Congressman Don Beyer is serving his fourth term as the U.S. Representative from Virginia’s 8th District, representing Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, and parts of Fairfax County. He serves as the Chairman of Congress' Joint Economic Committee, and also serves on the House Committee on Ways and Means, and on the House Committee on Science Space and Technology, where he chairs the Space Subcommittee. He is a Co-Chair of the New Democrat Coalition's Climate Change Task Force.
He was the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia from 1990 to 1998, and was Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein under President Obama. Rep. Beyer’s signature work as lieutenant governor included advocacy for Virginians with disabilities and ensuring protections for Virginia’s most vulnerable populations as the Commonwealth reformed its welfare system in the mid-1990s. Rep. Beyer was Virginia’s Democratic nominee for governor in 1997.
The best way to ensure true financial security for middle class families is to support women in the workforce.
Working women make up almost half of the American labor force and serve as primary breadwinners in over 40 percent of American households. In addition, a growing percentage of women are single mothers; more than half of women under 30 who give birth do so outside of marriage and consequently serve a significant economic role for that child. Yet women still have no guarantee of equal pay for equal work. We must declare this era in American life as the past, not the present.
Women must be able to make their own economic decisions, including whether and when to have children, and then have the capacity to balance work and family. This delicate equilibrium is possible only with affordable child care, workplace flexibility, and paid family and medical leave, as well as reliable health care. Today, the United States is one of only two nations that does not guarantee paid parental leave. It is past time to giving working women and families this critical tool.