Paris, France
Michele, from the moment we met, I knew that you were a woman on a mission and that when you commit to a cause, you get things done. What you’re doing is bigger than any one athlete or team—it will ripple outward to all women across the world. Because the more we understand about our health, the more treatments and cures we can find for everyone.
Carol and all the amazing panelists, I’m grateful for what you’re doing to shine a light on this issue.
To Jen Klein, who leads the White House Gender Policy Council that President Biden established, thank you for the incredible work you do to advance gender equity in the United States and around the world.
I’m also glad to be here with Ambassador Bauer—Denise—who is not only a tremendous leader, but also a dear friend, and with Mayor Karen Bass of the great city of Los Angeles.
We just came from cheering on some incredible Team USA athletes. And even now, away from the lights and the roar of the crowd, I still feel swept up in their magic. I’m sure you’ve felt it too—the thrill of the last-second shot, the footfall that shaves off that last half second, watching as someone puts all those years of hope and hard work into one final swing or parry.
They’re part of a legacy that shows us there are no limits to our potential.
And this year’s games have a special distinction: The last time the Olympics were in Paris, less than 5 percent of the athletes were women. Now, a century later, almost the same number of women and men are competing in Paris. These Olympic Games are the closest we’ve ever come to gender parity.
But it’s not just the Olympics where women are front and center.
Women’s sports are everywhere—with more people watching than ever before.
But even as so many more women take the court or fly down the field, what we know about women’s health and sports simply hasn’t kept pace.
That’s because women’s health is understudied and research is underfunded. We have significant gaps in our understanding of conditions that mostly affect women, only affect women, or affect women differently. And as a result, all women have to navigate a medical world largely designed for men and rely on medications, treatments, health products, and medical school textbooks based on men.
It’s not just elite athletes. If you ask any woman about her health care, she likely has a story to tell. You know her.
She’s the woman who tore her ACL with a long road to recovery.
She’s the woman whose concussion symptoms linger and linger.
She’s the woman wondering why it took so long to treat her fibroids.
She’s the woman going through menopause, who sits with her doctor and leaves with more questions than answers.
And don’t all women have questions? Should I take hormone therapy? Should I take supplements? Why is my hair thinning? Why can’t I sleep?
It’s time for answers.
That’s why the Biden-Harris Administration is fundamentally changing how our nation approaches and funds women’s health research. Last year, we launched the first-ever White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research.
And earlier this year, Michele and I stood with President Biden and so many other incredible leaders in this space as he took the most comprehensive executive action in history to advance research on women’s health. And he’s called on Congress to provide $12 billion to push this work further.
Women and girls show us every day how they can soar on the field or in the arena. They inspire us to work harder, to get back up when we fall, to keep reaching for the endless possibilities in each of us.
That’s why we’re all here.
By investing in women’s health research, we can ensure that our athletes, and all women, can keep reaching for those bright tomorrows ahead.
And, thanks to all of you, the momentum feels unstoppable.
We can’t let this moment pass us by.
Together, we have the power to find answers—for the little girl who dreams of scoring the game-winning goal, dashing past the finish line, dunking in the Olympics, and for all the women who want to cheer her on through long, healthy, and happy lives.
Thank you all for your dedication.
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