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REMARKS BY:DONNA E. SHALALA, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
PLACE:	Women's Caucus, National Women's Health Information Center, Washington, D.C.
DATE:		October 7, 1998

A hundred years ago, Virginia Woolf suggested that all a woman needed to be a writer was "money and a room of her own." Today, thanks to the new Website and Hotline we're unveiling today, all a woman needs to get solid health information is a computer or a telephone. As Sarah Bright demonstrated, when it comes to taking charge of your health, information is power.

But you might ask: With all the health information already out there, including the wonderful job that women's magazines are doing, why do we need the National Women's Health Information Center? Because sometimes in the world of science and health, the Information Age seems more like the Age of Confusion. Almost every day -- almost every minute --- we hear about new breakthroughs, new findings, new treatments and new ways to live. There are two problems with these breathless health bulletins: First, they're often like the weather -- wait a minute, they'll change. Secondly, as any daily editor knows, if you rush to get it out, you can't always get it perfect.

But when it comes to personal and family health, women want to get it right every time. What women need is a single place to go -- a place to trust -- for the best, latest, most objective health information. Surveys show the health information women trust most comes from the government. Women also rely on the Internet. And women's health gets more Internet hits than any other health information on the Web. But the Internet is not the final word. Not everybody has a computer and a modem, or knows how to cruise the Web. That's why we have the Hotline. And that's why we encourage women who are Web-savvy to help friends and other families get the information they need. This Web site is also a great source for magazine writers and editors.

But even with this new technology, the best source of personal medical information and advice is still a human being -- your health care provider. And more and more today, a well-informed woman is a doctor's best patient. A well-informed woman is also our nation's leading health-minder. Nearly two out of three women say they have the sole responsibility for making health care decisions for their families.

Protecting family health is just one way women are shaping the course of our nation. I believe the revolutionary women who gathered at Seneca Falls 150 years ago would be proud of the achievements of women in health care, women in the media, and women in Congress today. All in the human interest. All in the family interest. All in the national interest. And all in the true bipartisan spirit. Because when it comes to issues important to women, we know it's not a matter of left or right -- but forward or backwards.

Today my Department announced some good news for the health of women and families from the CDC's new Vital Statistics report. Infant mortality rates have reached new lows. Birth rates among teenage girls continue to fall steeply. While the number of women getting timely prenatal care has reached record levels -- more than 82 percent in the first trimester. These trends show our work on behalf of women and family health is truly paying off for the nation.

In this Congress alone, under the leadership of Congresswomen Norton and Johnson, the Women's Caucus has continued to advance women's issues -- especially women's health. From more research, access to clinical trials and health screening to fight breast cancer and other disease that strikes women, to more security for women threatened by violence -- and more protection for women's reproductive rights.

Unlike our hapless Redskins, you can count on the Women's Caucus to keep on breaking through the line, making first downs and scoring big goals. And you do it even though women are still underrepresented in Congress today. But only in votes. Not in voice, vision or vigor. So imagine the difference women will make -- and the history we'll make -- starting the day when women finally make up 51 percent of Congress! As we work for that day, I congratulate the Congressional Caucus on Women's Issues and all you have achieved in the human interest in the family interest and in the national interest.