[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 110 (Monday, July 23, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1295]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            IN COMMEMORATION OF THE SENECA FALLS CONVENTION

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. LAURA RICHARDSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 23, 2012

  Ms. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 
anniversary of the first Women's Rights Convention in history, held in 
Seneca Falls, New York in 1848. This groundbreaking convention spanned 
two days and six sessions, and is considered by many to mark the 
beginning of the Women's Suffrage Movement in America.
  The Seneca Falls Convention was attended by such important figures as 
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, and Frederick Douglass. It was 
there that these luminaries mapped out the strategy to liberate and 
empower future generations to come. It was there that these women 
debated Elizabeth Cady Stanton's Declaration of Sentiments, regarded by 
Frederick Douglass as the ``grand basis for attaining the civil, 
social, political, and religious rights of women.''
  Since the launch of the first wave of political activism at the 
Seneca Falls convention, women's rights activists have fought 
tirelessly for equality and independence and have vigilantly guarded 
and protected these hard won gains. From 1848-1895, states passed laws 
that extensively expanded the property rights of married women. And in 
1920, women finally earned the right to vote.
  In the 1960s, the second wave of political activism brought an 
expansion of the successes in the fight against gender inequality with 
the inclusion of workplace and reproductive rights. The Equal Pay Act 
was passed in 1963, followed a year later by the creation of the Equal 
Employment Opportunity Commission. The 1965 Supreme Court ruling in 
Griswold v. Connecticut struck down state law banning the use of 
contraception. And in 1973 Roe v. Wade granted women the right to 
privacy and to make their own decision to have an abortion. The passage 
of landmark Title IX in 1972 mandated equal opportunities for women in 
higher education. In 2009, President Obama signed into law the Lilly 
Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to 
reset the 180-day statute of limitations on equal pay lawsuits every 
time a discriminatory paycheck is issued.
  These victories over the last 164 years were possible because of the 
foundation laid out by the historic Seneca Falls Women's Rights 
Convention.
  But, unfortunately Mr. Speaker, despite all of these achievements, 
there is still a substantial amount of work to do. I have witnessed, 
over the last few years, efforts by my colleagues across the aisle 
begin to roll back many of these hard won rights. We have seen the 
attempt to strip women of their reproductive rights and of their right 
to choose. We have seen attempts to strip funding for family planning 
programs. We have seen attempts to redefine rape, in a way that turns 
the innocent into an ``accuser'' rather than a victim.
  Let us not allow the 72-year struggle for women's suffrage, and the 
164-year battle for women's rights to be in vain. We must resist and 
defeat those who would wage war on women. Let us not allow a War on 
Women to continue to permit violence against women, workplace 
discrimination, and disparate wages. Women, indeed, and all Americans 
must stand for what is right and honor our Nation's maxim of freedom 
and liberty for all. We must remember the Seneca Falls Convention and 
fight for the principle of equality that serves as the foundation of 
our great Nation.

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