The New Agenda Hails NY Choice of Gillibrand for U. S. Senate
For Immediate Release
Contact: Amy Siskind
Email: NewAgendaPress@yahoo.com
Date: January 23, 2009
The New Agenda Hails NY Choice of Gillibrand for U. S. Senate
The New Agenda, a new, nonpartisan women’s rights organization, hailed New York Governor David Paterson’s choice of U.S. Representative Kirsten Gillibrand to fill the Senate seat vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton.
“This is what feminism looks like. Today’s announcement embodies the new women’s movement in America,” said Amy Siskind, a New Yorker and co-founder of The New Agenda. “It’s bold. It’s sensible. It’s substantive. And most important it’s resilient. This is the right way to turn the page from 2008
to 2009.”
After the 2008 election, ten states have lower representation of women in state government. The U.S. House of Representatives is still 83 percent male, though women gained three seats. The U.S. Senate is 83 percent male, and women gained just one seat in the November election.
Siskind said today’s news is particularly important, because the U.S. Senate represents one of the most patriarchal bodies in the world with only 37 women serving in the Senate since its 1789 establishment – less than 2 percent.
“Rep. Gillibrand has consistently stood up for the voters of her district and reached across the aisle to work with both parties,” said Siskind whose organization recommended Gillibrand. “Rep. Gillibrand was fiercely loyal to Sen. Clinton when she ran for President, realizing the importance of getting a woman to the highest office, and she refused to fall in the trap of personal attacks aimed at Gov. Sarah Palin. The New Agenda looks forward to working with Senator Gillibrand to advance women’s rights and shatter the highest glass ceiling – our Presidency.”
