Statement By AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson on President Bush's First 100 Days in Office

WASHINGTON -- I am honored to stand here today with leading members of Congress and representatives of women's and consumer groups to express our deep concern about the course of the Bush Administration since the President took the oath of office nearly 100 days ago.

A nation's greatness is gauged by how it treats ordinary people. An even more reliable measure of greatness is how a nation treats its children.

During the presidential campaign, candidate Bush promised to bring a new kind of politics to Washington. But I'm afraid President Bush has checked his much-heralded compassion at the White House door-and has proposed and implemented policies that reward his big-corporation and wealthy campaign contributors at the expense of children and working families.

As a candidate for President, George Bush said, "Judge me by my record." His first 100 Days record is clear. If we look beneath the stetson hat and behind the folksy manner, we find a president who is pushing a tax and budget plan that benefits millionaires, raids the Medicare trust fund and shortchanges programs that support education and provide health care to children.

The Bush budget leaves no room to strengthen programs that we working women and our families depend on - programs like Social Security and Medicare. This matters greatly because women are three-fifths of the elderly recipients of these programs.

And to tilt the playing field even more to corporations, George Bush has become the most anti-worker, anti-union president in recent history. He killed a major job safety standard and issued four anti-worker executive orders. He suspended federal responsible contractor rules designed to make it harder for chronic corporate lawbreakers, including those who discriminate against women and people of color, to be rewarded with lucrative government contracts.

The Bush Administration has also endorsed a business-backed proposal that would allow states to refuse to abide by federal minimum wage increases, an approach that would hurt working women, who are three-fifths of all minimum wage workers.

The record is clear, and it's appalling. These are not just isolated actions - they're part of a concerted assault on programs and policies designed to support working families.

Over the last 100 days, President Bush has amassed a record that doesn't do our nation proud. Over the next hundred days and beyond, the AFL-CIO, which represents 5 * million working women, together with national unions and our allies, will hold President Bush and Congress accountable for a national agenda that supports working women and their children.