[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 43 (Thursday, March 17, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1600-S1601]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE RESOLUTION 405--DESIGNATING PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, AS THE 
   SITE OF THE CENTENNIAL COMMEMORATION OF THE 19TH AMENDMENT TO THE 
  CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, IN COORDINATION WITH VISION 2020

  Mr. CASEY submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on the Judiciary:

                              S. Res. 405

       Whereas the 19th Amendment to Constitution of the United 
     States was ratified on August 18, 1920, guaranteeing women in 
     the United States the right to vote;
       Whereas the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 
     19th Amendment will occur in 2020;
       Whereas Vision 2020, developed by the Institute for Women's 
     Health and Leadership at Drexel University, has launched the 
     Vision 2020 Campaign for Equality--
       (1) to commemorate the centennial of women's suffrage; and
       (2) to advance and achieve economic, social, and political 
     equality for women in the United States by 2020;
       Whereas Vision 2020 is partnering with national 
     associations and professional organizations that represent 
     more than 20,000,000 women and girls in the United States;
       Whereas in 2020, celebratory events will take place in 
     cities all across the United States, particularly in cities 
     in which monumental historic events and people shaped the 
     women's suffrage movement;
       Whereas Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which was home to 
     historic women who played significant roles in the women's 
     rights movement, including Lucretia Mott, Alice Paul, Fanny 
     Jackson Coppin, and Eliza Sproat Turner, should be designated 
     as the headquarters and coordinating site to celebrate the 
     centennial of women's suffrage;
       Whereas the women's suffrage movement was closely tied to 
     abolitionism and many suffragists gained previous experience 
     in advocacy as antislavery activists;
       Whereas the first major event in the women's suffrage 
     movement occurred on July 19, 1848, the date on which 
     Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton organized the first 
     convention on women's rights, the Seneca Falls Convention;
       Whereas in 1850, Lucy Stone organized the National Women's 
     Rights Convention and gave a speech that inspired Susan B. 
     Anthony and others to join the cause for women's rights;
       Whereas in 1851, Sojourner Truth gave her famous speech 
     entitled ``Ain't I a Woman?'' at a convention in Akron, Ohio;
       Whereas in 1869, women suffragists formed the National 
     Woman Suffrage Association and the American Woman Suffrage 
     Association, which were national organizations established to 
     work for the right of women to vote that united in 1890 to 
     form the National American Woman Suffrage Association;
       Whereas in 1872, Susan B. Anthony and a group of women 
     voted in the Presidential election and were arrested and 
     fined for voting illegally;
       Whereas in the late 19th century, the Senate voted on 
     women's suffrage for the first time;
       Whereas during the early 20th century, a new generation of 
     women joined the women's suffrage movement and devoted time 
     to marches and other active forms of protest, including the 
     first picket lines in front of the White House;
       Whereas women suffragists were often detained and sent to 
     jail and some of those women who went on hunger strikes were 
     aggressively force fed;
       Whereas since the ratification of the 19th Amendment, the 
     work begun by the suffragists continues to advance the 
     equality of women in all political, social, economic, and 
     cultural aspects of life in the United States, including 
     shared leadership; and
       Whereas the contributions of women suffragists who fought 
     for and won, for women of the United States, the right to 
     vote should be celebrated on the 100th anniversary of the 
     ratification of the 19th Amendment: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) recognizes the crucial role that the ratification of 
     the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution played 
     in advancing the rights of women and promoting the democratic 
     values at the core of the United States;
       (2) designates Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as the site of 
     the national centennial commemoration of the ratification of 
     the 19th Amendment; and
       (3) commends the efforts of Vision 2020--
       (A) to orchestrate, lead, and coordinate that momentous 
     occasion in Philadelphia; and
       (B) to continue the fight for equality for women.

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