WASHINGTON - JUNE 25: U.S. Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) (R) speaks as Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) (L) looks on June 25, 2008 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Clinton joined the House Democratic leaders to speak to the media after she spoke to a closed House Democratic Caucus meeting. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) Former Secretary of State and potential 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said that Congress is increasingly detached from the lives of most Americans, especially in regards to women’s rights and increasing minimum wage. (credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Secretary of State and potential 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said that Congress is increasingly detached from the lives of most Americans, especially in regards to women’s rights and increasing minimum wage.

Speaking at a panel on women’s economic security matters at the Center for American Progress, Clinton said that Congress is operating in an “evidence-free zone” that is distant from the lives of real, everyday Americans, the Washington Post reports.

“The Congress, increasingly, despite the best efforts of my friends and others, is living in an evidence-free zone where what the reality is in the lives of Americans is so far from the minds of too many,” said Clinton.

Clinton joined several female Democrats for the discussion at the liberal think tank in Washington, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Rep. Rosa Delauro, D-Conn., and Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. and Patty Murray, D-Wash. Clinton said that women’s issues can directly impact the outcome of elections and called for a “movement” to fight for women.

“When we can turn an issue into a political movement that demands people be responsive during the election season, it carries over,” said Clinton. “So, these issues have to be in the lifeblood of this election or any election.”

“We need people to feel that they are part of a movement,” Clinton continued. “That it’s not just about an election, but about a movement—a movement to really empower themselves, their families and take the future over in a way that is going to give us back the country we care so much about.”

The panelists discussed early childhood learning programs, paycheck fairness between men and women in the workplace and increasing participation of women in the workforce.

“Where women are left out,” Clinton said, “their children suffer, their communities suffer.”

Clinton praised President Barack Obama, noting he “deserves an enormous amount of credit for stanching the bleeding” amid the economic crisis when he took office and “getting us out of that ditch we were in.”

New York Sen. Gillibrand said that modern day workplace policies “are stuck in the Mad Men era.”

Connecticut Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro touted Clinton’s political record fighting for women’s rights and suggested that her appearance at the panel shows she would continue that fight in a possible 2016 presidential campaign.

“Hillary, I don’t know if you’re here — what this signals in terms of your future — I know what it signals in terms of the issues that you care about and what you have been championing for a lifetime,” said Delauro.