[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 135 (Friday, August 11, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S12420]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


       COMMEMORATION OF THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE

 Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, the enfranchisement of women 75 
years ago contributed to remarkable changes in the lives and well 
being, not just of women in our society, but of our Nation as a whole.
  On August 26 our Nation will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the 
19th amendment to the Constitution. With the passage of this amendment, 
over a century after ratification of the U.S. Constitution, the right 
to vote was extended to women.
  This occasion is a time to reflect upon the many contributions made 
by women as a result of being enfranchised to vote, and I am proud to 
say that I am both a beneficiary of this historic amendment and a 
product of its legacy.
  In seeking the right to vote, the women who preceded me in political 
arena sought more than mere representation at the polls. Gaining the 
right to vote was the first critical step toward women becoming full 
and equal partners in every aspect of American society.
  The 19th amendment, in addition to enfranchising women, was a tacit 
declaration of a woman's right to hold office. In the first elections 
held after the ratification of the 19th amendment, women won public 
office in 23 States.
  The impact of women voting was felt even before the 19th amendment 
was ratified. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson, embroiled in a hotly 
contested reelection campaign, faced the first known gender-gap in a 
Presidential election. At the time, there were 12 States which allowed 
women to vote, and the newly formed Women's Party had mounted an 
aggressive campaign in those States to defeat Wilson because of his 
stiff opposition to women's suffrage. In Illinois, the only State where 
votes were tallied by sex, women voted against Wilson by a ratio of 2 
to 1. And, in California, another equal suffrage State, Wilson won by 
only .3 percent of the vote. The women's vote nearly cost Woodrow 
Wilson the election.
  Although the Women's Party could not deny President Wilson a second 
term, an important goal had been accomplished--women were noticed as a 
significant force at the polls. Democrats put out as much campaign 
literature on women's suffrage that year as they did on peace.
  Today, although still grossly under-represented in numbers, women 
hold office in all levels of government. Fifty-five women serve in 
Congress today, including 7 in the U.S. Senate. Women hold the office 
of mayor in 178 cities with populations larger than 30,000. And, since 
1925, 13 women have served as Governor of their State.
  In the past 75 years numerous women have broken the glass ceiling 
with many firsts. Janet Reno as the first woman Attorney General; Hazel 
O'Leary as the first woman Secretary of Energy; Jeane Kirkpatrick as 
the first woman Ambassador to the United Nations; Sandra Day O'Conner 
as the first woman Supreme Court Justice. I look forward to the day, 
however, when women no longer make news for being the first appointed, 
but for what they do. Then our Nation can say we have attained the 
level of equality the voters of 75 years ago began working toward.
  As a Member of the U.S. Senate, I stand before you as a direct 
descendant of the tireless efforts of Alice Paul, Lucy Burns and 
Dorothy Day--women who went to prison for picketing for the right to 
vote. These trailblazers, and many others whose names have escaped the 
history books, devoted their lives to make women full and equal 
partners in American society.
  I know that with every vote I cast as a Member of this body, I honor 
their legacy. It is in recognition of those women, and the progress 
made over the last 75 years, that we commemorate the 75th anniversary 
of the 19th amendment to the U.S Constitution.


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