[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 39 (Thursday, March 22, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S2776]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Sarbanes, Ms. 
        Snowe, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Fiengold, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. 
        Biden, Ms. Cantwell, Mrs. Murray, Mrs. Feinstein, Mrs. Clinton, 
        Mr. Corzine, Mr. Dayton, Ms. Mikulski, and Mrs. Boxer):
       S.J. Res. 10. A joint resolution proposing an amendment to 
     the Constitution of the United States relative to equal 
     rights for women and men; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, today, Senators Schumer, Sarbanes, Snowe, 
Dodd, Kerry, Feingold, Lieberman, Biden, Cantwell, Murray, Feinstein, 
Clinton, Corzine, Dayton, Mikulski, Boxer and I are reintroducing the 
Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution. In doing so, we reaffirm 
our strong commitment to the ERA and full equality for women in our 
society.
  Enactment and ratification of the ERA is essential to ensure that the 
law reflects our country's commitment to equality by guaranteeing equal 
rights for women. Existing statutory prohibitions against sex 
discrimination have failed to guarantee basic educational and 
employment opportunities for women that are equal to those available to 
men. The need for a constitutional guarantee of equal rights continues 
to be compelling.
  In the absence of the ERA, too little progress has been made on 
women's rights, especially in the area of economic opportunity. An 
unconscionable gap between the earnings of men and women persists in 
the workforce. Today, women continue to earn only 72 cents for each 
dollar earned by men. Taking home less than 3/4 of a pay-check for a 
full days work is still a common experience for far too many women.
  Sex discrimination continues to permeate many areas of the economy. 
While women with college degrees have made significant advances in many 
professional and managerial occupations in recent years, more than half 
of working women remain clustered in a narrow range of traditionally 
female, traditionally low-paying occupations. And female-headed 
households continue to dominate the bottom rungs of the economic 
ladder. When a family with children is headed by a woman, the 
likelihood is high that the family is living in poverty. In 1999, 41.9 
percent of all families headed by single mothers lived below the 
poverty line.
  Plainly, much remains to be done to secure equal opportunity for 
women. Enactment of the Equal Rights Amendment alone will not undo 
generations of economic injustice, but it will encourage women in all 
parts of the country in their efforts to obtain fairness under the 
nation's laws.
  We know from the ratification experience of the 1970's and early 
1980's that the road to adoption of the ERA will not be easy. But the 
extraordinary importance of the effort requires us to persevere. We 
should approve the ERA in this Congress, and begin the ratification 
process anew. The ERA must take its rightful place in America's 
founding document.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of our joint resolution be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the joint resolution was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                              S.J. Res. 10

       Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
     United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of 
     each House concurring therein), That the following article is 
     proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United 
     States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as 
     part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of 
     three-fourths of the several States:

                              ``Article --

       ``Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be 
     denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on 
     account of sex.
       ``Section 2. Congress shall have the power to enforce this 
     article by appropriate legislation.
       ``Section 3. This article shall take effect two years after 
     the date of ratification.''.

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