When I was a first-year law school student, I jump-started a man's car in a parking garage.
And I was really proud that I had jumper cables, and I knew how to use them.
And he mentioned that he was a member of Congress while we were working on his car.
And I mentioned that I was looking for a summer internship, and he asked me to get in touch
with him.
And he gave me his cellphone number.
So I followed up, I interviewed with people in his office, including his legal counsel.
And I knew that he was on the House Judiciary Committee, and getting ready to consider an
issue that was important to me, and I expressed an interest in working on that issue.
I was excited when they said that I could intern there that summer after my first year
of law school.
A while later, the congressman called me, late on a Sunday night from his cellphone
to my cellphone, and asked me to come to his home.
And he made it clear that his family wasn't there, and said that he wanted to talk to
me about my internship in his office.
And I didn't know what to do, so I called my dad.
He said that I probably wasn't going over for another "interview."
I then called the congressman back and said that I didn't feel comfortable coming over,
and he said he didn't have a spot for me in his office that summer.
That man was congressman Trent Franks, a fellow Republican from Arizona who talked to me about
our shared belief in God the first time we met.
Now, I'll be spending more time on Capitol Hill than he will.
Congressman Franks has resigned because of the way he mistreated women in his office,
and I have the opportunity through Running Start
-- a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that trains young women to run for political office --
to take those young women to Capitol Hill
to help them place in internships, and to help them like one day, they can occupy
those seats of power.
My advice to my future daughters,
or to young women who may be in interested in politics, is this:
1. Say no, leave, or ask to think about anything that makes you feel uncomfortable or unsafe.
2. If you have a trusted friend, family member or mentor who you can call,
call that person and ask for their advice.
And if you don't feel comfortable sharing with even one of those trusted folks,
call us at Running Start.
We'd be happy to talk to you.
3. Know that it's not your fault.
No matter what you were wearing, or what you may have said, or how young you are,
it is not your fault.
4. Speak up. Tell your story.
That may mean different things for different people at different times, but it's important,
whenever and however you feel comfortable, to speak up and share your story.
5. Imagine what you'd say to yourself 20 years from now when you're the type of role model
who you look up to.
Imagine the power and confidence you'll have in yourself, and try and channel just a little
bit of that today.
It's a lot of "fake it 'til you make it."
But I think even members of Congress are faking it 'til they make it, and I hope that young
women today will think of themselves powerfully like that.
The last thing I'd say is, I'm really scared to be sitting here.
I'm white, I'm straight, I'm cisgender, I'm well-educated, and at this point I have a
lot of political experience.
But it's really hard to speak out.
And so, for folks who may face additional barriers
-- people who are LGBTQ, people of color, people aren't able-bodied, people who are immigrants --
their challenges in sharing their stories will be immensely more difficult.
What happened to me all too common on Capitol Hill.
It's happened to countless young women.
And it has a chilling effect on women's desire to run to for office.
That's why it's so important that we speak up and share our stories and empower women
around us who want to make change to be leaders in their own communities.