[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 134 (Thursday, August 10, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12308-S12309]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    ISSUANCE OF THE ALICE PAUL STAMP

 Mr. BRADLEY. Mr. President, I rise today to celebrate the 
tremendous achievements of Alice Paul, a New Jerseyan, suffragist and 
dedicated believer in social justice. On August 18, 1995 the Alice Paul 
Centennial Foundation and the U.S. Postal Service will join together to 
celebrate a First Day of Issue Ceremony dedicating a new postal stamp 
that features Alice Paul.
  Alice Stokes Paul, born in Mount Laurel, NJ in 1885, gave birth to 
the woman's rights movement, facilitating some of the most important 
political and legal achievements made by women in the 20th century. The 
date of August 26, 1995 marks the 75th anniversary of the passage of 
the 19th amendment, which granted women the right to vote. Accordingly, 
I am extremely pleased that it is at this time that the U.S. Postal 
Service has selected Alice Paul for their 78 cent stamp. Alice Paul's 
contributions to women's suffrage made possible the increased 
advancement and recognition of women in our society and throughout the 
world.
  After graduating from Swarthmore College in 1905 as a social worker, 
Alice Paul studied in England for a doctoral degree in economics. It 
was there that she became involved in the British women's suffrage 
movement led by the Parkhursts. Those 3 years in England showed Alice 
that women would have to adopt revolutionary methods that would take 
the vote, not wait passively for it to be given.
  Upon her return to America, Alice Paul reenergized the battle to win 
the right to vote for American women. In 1916, she founded the National 
Woman's Party, which worked to gain suffrage at the Federal level 
through a constitutional amendment. Proving to be an extraordinary 
organizer, fund-raiser, and politician, Alice Paul allowed nothing into 
her life that did not have a direct bearing on suffrage. In her later 
years, Alice often reminisced that she lived in a cold room so that she 
wouldn't be tempted to read novels late at night.
  Alice Paul fostered an incredible solidarity in those around her. She 
organized massive demonstrations, picketing rallies, conventions, and 
hunger strikes that raised the profile of the suffragist movement, 
revitalized other women's rights groups and awakened the consciousness 
of the entire Nation to the women's suffrage issue.
  Once the vote was won, when most suffragists believed that their work 
had ended, Alice Paul was just beginning her crusade. In 1923, 3 years 
after suffrage was granted, she authored the equal rights amendment, 
stipulating that neither the Federal Government nor States could 
abridge any rights on the basis of sex. From the date of its inception 
to its final passage by Congress for State ratification in 1972, Alice 
Paul kept the issue of the ERA alive before the Congress and State 
legislators for 54 years.
  In addition to her efforts on behalf of the right to vote and the 
equal rights amendment, Alice Paul successfully campaigned to make the 
nondiscrimination clause based on sex part of the 1964 Civil Rights 
Act. This clause granted women Federal protection for the first time in 
the realm of equal job protection and pay in the workplace. 
Furthermore, she worked to include equal rights clauses in the United 
Nations Charter and the United Nation's Declaration of Human Rights.
  In 1977, Alice Paul died in Moorestown, NJ, leaving behind a legacy 
of dedication to women's rights and social justice. To the very end, 
she worked with the fervent desire to see the equal rights amendment 
become Federal law. Even at the age of 88, she was directing the 
struggle for the passage of the ERA in the Maine Legislature--from the 
telephone of a nursing home. Her life exemplified what she once said in 
response to a question about her unwavering steadiness in the cause of 
women's rights: ``Well, I always thought once you put your hand on the 
plough you don't remove it until you get to the end of the row.''
  In the case of Alice Paul, this simple resolve left a legacy that has 
forever 

[[Page S 12309]]
changed the lives of men and women throughout the world.


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