caucus for the first time,” Vilsack said. “I’ve just been talking to a few people here who will caucus for the first time.”

Vilsack stressed Clinton’s comfort and connections on the world stage, noting that on her first day as president, Clinton could pick up the phone and talk to more than 80 world leaders she already has met as a U.S. senator and the wife of former President Bill Clinton.

“And I want the president on the first day to know more about health-care than anybody else in the country,” Vilsack said.

In her appearance in Carroll, Vilsack was on message and refused to stray from the campaign’s carefully crafted talking points in an interview with reporters.

She declined to comment on stories relating to Democratic presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama’s admission of past drug use and the reaction of GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney to Obama on that matter.

She also declined to discuss some of former Massachusetts Gov. Romney’s strongly worded comments on immigration here in Carroll and how those comments ran counter to the 2010 plan on Iowa’s workforce and population championed by her husband.

Vilsack simply insisted that Clinton had a comprehensive immigration reform package.

(Photo: Former Iowa First Lady Christie Vilsack speaks with Norbert Hagemann at Regency Park in Carroll. Both are strong supporters of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.)
 

“I know a lot of people talk about [Clinton's] baggage,” Vilsack told about 50 supporters who gathered for the grand opening of the Iowans for Hillary field office in Cedar Rapids. “Quite frankly, I love that she has that baggage. I love that she has those battle scars. Those let me know that she’s been there and has the experience to lead us forward.”

Vilsack’s relationship with both the senator and former Pres. Bill Clinton, she says, was forged many years ago when Hillary shared an office with her brother, Tom Bell, in 1974 during the investigation of the Watergate scandal.

“I think knowing someone as they exhibit friendship is one of the best ways to know someone well,” she said. “She told my brother back then that she was going to marry Bill Clinton and that he was going to be the next President of the United States.”

Because of the friendship forged so many years ago, Vilsack says, the Clintons helped her and her husband, former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, when they began their first gubernatorial campaign. Now she and Tom are returning the favor.

“I believe we need something dramatic to send a message to the rest of the world that we are committed to changing course,” she said. “I can’t think of a more dramatic message than electing a woman president to let the world know we are no longer an adolescent nation.”

In addition to sending up a flare to the rest of the world, Vilsack says, electing a woman president will also bring about needed change in both our domestic and international policies.

“Women are healers,” she said. “And, Hillary Clinton with her unique set of experiences, is perfectly positioned to help heal our nation. She can pick up the phone on her first day of office and phone world leaders she already has a relationship with and be able to engage them.

“She can gather the former Presidents of our nation — well, except for maybe the most recent — and have the strength and confidence to send them to other nations and help our standing in the world.”

Following her public remarks, Vilsack agreed to speak a few moments privately about how her experience as an educator meshes with her support of the New York senator.

“I see education as a keystone,” she explained. “Everything begins there — health care, good jobs, caring families, a solid economy, alternative fuels and much more. Education should be creative and innovative. We should be challenging the status quo and not raising a generation of people who excel at standardized testing.”

Vilsack says she draws on her own life experiences — prior to, during and after her time as a middle school and high school teacher — while looking to the future.

“Leaving Iowa to pursue higher education in New York in 1968 was not common,” she said. “We — myself and the women who formed that class at Kirkland — were pioneers. The things that we did then were innovative and outside of the status quo. Today, these are things which are a natural part of society.”

Kirkland College in Clinton, N.Y. was established that year as a sister institution to Hamilton College. The faculty of the new venture thought seriously about what liberal arts education should be like for women and developed a curriculum that fostered independence, creativity and self-reliance. As an experimental institution, Kirkland offered programs that supplemented the traditional liberal arts curriculum. Students enrolled at either Hamilton or Kirkland, but selected courses from both institutions and shared facilities, such as the library. The two colleges later merged in 1978, six years after Vilsack graduated in 1972.

“I support pioneering ideas in education,” she said. “Hillary Clinton is a pioneer as well and shares the vision of a high-quality and innovative educational system.”

With a quick smile, Vilsack added it “didn’t hurt” that Clinton saw Iowa’s plan for early childhood education as a plan which could be implemented nationally. From nearly his first day as governor, Tom Vilsack — often with Christie at his side — pushed state legislators to increase funding and initiatives for early childhood education. In his first year of office, Vilsack succeeded in doubling state funding for early childhood education. When he left office, the number of Iowa children enrolled in preschool programs had increased by 63 percent.

During her public remarks, Vilsack hit the issue of health care, touched on Clinton’s recent discussions of America’s invisibles and struck the “girl power” chord.

“You know, in a few weeks we will be welcoming a daughter-in-law into our family,” Vilsack confided. “One day we might be welcoming granddaughters too. When I look into their eyes — when I look into any young woman’s eyes — I want to say ‘I did this for you.’ We did this for them because there’s not one job in this country a woman can’t have.”