Lame-Duck Congress Has Women's Work to Do

"The lame-duck session of Congress starts today and Allison Stevens has a checklist of bills to pass before Nancy Pelosi yields the gavel to John Boehner as new speaker of the house. If this work isn't completed before the 111th Congress adjourns for the year, who knows how long it will be before a Speaker who so strongly supports women's and mothers' rights picks up the House gavel again.

One of the first bills on the calendar is the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would put women one step closer to the day when they earn equal pay for equal work. It has passed the House and could come up for a vote next week in the Senate, where it is a few votes shy of the 60 votes necessary to open and close debate.

One bill that has far to go before it is enacted--but that would do some of the greatest good around the world--is the International Violence Against Women Act, or IVAWA, which is focused on helping some of the 1-in-3 women worldwide who are beaten, raped or otherwise abused.  Another major item: ratification of the CEDAW or the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women."