Chairwoman Cantwell Makes History on Commerce Committee

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) officially became the first woman to chair the Senate Commerce Committee, and she pledged to use the gavel to work on improving diversity in STEM fields. "To my fellow colleagues, all of you but particularly the women, I hope that we can do a better job on strategies to help women in the workforce, particularly in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering, and math," she said. Before her tenure as senator, Cantwell worked for the Seattle-based Internet startup RealNetworks in the late '90s. “I may be the first woman [to lead] this committee, but… I don’t plan on being the last,” she added.