About NFWL

Message from the President

In today's war on terrorism, simply reading the newspaper headlines can be unsettling. For example, recently the Administration increased the nation.s security alert level to orange . the second highest level . and each day there are new developments in the United State.s efforts to mobilize troops in the Iraqi region. As Americans, we face a host of unprecedented emotions and uncertainties: how shall we best protect our families from possible terrorist or bio-terrorist attacks? Will our loved ones be called into military service? What is the proper course of action for the United States and its Allies to take?

First, women elected officials play a key role in facilitating communication among their constituents and within their communities. And, today, women hold a record number of state and federal posts. Indeed, 1,645 women serve in state legislatures across the U.S . more than a five-fold increase since 1969 when only 301 women served at the state level. And these 1,645 women know their communities and their constituents better than anyone else. Because terrorist cells have been found in American neighborhoods, we need to rely on each other and on our state and local officials more than ever to be aware of our surroundings and report suspicious activities to the proper authorities. Women elected officials are our best eyes and ears. Studies conducted by the Center on American Women in Politics at Rutgers show that women elected officials are more connected to their communities than their male counterparts. This is because women typically plan for their elections longer than men and because women often run for office as a result of their involvement in a certain issue, and, thus with a certain coalition. The nation should call upon our women legislators to keep in close contact with their constituents and with local authorities to monitor suspicious activities and terrorist threats. Women elected officials are an integral step in the law enforcement chain because their constituents already feel safe sharing their concerns with them.

Similarly, women state legislators play a crucial role in disseminating information and keeping up morale. Studies show that constituents conceive of women legislators as being more trustworthy and credible than their male counterparts. Again, this is generally because women run for office to advance ideas and issues, not themselves. Communicating up-to-the-minute information and reassuring the public are important wartime roles of women legislators; they are the perfect conduit for information and reassurance.

In addition, women leaders think strategically, forge coalitions, and are not afraid to compromise - skills that are essential in sustaining the US-led international coalition against terrorism and in brokering any future peace agreements. As one of the first great women elected officials, Margaret Chase Smith of Maine, once said, there is a difference between the principle of compromise and the compromise of principle. Typically, women leaders are not concerned with who gets credit, but simply with getting the job done to the best of their ability. Women are by nature problem solvers, and this war requires exactly their brand of informed, goal-oriented leadership.

Furthermore, women leaders play a vital role in the health of our nation. Today, Americans are equally concerned about military casualties on the war front and civilian casualties of bio-terrorism on the home front. We need to turn to our domestic health care experts to make sure that our systems of prevention and care delivery are up to the task. And, by and large, our health care experts are women. Dozens of women chair the health care committees in their state legislatures, and women shape the agenda of the healthcare committees in the U.S. Congress as well. Moreover, women across America are typically the ones in charge of their own families' health care. Think about it. Women are often principal caretakers for their relatives - women in my generation are now taking care of both their parents and their children - and the primary spenders of their families' health care dollars. With the threat of bio-terrorist attacks in our places of business and our homes, it is essential that we mobilize and inform our existing network of women healthcare leaders.

Once we win the war on terror, as I know we will, we need to actively involve women as peacemakers and in the new government of Iraq, just as we did in Afghanistan. At the start of the new millennium, the United Nations passed an agreement to have women at the peace-making table. At last we have figured out that it may not be the best idea to have the men who wage war plan for peace. After any sort of peace accord is reached in Iraq, the one surefire way to ensure that the government moves towards democracy and away from despotism is to involve women - give them the vote and full representation in government. Terrorism and women's leadership are fundamentally incompatible. Freedom, democracy and peace, however, go hand in hand with women's unique style of leadership.

This new war requires new ways of thinking and leading - specifically, it requires the thoughtful, patient, goal-oriented and determined leadership of American women. In 1940, American factories and office buildings were a man's domain, but World War II shattered that perception just as this war will change how we view women leaders during times of military conflict. Women legislators are the heart and soul of the country and they can provide critical links in the leadership chain during these trying times. The Administration should enlist them in the war on terrorism just as their constituents should look to them for information and inspiration. To bring about peace and democracy in the 21st century, we must first empower and mobilize women leaders both here in America and abroad.