[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 85 (Tuesday, May 21, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H4021]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                RECOGNIZING IMPORTANCE OF 19TH AMENDMENT

  (Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, exactly 100 years ago 
today, this House passed the 19th Amendment. On June 4, 1919, the 
Senate approved it.
  The women's right to vote began the race to ratification, requiring 
three-fourths of the 48 States to ratify it before it was added to the 
Constitution. That happened on August 26, 1920.
  Madam Speaker, a woman having the right to vote is not at all 
controversial today. However, in 1848, when the first women's rights 
convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York, the issue was so 
contentious that the group of mostly women only narrowly passed 
including voting rights in their Declaration of Sentiments.
  We know some of the leaders of the movement, like Susan B. Anthony, 
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Ida B. Wells, but there are thousands of 
other women whose names will never be known. They also gave heart and 
courage to ensuring equality for women.
  The passage of the 19th Amendment ensured that all Americans were 
included in steering our Nation toward the future. One hundred years 
later, it remains just as important.

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