Single, Childless Women Should Not Be Disqualified from Leadership, Project 21 Members Say - Washington, D.C. - Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) is being criticized by members of the black leadership network Project 21 for implying that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice lacks a proper perspective on the War on Terror in Iraq because she does not have children.

"Barbara Boxer is a feminist who is attacking the feminist dream,” said Project 21 member Kevin Martin. “But Condoleezza Rice’s achievements are disqualified because she is a black conservative, and her rise was not blessed by the liberal establishment. Former attorney general Janet Reno was also unmarried and childless, but I don’t remember insulting questioning like this regarding her handling of Elian Gonzalez or the deadly raid on the Branch Davidian cult.”

During a January 11 Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Senator Boxer asked Secretary Rice: “Who pays the price? I’m not going to pay a personal price. My kids are too old, and my grandchild is too young. You’re not going to pay a particular price, as I understand it, with an immediate family.”

Secretary Rice replied: “I visit them. I know what they’re going through. I talk to their families. I see it. I could never and I can never do anything to replace any of those lost men and women in uniform, or the diplomats, some of whom...” Senator Boxer cut her off, saying in response: “Madam Secretary, please. I know you feel terrible about it. That’s not the point. I was making the case as to who pays the price for your decisions.”

In an editorial about the incident, The New York Post noted: “The junior senator from California apparently believes that an accomplished, seasoned diplomat, a renowned scholar and an adviser to two presidents like Condoleezza Rice is not fully qualified to make policy at the highest levels of the American government because she is a single, childless woman.”

Project 21 fellow Deneen Borelli added: “I am deeply appalled by Senator Barbara Boxer’s cruel and callous attack on Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Senator Boxer’s absurd comments are inexcusable and immoral, further proving what a characterless individual she is. The debate should have been about the war in Iraq and not a platform to demean Secretary Rice, who is one of the finest examples of a leader and is well qualified for the nation’s chief cabinet office. No matter what her views are, Secretary Rice is a noteworthy public servant who should be treated with respect.”

Project 21, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization sponsored by the National center for Public Policy Research, has been a leading voice of the African-American community since 1992.

http://www.nationalcenter.org/P21Index.html