[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 104 (Wednesday, July 27, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1606]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  EXPRESSING SENSE OF CONGRESS WITH RESPECT TO COMMEMORATION OF WOMEN 
                              SUFFRAGISTS

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 25, 2005

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.J. 
Res. 59, a resolution commemorating the women suffragists who fought, 
and won the right for women to vote in the United States.
  This legislation applauds women's rights activists whose commitment 
to changing an unjust system led to the eventual passage of the 19th 
Amendment in 1920. As we all know, the 19th Amendment granted women in 
the United States the right to vote.
  The women's suffrage movement began in the mid nineteenth century 
when Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton held the first women's 
rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York, on July 19, 1848. 
Established in 1869, the National American Woman Suffrage Association 
fought tirelessly against discrimination and oppression, often times 
receiving severe punishment in response to their protests.
  After only several decades, due to the progress of women's rights 
activists, women in the U.S. experienced advancement in property 
rights, employment and educational opportunities, divorce and child 
custody laws, and increased social freedoms. As new generations of 
women continued to bolster the strength of the movement, they initiated 
a social revolution that would touch every aspect of life.
  The time has come for Congress to recognize these brave individuals 
who struggled for equality in the face of adversity, and ultimately 
amended our constitution to allow for equality among both genders. The 
suffragists' accomplishments are a credit to American democracy. Their 
unfettered commitment to equality for women should serve as an example 
to nations in which this struggle is still being fought today.
  Mr. Speaker, let me conclude by again expressing my support for this 
legislation and encourage my colleagues' support. It should be a 
precedence of this Congress to acknowledge the significance of the 
women's rights movement and honor its leaders with a day of 
commemoration.

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