[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 104 (Wednesday, July 27, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1654]
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. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 25, 2005

  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.J. Res. 59, which 
honors and commemorates the contributions of women suffragists who 
fought for and won the right of women to vote in the United States.
  The women's suffrage movement began with women speaking out for 
women's rights when their efforts to participate equally with men in 
the great reform movements of the mid-1800s--including antislavery and 
temperance--were rebuffed. These early feminists demanded a wide range 
of changes in women's social, moral, legal, educational, and economic 
status.
  Although women in this country now have the right to vote, we must 
look back at the efforts of these pioneers and apply their passion to 
the continued fight for women's equality today.
  Since 1920, when the Nineteenth Amendment finally granted women the 
right to vote, women have made great strides. Women have voted at a 
slightly higher rate than men in every Presidential election since 
1964. What is even more encouraging is that more and more women are 
seeking elected office. For 20 years after Jeanette Rankin of Montana 
was elected to Congress in November 1916, the number of women in 
Federal office following each election never exceeded 9. I am proud to 
say that that number has dramatically increased since then. In 1980, 
women comprised 4 percent of the Congress. In 1990, 6 percent. 
Currently, in the 109th Congress, there are 83 women serving--69 in the 
House of Representatives and 14 in the Senate--over 15 percent of the 
Congress.
  We have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go. So 
today, as we honor the women who fought for the rights so many of us 
today enjoy, we recommit ourselves to the ongoing fight for equality 
for women and all who are oppressed in this country and around the 
world.

                          ____________________