Mrs. Obama:
Thank you so much. So I get to speak first
while he stands and watches. I love this. (laughter) Look at me adoringly. (laughter) President Obama:
I can do that. Mrs. Obama:
With sincerity. (laughter) Anyway. I'm thrilled to see
everybody here. Welcome, welcome. This is a wonderful event as we
celebrate Women's History Month at the White House. It's so exciting. (applause) And let me start by recognizing
all of the amazing leaders who have taken time out of their
very busy days and schedules to be here with us today. We have our Cabinet Secretaries,
congresswomen and other leaders who are serving as such powerful
role models for the next generation. But we have some of the members
of the next generation here, as well, and I want to take a
moment to acknowledge some of them, as well. We've got young people
here from the Girl Scouts, from Mount Vernon. (applause) From Mount Vernon and Hayfield
Secondary in Virginia. (applause) From High Point High
School in Maryland. (applause) From Eastern High School. (applause) And Georgetown
Visitation here in D.C. (applause) All of you stand. Everybody stand. (applause) I had a chance to meet with
each and every one of them, to get a hug and a
picture, and we talked. They are beautiful, they
are inquisitive -- yes, it was a hug, it was a good hug. (laughter) And what I told them is that
they should make sure they take advantage of this evening by
making sure that they take time out to meet all of you
extraordinary women, right; that they come up and introduce
themselves with confidence; and that you make sure you
have a little fun, right? So you're going to
make that promise. Make sure you get to meet
everyone here today, because today all of you are
joining the long line of incredible women who have graced
these halls both as visitors and as residents, from admirals
and actresses to civil rights pioneers -- my good friend,
Dorothy Height, is here. (applause) Nobel Prize Winners
-- you name it, this house has hosted some of
the most accomplished women and some of the most accomplished
Americans in the history of this country. But we're here today not just to
pay tribute to leaders and icons and household names. During Women's History Month
we're also here to honor the quiet heroes who've shaped this
country from the very beginning. We honor the women who traveled
those lonely roads to be the first ones in those courtrooms,
to be the first ones in those boardrooms, to be the first
ones on those playing fields, and to be the first ones
on those battlefields. We honor women who refused to
listen to those who would say that you couldn't or
shouldn't pursue your dreams. And we honor women who may not
have had many opportunities in their own lives, and we all
know women like that: Women who poured everything they had into
making sure that their daughters and their granddaughters could
pursue their dreams; women who, as the poet Alice
Walker once wrote, "knew what we must know without
knowing it themselves." All of us are here today
because of women like these who came before us. And during this
Women's History Month, may we recommit ourselves to
carrying on their work for our own daughters and
granddaughters, and also for our sons
and our grandsons too. Now, speaking of sons, it is my
pleasure to introduce one of the few men in the room -- (laughter and applause) -- my husband, and the
President of the United States, Barack Obama. President Obama:
That would be me. (applause) Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Thank you. Thank
you very much. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. Please, have a seat. Let me begin by just thanking
some of the people who are participating here today. Michelle mentioned my
outstanding Cabinet members, the extraordinary members of
Congress and people who are in our senior White House team. I also want to thank Ms. Kerry
Washington for emceeing today. Give Kerry a big
round of applause. Where is she? There she is. (applause) Ms. Katharine McPhee, who's
going to be performing a song in the program. Where's Katharine? She's around --
she's practicing. (applause) She's here, I just saw her. Secretary Madeline
Albright is here today. (applause) and Ms. Mozhdah Jamalzadah is
also going to be here performing a song in the program,
so we want to thank her, give her a big
round of applause. (applause) And then there's this lady here. (laughter) FLOTUS, that's what
we call her -- FLOTUS. (laughter) She is -- I'm biased,
I acknowledge; but I think she's a
pretty good First Lady. (applause) Don't you think? She's pretty good. (applause) And I'm very sincere when
I look at you adoringly. (laughter) The story of America over the
past 200 years -- past 233 years is one of laws
becoming more just, of a people becoming more equal,
of a union being perfected. It's a story of captives being
set free and a movement to fulfill the promise
of that freedom. It's a story of waves of weary
travelers reconsecrating America as a nation of immigrants. It's a story of our gay and
lesbian brothers and sisters making the most of that most
American of demands -- to be treated the same
as everybody else. And it's a story of women, from
those on the Mayflower to the one I'm blessed to call my wife,
who looked across the dinner table, and thought, I'm
smarter than that guy. (laughter) The story of America's women,
like the story of America itself, has had its
peaks and valleys. But as one of our great
American educators once said, if you drew a line through all
the valleys and all the peaks, that line would be drawn
with an upward curve. That upward curve -- what
we call progress -- didn't happen by accident. It came about because of
daring, indomitable women. Women like Abigail Adams, who
brought on the ridicule of her husband John by advising him to
"remember the ladies" in our founding documents. Women like the pioneers
and settlers who, in the words of one, said, "I
thought where he could go, I could go." Women like Dorothy Height and
Sylvia Mendez and Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem and Sandra
Day O'Connor and Madeline Albright, upending assumptions and
changing laws and tearing down barriers. Women like Hillary
Rodham Clinton, who, throughout her career, has
put millions of cracks in America's glass ceiling. (applause) It's because of them
-- and so many others, many who aren't recorded in the
history books -- that the story of America is, ultimately, one
of hope and one of progress, of an upward journey. But even as we reflect on
the hope of our history, we must also face squarely the
reality of the present -- a reality marked by unfairness,
marked by hardship for too many women in America. The statistics of inequality are
all too familiar to us -- how women just earn 77 cents
for every dollar men make; how one in four women is the
victim of domestic violence at some point in her life; how
women are more than half the population, but make up only
17 percent of the seats in Congress, and less than 3
percent of Fortune 500 CEOs. These, and any number of
other facts and figures, reflect the fundamental
truth that in 2010, full gender equality has
not yet been achieved; that the task of perfecting
America goes on; and that all of
us, men and women, have a part to play in bending
the arc in America's story upward in the 21st century. I'm proud of the extraordinary
women -- and the extraordinary Americans -- I've appointed
to help take up this task. In addition to our outstanding
Secretary of State, we've got Hilda Solis serving
where the first female Cabinet Secretary, Frances Perkins, once
served, at the Labor Department. (applause) We've got Kathleen Sebelius
leading our Health and Human Services Department; Janet
Napolitano running the Department of Homeland Security. Susan Rice is our ambassador
to the United Nations. The chair of my Council of
Economic Advisors is Christy Romer. We got Lisa Jackson, who's
doing great work at the EPA. We have just extraordinary talent
all across this administration. And from health insurance
reform, to climate and energy, to matters of domestic policy,
I'm seeking the counsel of brilliant women. And that list doesn't
include, by the way, the Justice I appointed to the
Supreme Court -- Ms. Sonia Sotomayor. (applause) So, yes, I'm very proud to have
appointed so many brilliant women to so many essential
posts in our government. But I'm even prouder of what
each of them is doing -- and what all of us are doing -- to
make life better in America and around the world, because
lifting up the prospects of our daughters will require
all of us doing our part. And that's why we've established
a new White House Council on Women and Girls, chaired by
my friend and senior advisor, Valerie Jarrett, that will help
make sure that every part of our government is working to
address the challenges faced by women and girls. At a time when women are on the
verge of making up the majority of America's workforce, the very
first bill I signed into law -- a bill named after Lilly
Ledbetter -- was designed to help keep America's promise: If
you do the same work as a man, you ought to be paid
the same wage as a man. (applause) To help parents balance
work and family, we're offering states
more support for quality, affordable child care
and paid family leave. At a time when we are waging
two wars and fighting a global network of hatred and violence,
we need the service of all those patriotic Americans who are
willing to do their part. And that's why Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mullen and top Navy officers
decided to end an old barrier against women, so our skilled
and brave Navy women, as well as men, can
serve on submarines. At a time when it's still legal
for health insurance companies to discriminate against the
victims of domestic violence in eight states plus the
District of Columbia, we're seeking health insurance
reforms that would finally rein in the worst practices of
the insurance industry. And I'm also proud to note that
I've appointed the first White House Advisor on Violence
against Women, Lynn Rosenthal. (applause) At a time when the jobs of
tomorrow will go to workers with the knowledge and
skills to do them, we're ramping up efforts to
educate our young people in science and technology,
engineering and math, and we're making a special
effort to recruit women to those fields -- because I want to
see more teenage astronomers like Caroline Moore. In fact, Transportation
Secretary Ray LaHood has launched a new partnership with
Spelman College to train women engineers and help put them to
work rebuilding our highways and our infrastructure. And since today happens to be
International Women's Day, it's also worth mentioning
what Secretary Clinton, and Ambassador Rice, and this
administration are doing on behalf of women
around the globe. We lifted what's called the
global gag rule that restricted women's access to family
planning services abroad. (applause) We're pursuing a global health
strategy that makes important investments in child
and maternal health. We sponsored a U.N. resolution
to increase protection for women and girls in conflict-torn
countries -- to help make it possible for more women like
Mozhdah, who traveled from Afghanistan to join us here today -- to reach for their dreams. We created the first Office of
Global Women's Issues at the State Department, and appointed
Ambassador Melanne Verveer to run it. (applause) We're investing $18 million --
we're investing $18 million to combat the unconscionable
cruelties being committed against girls and women in the
Democratic Republic of Congo. And next month, I'll host an
entrepreneurship summit to help fulfill a commitment I made in
Cairo; a summit that will focus, in part, on the challenges
facing women entrepreneurs in Muslim communities
around the world. We're doing all of this not
only because promoting women's empowerment is one of the
best ways to promote economic development and
economic success. We are doing it because
it's the right thing to do. I say that not only
as a President, but also as the father
of two daughters, as a son and a grandson,
and as a husband. Growing up, I saw my mother
dedicate most of her life to promoting the rights and
well-being of women overseas; to empowering them to take more
control over their economic lives and be able to empower
their families as well. I saw my grandmother work her
way up to become vice president at a bank in Hawaii,
starting as a secretary, never had more than a
high school education. But I also saw how she
hit a glass ceiling, and had to watch as men, no
more qualified than she was, rise up the corporate ladder. Before we got to
the White House, where we are grateful for the
extraordinary support that we receive from the
White House staff, I'd see the challenges Michelle
faced as a working mom. And as usual, she handled
it with grace and skill, but she'd be the first one to
tell you it wasn't always easy balancing the responsibilities
of being a hospital executive with those of being a mother,
and sometimes worrying about the girls when she was at work, and
sometimes worrying about work when she was with the girls. And today, as I see Sasha
and Malia getting older, I think about the world that
they -- and all of America's daughters -- will inherit. And I think about all of the
opportunities that are still beyond reach for too many young
women and too many of our brothers and sisters -- too many
of our sisters and mothers and aunts -- all of the glass
ceilings that have yet to be shattered. We have so much more work to do,
and that's why we're here today. I think about this because it
reminds me of why I'm here. 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. I ran for President to put the
American Dream within the reach of all of our people, no matter
what their gender, or race, or faith, or station. If we can stay
true to that cause, if we can stay true to
our founding ideals, then I'm absolutely confident
that the line that runs through America's story will, in the
future, as it has in the past, be drawn with an upward curve. And I'm especially pleased that
these young ladies are here today because they're the ones
who are going to help bend that curve towards
justice and equality. Thank you very much, everybody. God bless you. God bless the United
States of America. (applause) Announcer:
Ladies and Gentlemen, Ms. Kerry Washington. (applause) Kerry Washington:
Good afternoon. Audience:
Good Afternoon. Kerry Washington:
Happy International Women's Day to everyone. My name is Kerry Washingtion. And let me first extend a
sincere thank you to President Obama and First Lady, Michelle
Obama for having us here today to celebrate Women's History
month and International Women's Day. (applause) So, in celebration of women, we
have a remarkable program today. We have former Secretary of
State, Madeline Albright, who, as the first women to
serve as Secretary of State, broke barriers and served as a
true champion for all women, worldwide. (applause) We have the immensely
talented singer/song writer, Mozhdah Jamalzadah, who joins us here in
D.C. from her home in Kabul, Afghanistan. And we are, of course, very
lucky to have singer/song writer, Katharine McPhee, who
many of you may know from her incredible performances
on American Idol. (applause) So we are in for quite
a treat this afternoon. It is without further
ado, it is my pleasure, to introduce Ms.
Katharine McPhee. (applause) (applause) Katharine McPhee:
Someone was a little bit
smaller here -- (laughter). All right, well thank you
again for having me here at this amazing event. This is a song that I wrote and
I think that it's just a really great song that I think talks
about the -- kind of the self loathing that us women sometimes do and
I think that change comes from within. This is the song that I
would like to sing for you. ♪♪ My pulse goes to the moon When I know you're here My heart runs to another room When I know you're near And they say that you don't know,
what you got till it's gone So I'm holding on to you How many lives till I get this one right Till I give up the fight and just Surrender, surrender How many days till I love me the way that you love me, You love me ♪♪ You say I'm beautiful, but I just don't see You say one day I'll learn, when will that day be And they say that you don't know what you got till it's gone So I'm holding on to you How many lives till I get this one right Till I give up the fight and just Surrender, surrender How many days till I love
me the way that you love me, You love me But this life that I see That I bleed out before me Well it seems incomplete Will I ever see me? The way that you see me, oh to be your eyes oh to be your eyes ♪♪ And how many lives till
I get this on right till I give up the fight and just Surrender, surrender How many lives till
I get this on right till I give up the fight and just Surrender, surrender How many days till I love
me the way that you love me, You love me You love me You love me ♪♪ Thank you. God Bless. Thank you. (applause) (cross talk) (applause) Announcer:
Ladies and gentlemen,
Secretary Madeline Albright. (applause) Secretary Albright:
Thank you. Thank you
so much. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Breaking the glass ceiling. (laughter) Mr. President and Madam
First Lady, dear Michelle, distinguished guests,
International Women's Day reminds us of a lesson that we
have long since learned that have not yet sufficiently
put into practice. The lesson is grounded in
principal but also in experience. The principal is that the basic
rights and dignity of women and girls should be accorded
the same respect as that given to men and boys. A principal endorsed over
and over again by global conferences and covenants. Our experiences, that women
have the power to make our own choices, we will benefit because
the chains of poverty can be broken, families grow stronger,
environmental awareness deepens and socially constructive values
are more likely to be handed down to the young. This experience has been
validated in the life of communities on every continent
and yet women remain in many parts of the globe an undervalued
and underutilized human resource. The President has just said. This is not to say that women
have trouble finding work often they do -- the vast majority of
the work, but don't own land, aren't taught to read,
can't obtain credit, and don't get paid. Women have made great progress
in obtaining legal recognition of their rights but frequently,
even when the laws on the books are just, the reality in
homes and villages is not. Appalling abuses are still
being committed against women. And these include: domestic
violence, dowry murders, coerced abortions, honored
crimes and the killing of infants simply
because their female. Some say, all this is cultural
and there's nothing anybody can do about it. I say it's criminal and we each
have an obligation to stop it. (applause) I have been in public life for
more than three decades and I've attended many events related to
international women's rights. And in each, uplifting
goals were announced. But, our purpose today and
tomorrow and throughout this century is not to articulate
more promises but to achieve real breakthroughs by
caring about each other, by lifting each other up, and by
building an action network that stretches across every
border of nation, race, background and creed. To illustrate, I would
like to offer a poem, written by the granddaughter
of community organizer from America's mid-west. Her name is Marge Piercy and
the poem begins with questions. "What can they do to you? Whatever they want. They can set you up,
They can bust you, They can break your fingers,
They can burn your brain with electricity, They
can take your child, They can do anything you
can't blame them from doing. How can you stop them? Alone, you can fight,
You can refuse, You can take what revenge you
can But they roll over you. But two people fighting back
to back can cut through a mob, Two people can keep each
other sane; can give support, conviction, love, hope. Three people are a delegation,
a committee, a wedge. With four you can play bridge
and start an organization. (laughter) With six you can
rent a whole house, Eat pie for dinner
with no seconds, And hold a fund raising party. A dozen make a demonstration. A hundred fill a hall. A thousand have solidarity
and your own newsletter; Ten thousand, power and your
own paper; A hundred thousand, your own media; Ten
million, your own country. It goes on one at a time, It
starts when you care to act, It starts when you do it
again after they said no, It starts when you say
We and know who you mean, And each day you mean one more." As these words remind us,
progress in women's rights occurs step by step and each
victory becomes a platform of -- in which the
next may be built. Our shared task is to keep
building until we've raised enough platforms high enough to
transform the very horizons of the earth and in that quest we
invite everyone to help us and caution each that
they cannot stop us. Thank you very, very much. (applause) Announcer:
Ladies and gentlemen, Mozhdah Jamalzadah. (applause) Mozhdah Jamalzadah:
Thank you. First of all, I would
like to thank Mr. President and the First Lady for
having me here to day. It's truly a great pleasure
and honor to be here, in front of all of you. I would like to, on behalf of
all the women around the world, I would like to thank the First
Lady, Mrs. Michelle Obama, for all her efforts
and her leadership, and we're thankful that we have
her for such a great role model. (applause) I came here from Kabul,
Afghanistan and I'm trying to do everything I can for the
women of Afghanistan. I wrote this song -- well, my
father and I wrote this song for the acid victims
of Kandahar City. A few young girls were trying to
make their way home from school when they got attacked by acid
and I thought I had to do something for them. ♪♪ (singing in Farsi) It's in Farsi but I hope that
you can feel what I'm singing. (applause)
00:34:36.834,00:34:14.000
Thank you. ♪♪ (translated to) I'm a girl, I am an Afghan girl I'm the daughter of the land of braves Don't break my wings, let me fly Don't break my crown, let me think I want to be as free as a gazelle I love my homeland just as Malali did Sing my songs just like a
nightingale in the gardens Express my self the same as Zainab,
Nazo, and Mehri in poetry Don't break my wings, let me fly Don't break my crown, let me think I've a smile on my face like a flower And live in open green fields My heart is filled with love for my homeland I'll sing songs and poems for my land ♪♪ Thank you so much. Thank you. (applause) Kerry Wasington:
So, thank all of you
for joining us in this International Women's
Day celebration. I want to just thank, again, the
First Lady and President for having us all here today. I was speaking with Mozhdah
before her performance and she was saying that she wishes we
could all understand the words of that song because she's
singing they can't break us. And I think there's been so much
said today about breaking that glass ceiling; that they know
why they can't break us, because we're so
busy breaking that. So continue to go out there
and do what were doing. There's so much beautiful power
and potential in the room and in each of us there's still
lots of power and potential; don't think because
you have powerful, you don't have potential or that
because you have potential that you don't have power. So thank you guys
for being here today, to all of our distinguished
guests and happy International Women's Day. Thanks. (applause)
