Despite threating rain we had a marvelous day. At least a hundred mom, babies and toddlers were present along with Rep. Maloney (D-NY) and Morella (R-MD) and more press then we have had in the past. The mood was positive and one of comraderie. At the close of the formal press conference Rep. Maloney came and sat on the steps and talked with mothers and held babies. The "Right to Breastfeed Act" is very simple and seems to be getting bi- partisan support. Its purpose is to "ensure a woman's right to breastfeed her child on any portion of federal property where the woman and her child are otherwise authorized to be". It was to be introduced later in the day, so there is no bill number at present. This will add strenght to existing state laws (AK, CA, DE, FL, IL, MI, NV, NJ, NY, NC, TX, UT, VA, WI), and will hopefully help set the standard for other states to follow. The speakers besides the congressmen included 4 mothers who had been asked to leave or harassed while nursing in various loacations, and Dr. Michal Ann Young, representing the AAP and Barbara Heiser, representing NABA. During my brief statement pointing out that if breast is best, as all agree, it can't be only in the privacy of the mother's home, I made a presentation to Rep. Maloney. I presented her with a drawing of the Statue of Liberty breastfeeding with the caption "Breastfeed for a healthy nation" in appreciation for her support of breastfeeding in behalf of all breastfeeding mothers and babies in the US. She was thrilled and plans to hang it in her office. Again, what you can do to be part of this effort is to contact your US House of Representatives person, and urge them to co-sponsor this simple bill. You will be able to get a copy of the bill and follow its progress at http://thomas.loc.gov/ Pleae note that there is no www on this website. Thanks for all the support and remember that the more reps we get to sign onto this simple bill, the more it will help to move H.R.3531 also. Barbara Heiser, NABA