From day one, President Obama has made improving the quality of life for woman a top priority. It's why he created the White House Council on Women and Girls that I'm so proud to chair. Our directive was to look across the board at all of the federal agencies and determine what we could do to improve the quality of life for women and girls.

I care so passionately about improving the quality of life for women and girls, not just here in the United States, but internationally as well. I am a single mom and I raised a daughter who is now a young adult.

We talked about the resources that the justice department has available to help them -- the technical assistance to ensure that we're diffusing situations, not encouraging them to spiral out of control.

The ADA was a landmark civil rights legislation. It was a bill of rights for persons with disabilities, a formal acknowledgement that Americans with disabilities are Americans first and that they're entitled to the same rights and freedoms as everybody else.

Financial regulatory reform is one of the top legislative priorities of the Obama Administration.

My goal in the new administration is to engage all of the stakeholders, everyone who can help us meet the challenges of the 21st century, and ensure that we work together.

A new era of responsibility is here.