Greetings!

With the upcomingMother's Day holiday, I thought you'd like to know about recentlegislation that I have voted for and Congress has passed to helpmothers, grandmothers, and children across our country.

For America's Mothers

Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act:Restores the right of women and other workers to challenge unfair payin court. Specifically, it rectifies the May 2007 Ledbetter v GoodyearSupreme Court decision that overturned precedent and made it much moredifficult for workers to pursue pay discrimination claims. Was thefirst major bill to be signed into law by President Obama.

Budget Conference Agreement:Includes numerous provisions to address the needs and improve the livesof America's mothers and their families, including providinginvestments to improve K-12 education; investing in a clean energyeconomy to launch a sustainable era of job creation; creating adeficit-neutral fund for health care reform that will cut costs andexpand coverage; and cutting the deficit by nearly two-thirds by 2013.

The Recovery Act:Includes many provisions to benefit America's mothers, includingproviding tax cuts to 95 percent of working families, includingmillions of female-headed households; investing in additional childcare; preventing cutbacks in Medicaid coverage, upon which millions ofwomen and children rely; expanding nutrition assistance available tofamilies; and expanding job opportunities and job training for women.

For America's Grandmothers

The Recovery Act: Includes a series of provisions that will benefit seniors, including the following:

$250 Economic Recovery Payments for Seniors:Provides a $250 payment to millions of America's seniors, with thepayments being sent out to seniors during the month of May.

Senior Nutrition Programs:Provides $100 million for senior nutrition programs, includingcongregate meals and home-delivered meals. Is expected to providenearly 14 million additional seniors' meals.

Protecting Low-Income Medicare Beneficiaries:Extends the Qualified Individual (QI) program, which assists certainlow-income Medicare beneficiaries with their Medicare Part B premiums.

Preventing Certain Scheduled Cuts in Medicare: Blocks a scheduled Medicare payment reduction to teaching hospitals, and a scheduled Medicare payment reduction to hospices.

For America's Children

Health Care for 11 Million Children:Renews and improves the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) -preserving coverage for 7 million children currently covered by CHIPand extending coverage to 4 million uninsured but eligible children.Was the second major bill to be signed into law by President Obama.

FDA Regulation of Tobacco Products: Has a key aim of reducing underage smoking with such new regulations as:

• Banning all remaining tobacco-brand sponsorships of sports and entertainment events;
• Restricting vending machines to adult-only facilities; and
• Requiring retailers to verify age for all over-the-counter sales.

Budget Conference Agreement:Includes numerous provisions to address the needs of children andyouth, including increasing K-12 education funding to raise studentachievement; supporting early childhood education; and making collegemore affordable and accessible.

The Recovery Act:Includes key investments in Head Start and Early Head Start; childsupport enforcement; nutrition for women, infants, and children; K-12education; and increasing the maximum Pell Grant.

Iwill continue to work hard for mothers, grandmothers, and children inCongress by voting on legislation that will benefit all Americanfamilies. I hope you and your loved ones have a blessed Mother's Day.As always, I rely on and value your thoughts and ideas on the issuesyou care about, so please let me hear from you.

Sincerely,


Anna G. Eshoo
Member of Congress