Throughout the session Napolitano and Boxer discussed a number of the challenges they faced in leadership roles and how they view the future for women.
Boxer – who worked as a stockbroker and a journalist before being elected to the Marin County Board of Supervisors in 1976 – said at that time it was unusual to hear about a woman running for office.
Despite the challenges, Boxer and Napolitano said they have seen slow, steady improvement in female representation in government and the overall climate for working women.
Former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Tuesday challenged Congress to “do the right thing” and resolve the dispute over the Dreamers program that has left thousands of immigrants in limbo.
Napolitano, who now serves as the president of the University of California, said it "took me about 17 minutes" to decide to file a lawsuit against the Trump administration last year after the White House announced plans to end the protections that allowed immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children to stay in the country.
Ultimately, she said, a resolution for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program needs to be determined by Congress, and not the courts, which have temporarily blocked Trump’s decision to end DACA.
Bipartisan concern for the Dreamers gets wrapped up in the "toxicity of dealing with immigration as a whole,” Napolitano added, speaking alongside former U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer during the first POLITICO Women Rule L.A. summit.
Throughout the session Napolitano and Boxer discussed a number of the challenges they faced in leadership roles and how they view the future for women.
Boxer – who worked as a stockbroker and a journalist before being elected to the Marin County Board of Supervisors in 1976 – said at that time it was unusual to hear about a woman running for office. She recounted a time when she was knocking doors to raise support for her 1976 run, and a woman stated that Boxer would be neglecting her children if she won the election.
“That’s the kind of junk that you faced then, it was really horrible,” Boxer said at the event. “The prejudice was coming from men and women, it was coming from everyone.”
Napolitano echoed that sentiment. She recalled working as a member of Anita Hill’s 1991 legal team and how “wrong” it felt to see an all-white, all-male panel questioning her during a Senate hearing about sexual assault allegations against Clarence Thomas. She then went on to discuss the ways women can positively shape important political issues.
Boxer agreed. “Women’s style of leadership . I think it is a little bit different in general. It is a more collaborative way of doing business,” she said.
Despite the challenges, Boxer and Napolitano said they have seen slow, steady improvement in female representation in government and the overall climate for working women. They each plan to continue their efforts to support promising candidates and to speak out against the Trump administration.
Ending their Women Rule session with some takeaway advice, Napolitano and Boxer encouraged women to follow their passions and to wear comments from haters like a “badge of honor."
“If your passion leads to politics, you have to be willing to take some risks and put yourself out there,” Napolitano said. “When you take that risk, the reward can be very great.”
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