[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 69 (Tuesday, May 15, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E805-E806]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




40TH ANNIVERSARY OF CONGRESSIONAL PASSAGE OF THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 15, 2012

  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, since I was elected to federal office, I 
have been a champion for women's equality and have introduced the Equal 
Rights Amendment, ERA, for the last 15 years. I will continue to 
advocate for this important legislation until women are included in the 
Constitution.
  Despite determined efforts by many dedicated activists, the ERA has 
never become part of our Constitution. On the 40th anniversary of the 
Congress passing the Equal Rights Amendment, I was joined by a number 
of speakers who spoke about the importance of equality for women. I 
submit their comments below to demonstrate the wide support for this 
Constitutional amendment. It is my great hope that we will soon realize 
a time when my bill does not need to be reintroduced and speeches and 
events to raise awareness of the ERA are not needed; simply put, a time 
when the ERA has been adopted and true equality has finally been 
achieved.

                           Senator Birch Bayh


 Remarks on the 40th Anniversary of Congressional Passage of the Equal 
                      Rights Amendmentm Birch Bayh

       To Bobbie Francis and Members of the NCWO-ERA Task Force:
       I'm sorry I can't be there to share interesting 
     conversations with all of you. I particularly appreciate the 
     invitation from Bobbie Francis to join her and all of the 
     friends of the NCWO-ERA Task Force in discussing an issue 
     that has been close to my heart for more than 40 years.
       Recent events have seen an assault on those who provide 
     health care services to women and we have even seen questions 
     raised anew about issues like contraception. It may have been 
     40 years since we passed the ERA in Congress but the reasons 
     why many of us tried to write women's rights into the 
     Constitution are still with us today.
       As the Chief Senate Sponsor and floor leader of the Equal 
     Rights Amendment, I remember well the intensity of the battle 
     we fought in the early 1970's. America's history has been a 
     steady expansion of individual rights, beginning with the 
     expansion of the franchise in our early years. From the 
     rights of former slaves after the Civil War to the expansion 
     of the vote for women and then for 18 year olds, we have 
     codified in our Constitution an ongoing commitment to 
     individual rights. It seemed fitting then, and seems fitting 
     now, that our Constitution speak loudly and clearly that the 
     law allow no discrimination on the basis of gender.
       While the principles involved in this battle remain, the 
     country has evolved quite a bit since 1972. In 1972 there 
     were 2 women in the US Senate and 13 in the House of 
     Representatives. Now there are 17 women Senators and 75 
     Congresswomen. There were no female Governors in 1972 and had 
     been only 3 in all our history before that, there are 6 now. 
     We have had a female Speaker of the House and have scores of 
     CEOs, business owners and leaders in all walks of life who 
     are female. The number of women elected to state legislatures 
     across the country is larger than ever before. The number of 
     women in the military cannot be compared to the numbers 40 
     years ago. And in a recent issue of Newsweek, long-time 
     Supreme Court reporter Nina Totenberg spoke about taking the 
     job at NPR in the 70s because the pay was too low for men to 
     want the job.
       There has indeed been progress, but the principles remain 
     the same.
       To open the sports pages in the morning is to see female 
     athletes in a number of sports. To watch the television news 
     in the evening has us watching many female anchor persons, 
     weather ladies, and sports announcers. Even the major sports 
     telecasts regularly involve on-air female broadcasters. But 
     is there equal pay for equal work today? Are there still 
     obstacles on the professional paths to boardrooms for women? 
     Is sexual harassment still a prominent issue in offices 
     around America and in our military?
       It is still fitting in the 21st century for our nation to 
     include in its basic law the principle that discrimination 
     based on sex has no place in American life. It is fitting for 
     our daughters and granddaughters to be reminded that their 
     parents and grandparents took a stand to protect their 
     futures and to ensure that they have an equal place in modern 
     America.
       In closing, let me stress that the ERA is still the right 
     thing to do, not only in principle but in every day practice.
       Thank you for your continued, dedicated efforts.

                         Janet Kopenhaver, FEW


 Janet Kopenhaver, Washington Representative, Federally Employed Women 
                (FEW), Remarks at 3/22 Press Conference

       I want to thank Rep. Carolyn Maloney and all the co-
     sponsors on the ERA bill for their continuing support of 
     women's issues. I am so happy to be here representing 
     Federally Employed Women. The enactment of an Equal Rights 
     Amendment is our number one legislative priority and our 
     members have been busy sending letters to their 
     Representatives urging them to co-sponsor this critical bill.
       On my way in today on the metro, I was carrying one of 
     those green ERA signs, a woman came up to me and said ``Wow--
     that sign is old.'' No kidding! Too old in my opinion. 
     Hopefully we can soon put all these signs in the Sewall 
     Belmont House as historical artifacts no longer needed for 
     lobbying!
       But really, in a nutshell, no one in this country would say 
     that women are not equal to men. No one! So let's end the 
     hypocrisy and pass the ERA this year. The time has come and 
     the time is now!

                               Sarah Bear


 Remarks by Sarah Bear, Equal Rights Amendment Press Conference, March 
                                22, 2012

       I cannot begin to tell you how many people I've encountered 
     that believe the Equal Rights Amendment has been passed. They 
     are shocked when I break the unfortunate news to them that it 
     has not, in fact, been passed. Shouldn't this, in and of 
     itself, be proof that the ERA should be ratified?
       It is such a simple statement: ``Equality of rights under 
     the law shall not be denied or abridge by the United States 
     or by any state on account of sex.'' Is it so difficult to 
     ratify this amendment and permanently add it to the 
     Constitution? What makes men, women, or transgendered 
     individuals so different that we don't deserve equal 
     protection under the Constitution? We're all people. We all 
     feel, cry, smile, laugh. We're just as much human as the 
     person next to us, whether or not we share similar 
     reproductive organs.
       As a distant relative of the inspirational suffragist and 
     author of the ERA, Alice Paul, it is in my blood to fight for 
     this basic right. I promise to her, the Alice Paul Institute, 
     and all the amazing women and men who have fought and 
     continue to fight for equal

[[Page E806]]

     rights, that I will not relent or give up. Alice said, ``I 
     never doubted that equal rights was the right direction. Most 
     reforms, most problems are complication. But to me, there is 
     nothing complicated about ordinary equality.'' How true this 
     statement is.

                           Terry O'Neill, NOW


  Remarks by Terry O'Neill, Equal Rights Amendment Press Conference, 
                             March 22, 2012

       Thank you to Congresswoman Maloney for having the courage 
     and the tenacity to reintroduce the ERA every year until we 
     get it done. We will not give up. We will get the ERA one way 
     or another. I have told people over and over again, if we 
     have to get the ERA swinging from the chandeliers, that's the 
     route we'll take to get it. I'm so grateful for all the 
     leaders we have here. Thank you for your leadership. Women 
     are only 17 percent of the United States Congress. That is 
     not okay. Women are only three out of nine Supreme Court 
     justices and given what the Supreme Court has started doing 
     to women these days, that is really not okay. This year--
     2012, needs to be the year of the women. If we had had women 
     in state legislatures in those key legislatures in 1982 when 
     we almost ratified the ERA back then, in Illinois, in Florida 
     and in North Carolina. If we had had women and if we had had 
     people of color, men and women of color, we know that we 
     would have ratified the ERA. We have got to change the 
     complexion of our elected leadership. It starts this year, 
     women will be voting this year, we've had it, we've had 
     enough. Enough with the war on women, we're going to elect 
     more women to support the ERA.
       Thank you so much.
       --Terry O'Neill, National Organization for Women, 
     President.

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