[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 30 (Thursday, March 17, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 17, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                     NATIONAL WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH

  (Mrs. BYRNE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. BYRNE. Mr. Speaker, in August of 1920 the 19th amendment to the 
U.S. Constitution was adopted. That amendment granted the right to vote 
to every American citizen regardless of sex.
  Today, as I stand here a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, 
it is hard to believe that a time existed when this basic right of our 
democracy was not granted to every American. But, of course, it is 
true.
  And, as we prepare to celebrate the diamond jubilee of this great 
occasion, we should not forget those who sacrificed so much for 
American women. We must remember that a woman's right to vote was not 
extended because of the good conscience of America's 20th century 
lawmakers. It came because of the sacrifice of the suffragists who 
withstood pain and humiliation to ensure that their daughters and 
granddaughters would have a voice in the destiny of their Nation.
  Not far from here, a group of suffragist women picketed in front of 
the White House and were taken by paddy wagon to the Occoquan 
workhouse--what we know now as the Lorton prison. There they were force 
fed, beaten, and kept from their families.
  During National Women's History Month and every day of our lives, we 
must remember those women. The women of Congress stand on the shoulders 
of giants--women whose names have been lost to us but who deserve our 
remembrance and thanks.

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