[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 47 (Thursday, April 13, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S2776]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 292--RECOGNIZING THE 20TH CENTURY AS THE ``CENTURY OF 
                      WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES''

  Mr. CLELAND (for himself, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Bond, Mr. Baucus, Mr. 
Bryan, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Jeffords, Mrs. Murray, Mrs. 
Lincoln, Ms. Mikulski, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Robb, Mr. Cochran, and Mr. 
Durbin) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary:

                              S. Res. 292

       Whereas women made unparalleled strides during the 20th 
     century in education, professions, legal rights, politics, 
     military service, religion, sports, and self-reliance;
       Whereas at the dawn of the 20th century, most women in the 
     United States were denied the right to vote;
       Whereas the Women's Suffrage movement, the largest 
     grassroots political movement in the Nation's history, 
     involved about 2,000,000 women and took more than 70 years of 
     petitions, referenda, speeches, national and State campaigns, 
     demonstrations, arrests, and hunger strikes;
       Whereas women won the right to vote throughout the United 
     States with the ratification of the 19th amendment to the 
     Constitution of the United States in 1920, and by the end of 
     the century, women were voting in larger numbers than men in 
     some national elections;
       Whereas women represent an increasing share of people being 
     awarded college and postgraduate degrees;
       Whereas women are increasingly owning their own businesses 
     and working to narrow the gap in earnings between women and 
     men, and in 1999 women earned 73 cents for every dollar 
     earned by men in contrast to the 57 cents they received in 
     1973;
       Whereas during the 20th century, women served their country 
     proudly and capably in the armed services, including duty in 
     both World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, Panama, Libya, the Persian 
     Gulf, Bosnia, Kosovo, and all major contingencies including 
     in warfighting roles;
       Whereas in World War I, women were only allowed to serve in 
     the Army as nurses, and with over 30,000 women serving in 
     World War I, approximately 10,000 women served as volunteers 
     overseas, with no rank and no benefits;
       Whereas women now serve in all ranks, in all branches of 
     the armed services, as pilots, intelligence specialists, 
     drill instructors, specialists, and technicians, soldiers, 
     airmen, and marines on the battlefields, and as sailors 
     aboard Navy and Coast Guard ships at sea;
       Whereas women were once denied the right to enter the 
     national academies for military service or to compete to 
     become astronauts or combat pilots, in 1976 Congress passed, 
     and President Ford signed into law, legislation authorizing 
     the admission of women into the military service academies;
       Whereas women are now excelling in military academies and 
     emerging as part of the military leadership of the future, 
     and have served with distinction as members of combat 
     squadrons and as commanders and members of the space shuttle 
     crew;
       Whereas the 20th century saw women in new roles as justices 
     on the United States Supreme Court, members of the 
     President's Executive Cabinet, United States Senators and 
     Representatives, and women's services have become invaluable 
     in appointed and volunteer positions and as Federal 
     legislators, State and local legislators, Governors, judges, 
     Cabinet officers, county commissioners, mayors, city council 
     members, directors of Federal, State and local agencies;
       Whereas women have become prominent figures in amateur and 
     professional sports highlighted in 1999 with the United 
     States Women's Soccer Team winning the World Cup in a 
     stunning victory; and
       Whereas women can look back at the opportunities created 
     during the 20th century and look ahead toward even greater 
     accomplishments in the 21st century: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) commends the accomplishments and unfailing spirit of 
     women in the 20th century; and
       (2) recognizes the 20th century as the ``Century of Women 
     in the United States''.

 Mr. CLELAND. Mr. President, I rise today to submit a 
resolution recognizing the 20th century as the ``Century of Women in 
the United States.'' I would like to thank Georgia State Representative 
Hinson Mosley for introducing a similar resolution in the Georgia 
General Assembly recognizing the tremendous accomplishments of women in 
Georgia and in the United States during the 20th century and for 
sharing his resolution with me. Representative Mosley's exceptional 
resolution passed the Georgia House of Representatives by a vote of 
120-0 and the Georgia Senate on a vote of 51 to 0.
  Like Representative Mosley's resolution, my proposal recognizes that 
as we enter the 21st century, it is essential that we note the vast 
opportunities available to today's women that were not available to 
women entering the 20th century. Women made unprecedented strides in 
civil rights, careers, religion, education and military service. 
Although we must keep in mind the challenges that women in our society 
continue to face and the work that women and men must yet accomplish, 
let us celebrate the victories won by women in the past 100 years.
  I, along with Senators Boxer, Bond, Baucus, Bryan, Durbin, Landrieu, 
Mikulski, Murray, Lincoln, Kerry, Jeffords, Feinstein, Robb and Cochran 
urge my colleagues to support this resolution and recognize the 20th 
century as the ``Century of Women in the United States.''

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