[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 93 (Tuesday, June 4, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3187-S3197]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Climate Change

  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Madam President, one of the things I have noticed 
over the years that I have given these climate speeches is that 
corporate engagement on climate change has been one-sided, let's just 
say. It is clear who my adversaries have been--Big Oil, the coal lobby, 
the Koch brothers, and some very powerful corporate trade 
associations--the American Petroleum Institute, the National 
Association of Manufacturers, and the most powerful of all, the U.S. 
Chamber of Commerce, so-called. In my view, it is more properly called 
the U.S. Chamber of Carbon. These adversaries have managed a big-money 
campaign, first, to sow doubt about or outright deny climate change 
and, second, to block action in Congress and Federal agencies to limit 
carbon pollution.
  The International Monetary Fund just estimated fossil fuel subsidies 
in the United States at $650 billion for 2015. Yes, that is ``billion'' 
with a ``b.'' When you are defending that kind of subsidy, you spare no 
expense, which explains the millions of dollars spent by the fossil 
fuel industry and its trade group cronies in opposing climate bills, in 
supporting phony climate denial front groups, and in funding election 
attacks against candidates who might try to limit carbon pollution.
  While the fossil fuel industry has been running roughshod around 
Washington, the rest of corporate America has sat on its hands. Even 
companies with gauzy website offerings on climate and strong 
sustainability policies within the company have done virtually nothing 
to support climate action in Congress. I could name names, but that 
would make it a very long speech because, basically, everybody in 
corporate America has been absent here.
  There are, at long last, signs that corporate America is waking up to 
the climate fight it has been losing in Washington. When and if 
corporate America finally engages in the serious support of climate 
action, Congress will, once again, spring to life. After a 10-year 
drought, we could again see bipartisan legislation to reduce carbon 
pollution.
  Why this new spurt of corporate engagement on climate change?
  Look at the avalanche of warnings about the financial risks climate 
change poses to the global economy. In just the last few months, here 
are some of the warnings: 34 central banks, including Canada's, 
France's, and England's; a group of major reinsurers; the Federal 
Reserve Bank of San Francisco; the investment giant BlackRock; EPA 
economists and scientists; the Urban Land Institute; the investment 
advisory firm Mercer; the European Central Bank; and the investment 
advisory firm Sarasin & Partners. All have separately warned about 
climate change's tanking the economy.
  There are agricultural as well as financial warnings. In April, the 
big food companies--Danone, Mars, Nestle, and Unilever--announced that 
they would begin advocating for Federal action on climate change. They 
see the risk climate change poses to the world's agricultural and water 
supplies.
  Their preferred solution? A price on carbon:

       Establish an ambitious carbon pricing system that sends a 
     clear signal to the marketplace to reduce economy-wide 
     greenhouse gas emissions aligned with the Paris Agreement 
     goal to keep global temperature increase well below 2-degrees 
     centigrade. An appropriate carbon pricing structure should be 
     transparent in how prices are set, equitable in how revenue 
     is appropriated to mitigate costs on the most vulnerable 
     communities, and built to ensure our global competitiveness.

  I fully agree.
  Following on those food companies' heels, Microsoft announced that 
it, too, would begin advocating in Congress for Federal climate action. 
It joined the Climate Leadership Council--a group of economists, 
policymakers, businesses, and environmental groups--formed in 2017, to 
advance a price on carbon. Like the food companies, Microsoft sees a 
Federal price on carbon as the best policy to tackle climate change.
  Then, in May, 13 more companies announced the CEO Climate Dialogue to 
advocate for climate action. Once again, these companies declared that 
they supported a price on carbon:

       An economy-wide price on carbon is the best way to use the 
     power of the market to achieve carbon reduction goals, in a 
     simple, coherent and efficient manner. We desire to do this 
     at the least cost to the economy and households. Markets will 
     also spur innovation, and create and preserve quality jobs in 
     a growing low-carbon economy.

  Note that last sentence: ``Markets will also spur innovation, and 
create and preserve quality jobs in a growing low-carbon economy.''
  One of the weird things about all of the remorseless opposition to 
climate action out of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National 
Association of Manufacturers is that there is a heck of a lot of 
commerce and a heck of a lot of manufacturing in climate change 
solutions. So why are they so against them? It is an anomaly but not 
the only anomaly in climate denial.
  Republican colleagues who wax poetic about the free market seem not 
to notice this massive $650 billion subsidy for carbon pollution. That 
is a big thing not to notice if you are serious about the free market. 
The last gasp of climate obstruction here in Congress is to talk about 
innovation as the magic climate solution. Here is the rub: Without a 
clear market signal in the form of a price on carbon, there will be 
little incentive to innovate. How do you innovate away a $650 billion 
annual subsidy? How does the market work to reduce carbon pollution 
when carbon pollution is free? Innovations like carbon capture and 
storage aren't cheap. There is not much of a business case for these 
innovations--it is hard to see the revenue proposition--unless we put a 
price on carbon. Then innovation happens.
  Am I wrong about market theory?
  Let's go to Milton Friedman, the Nobel Prize-winning patron saint of 
market theory. He was unambiguous about pricing pollution.
  He was asked: Was there a case for the government to do something 
about pollution?
  He responded:

       Yes, there's a case for the government to do something. 
     There's always a case for the government to do something 
     about it . . . when what two people do affects a third party 
     [ . . . ] But the question is, What's the best way to do it? 
     And the best way to do it is not to have bureaucrats in 
     Washington write rules and regulations. . . . The way to do 
     it is to impose a tax on the cost of the pollutants . . . and 
     make an incentive for . . . manufacturers and for consumers 
     to keep down the amount of pollution.

  So, yes, putting a price on pollution to give an incentive to 
innovation is core free market principle.
  I happen to share that faith in the power of the market to drive 
innovation when the market is working. But it is not going to happen 
when the market is distorted by a $650 billion subsidy.
  That is why I filed a carbon pricing bill to help correct that fossil 
fuel subsidy and balance the market, so those principles can go to 
work.
  At the end of May, 75 companies came to Capitol Hill to advocate for 
carbon pricing. Together, those companies operate in all 50 States, 
have annual revenues over $2.5 trillion, and have a market value of 
nearly $2.5 trillion.
  These companies met with dozens of lawmakers, both Democrats and 
Republicans, to make the case for a price on carbon--that it is the 
commonsense policy to dramatically reduce carbon pollution, drive the 
transition to a low carbon economy, and grow jobs and the economy. 
There is enormous economic and scientific support for that argument. 
There is little opposition to that argument or at least little 
opposition that can't be traced back to the mischief of the fossil fuel 
industry and its front groups. I hope my colleagues listened.
  I also hope that other companies join in and help the American 
business community make climate action a

[[Page S3188]]

Washington, DC, priority. It can't just be talk. The fossil fuel 
industry isn't going to just walk away from a $650 billion annual 
subsidy. To offset the millions spent by the fossil fuel bandits 
defending their license to pollute for free is going to require some 
real effort on the part of corporate America.
  It is also going to take corporate America getting control over the 
U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers. 
The watchdog group InfluenceMap has analyzed business associations 
around the world. They found that the Chamber and NAM--the National 
Association of Manufacturers--are the worst--the worst--the most 
obstructive when it comes to climate action. Here they are, rock 
bottom: U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Association of 
Manufacturers--tail end of the worst.
  Why? Why are the Chamber and NAM the worst? If the majority of large 
companies in America support climate action, why do these two trade 
associations remain so opposed? Why are they the worst?
  I strongly recommend that if you are a corporate member of one of 
these two organizations--if you are a corporate member of the U.S. 
Chamber of Commerce, if you are a corporate member of the National 
Association of Manufacturers--that you demand an audit--that you demand 
an audit of these trade associations' funding because here is what I 
expect you will find: You will find that while they had you out on the 
front porch as a prop for the neighbors to see, they were in the back 
room, secretly pocketing big money from fossil fuel interests to stop 
climate legislation. My belief is that the fossil fuel industry has 
given both the Chamber and NAM so much money that those two 
organizations have chumped--chumped--their member organizations by 
ignoring their views on climate in order to keep the money pouring in 
secretly from the fossil fuel industry.
  The members are in a position to find out. Ask. Demand an audit. Find 
out if you have been chumped by the organizations you support.
  This trade association obstruction by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce 
and the National Association of Manufacturers has to change, but it 
will not until these trade associations' member companies demand a stop 
to the obstruction and demand real support for carbon pricing.
  Let me close with a word of warning. The alarms are ringing loudly. 
As one scientist recently said: ``The ocean is screaming.'' Financial 
crises loom. Our failure over the last three decades to address the 
climate crisis is a black mark against both our democracy and our 
system of free market capitalism. Creepy-crawly political subservience 
to fossil fuel interests has degraded American democracy, and free 
market capitalism is conspicuously failing to meet the climate 
challenge. That can change, but it has to change fast.
  More than three decades ago, Representative Claudine Schneider and 
Senator John Chafee, both Republicans from Rhode Island, introduced 
comprehensive legislation to address climate change--from Republicans, 
three decades ago. Since then, the fossil fuel industry's campaign to 
obstruct climate progress has succeeded, but at a terrible price. Every 
day that we fail to address our climate crisis is a day that we 
mortgage our children's and our grandchildren's futures.
  Through these long decades, the good guys in corporate America have 
been conspicuously absent. This recent activity makes me optimistic--
optimistic that the business community seems to be finally stepping up 
and optimistic that bipartisanship can be restored.
  Eyes are beginning to flutter open around here. Now it is time not 
just to wake up but to get to work.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.
  Ms. COLLINS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection.


                100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment

  Ms. COLLINS. As the senior Republican woman in the Senate today, I am 
pleased to begin a series of speeches, along with my good friend from 
California, the senior Democratic woman Senator, Mrs. Dianne Feinstein, 
to commemorate a significant milestone in our Nation's history. One 
hundred years ago today, the Senate finally passed the 19th Amendment, 
which affirmed the right of women to vote in elections.
  All of us recall that in 1775, as the Second Continental Congress was 
forging a new Nation conceived in liberty, Abigail Adams admonished her 
husband John to ``remember the ladies.'' Despite Abigail Adam's advice, 
it took nearly a century and a half for women to achieve their rightful 
place as full U.S. citizens.
  On June 4, 1919, the U.S. Senate passed the 19th Amendment to our 
Constitution. The courage and determination exhibited by generations of 
women and men were rewarded in just two sentences:

       The rights of citizens of the United States to vote shall 
     not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any 
     State on account of sex. Congress shall have the power to 
     enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

  That is it. Those are the words of the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing 
women the right to vote.
  It is an honor today to join my 24 women Senate colleagues in 
cosponsoring a resolution commemorating this centennial. The yellow 
roses that we are wearing are a historic and enduring symbol of the 
victory that we celebrate today.
  It has often been said, as Emerson put it, that ``there is properly 
no history; only biography.'' The story of women's suffrage is an 
anthology of remarkable biographies.
  Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott led the Seneca Falls 
Convention of 1848. This marked the first time that American women 
formally demanded the vote. The convention produced the landmark 
Declaration of Sentiments. Using the Declaration of Independence as a 
template, it states: ``We hold these truths to be self-evident: That 
all men and women are created equal.''
  The early women's rights movement was closely linked to the abolition 
of slavery. Lucretia Mott made her position clear. She said:

       ``I have no idea of submitting tamely to injustice 
     inflicted either on me or on the slave. I will oppose it with 
     all the moral powers with which I am endowed.''

  Among the most vigorous advocates of women's suffrage were those who 
knew too well the lash of oppression, the escaped slaves Frederick 
Douglass, Sojourner Truth, and Harriet Tubman.
  Another very important incident in the march of history occurred in 
1872. Susan B. Anthony and 14 other women in Rochester, New York, 
illegally voted in that year's Presidential election. They were 
promptly arrested. Susan B. Anthony was put on trial, convicted, and 
ordered to pay a fine of $100 or face imprisonment. Imagine--for 
voting.
  She bravely refused, saying that she would never submit to this 
``high-handed outrage upon my citizen's rights.'' The authorities 
wisely chose not to pursue collecting the fine.
  Suffrage leaders realized that nothing short of a constitutional 
amendment would do--one modelled after the 15th Amendment, which 
granted the vote to all men regardless of race.
  With new leaders--such as Carrie Chapman Catt and, later, Alice 
Paul--stepping forward, a strategy was developed to use every peaceful 
instrument to change the hearts and minds of political leaders and the 
public. In addition to marches, rallies, and petitions, they enlisted 
the power of the pulpit and the press in their just cause.
  It took more than four decades for this strategy to succeed, and 
strong Maine women played key roles. Katherine Reed Balentine, the 
daughter of the legendary Speaker of the House of Representatives, 
Thomas Brackett Reed, led the Maine Woman Suffrage Association. Author 
and activist Florence Brooks Whitehouse became a nationally known 
suffrage organizer and offered these words to opponents of this cause: 
``This you must know; the world is mine, as yours.''
  I am proud to report that when the 19th Amendment came to the Senate 
floor on that historic day, exactly 100 years ago, both of Maine's 
Senators, Republicans Bert Fernald and Frederick Hale, were among the 
56 voting in favor. Following Senate passage, all

[[Page S3189]]

that remained was for 36 of the 48 States to vote for ratification.
  Maine became the 19th State to ratify the 19th Amendment, but it 
wasn't easy. An earlier popular referendum on women's suffrage in Maine 
got clobbered at the polls by a margin of nearly 2 to 1. Of course, 
women were not allowed to vote on their own future, which obviously 
skewed the results.
  Recognizing the inherent unfairness of the situation, Maine's 
Republican Governor, Carl Milliken, called an emergency session of the 
State legislature and ushered the measure through by a vote of 72 to 
68.

  By the summer of 1920, only one more State was needed to reach the 
magic number of 36. The Nation's eyes were on the State of Tennessee, 
where the amendment was before the legislature. The outlook was 
discouraging. After two rollcall votes, suffrage opponents, who wore 
red roses on their lapels, were in a dead heat with the yellow rose 
supporters. If the measure failed to pass in Tennessee, the 19th 
Amendment would not be ratified.
  At the last possible moment, the youngest Tennessee lawmaker, Harry 
Burn, despite the red rose that he wore--which indicated you were in 
opposition--cast his vote in favor of ratification.
  After evading an angry mob by climbing out of a third floor window in 
the Maine Capitol Building and hiding in the attic, Representative Burn 
explained that he changed his mind after he received a letter from his 
mother, telling him: ``Don't forget to be a good boy'' and to do the 
right thing.
  I am sure the Presiding Officer is very familiar with this story.
  One of my inspirations in public service, Maine Senator Margaret 
Chase Smith, once addressed the question of what is a woman's proper 
place. Her famous short answer was this: ``Everywhere.''
  The rest of her answer describes the importance of the struggle and 
the success that we celebrate today. She said: ``If there is any proper 
place for women today, it is that of alert and responsible citizens in 
the fullest sense of the word.''
  It is a great pleasure to join my colleagues--particularly the senior 
Democratic woman Senator, Dianne Feinstein of California--in saluting 
those great, courageous, and persistent women who, over many long 
decades and through much difficulty, guided our Nation to that proper 
place by giving women the long, overdue right to be full citizens in 
this country--the right to vote.
  Madam President, it is now my great pleasure to yield to my friend 
and distinguished colleague, Senator Feinstein.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I want to thank my distinguished colleague from the 
great State of Maine. Thank you so much, Susan. Thank you for your work 
here, for your care, for your concern, and for your vigilance on all 
issues that affect women. Thank you so much.
  Madam President, I am very proud to join Susan Collins and all of my 
colleagues on the floor today to celebrate the 100th anniversary of 
Congress's passing the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
  Before the 19th Amendment, women were actually denied the same basic 
civil rights as men. We were not allowed to attend a college. We could 
not become doctors, lawyers, or politicians. Married women had no right 
to property, and even though women were required to follow the law, 
they had no say in electing their lawmakers.
  Simply put, women were second-class citizens. So it is against this 
backdrop that the women's suffrage movement took shape decades ago to 
fight to achieve equality for us, and the fight began at the polls.
  In 1916 President Woodrow Wilson faced a tough reelection campaign. 
At the time, 12 States allowed women to vote. The newly formed Women's 
Party campaigned forcefully in most States against Wilson because of 
his strong opposition to women's suffrage. As a result, women voted 
against Wilson by notable margins, causing the first known gender gap 
in a Presidential election.
  Although Woodrow Wilson ultimately won a second term, the Women's 
Party made clear that they were a force to be reckoned with. I could 
not be more proud of the suffragists who fought for decades to secure 
our right to vote and laid the groundwork for a woman's right to hold 
office. It is because of fearless, hardworking women like Alice Paul, 
Lucy Burns, and Dorothy Day that I stand here today on the floor of the 
Senate representing the largest State in the Union, California.
  In the first elections held after the 19th Amendment was ratified, 
women won public office in 23 States. Today, women are represented in 
all levels of government--Federal, State, and local.
  In 1992, the first year I was elected to the Senate, a historic 
number of women won elected office. Twenty-four new women were elected 
to the U.S. House of Representatives that year, and four women--
Senators Murray, Boxer, Mosley-Braun, and I--were elected to the 
Senate. Last year, nearly a century after Congress passed the 19th 
Amendment, women set another record with 102 women serving in Congress 
and 3 more holding seats on the U.S. Supreme Court. So women are still 
shattering the glass ceilings.
  In 2014, Janet Yellen became the first woman to lead the Federal 
Reserve. In 2016, Hillary Clinton became the first woman to be 
nominated by a major political party for President of the United 
States. And just this year, after being elected the first female 
Speaker of the House in 2007, Nancy Pelosi became the first woman to be 
reelected Speaker of the House.
  Last Congress, I became the first woman to serve as the ranking 
member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. This is especially 
significant for me because I was inspired by Anita Hill's testimony 
before the all-male Senate Judiciary Committee to run for this office.
  Even though there are more women in leadership positions across 
industries, there is still work to be done. According to the American 
Association of University Women, in 2017 women earned between 77 cents 
and 53 cents for every dollar earned by men.
  Susan Collins, we still have a long way to go, it seems to me.
  In addition, women continue to face discrimination and harassment at 
school and in the office, as well as high rates of sexual violence.
  Before I close, I would like to address an issue that has 
unfortunately been in the news quite a bit lately; that is, the latest 
attacks on women's health and reproductive rights. We should not forget 
what Justice Ginsburg told the Senate Judiciary Committee during her 
confirmation hearings in 1992. I was there, and here is what she said:

       The decision whether or not to bear a child is central to a 
     woman's life, to her well-being and dignity. It is a decision 
     she must make for herself. When Government controls that 
     decision for her, she is being treated as less than a fully 
     adult human responsible for her own choices.

  In the past month, six States have passed blatantly unconstitutional 
laws that effectively ban abortion, even in cases of rape and incest. 
These new restrictions are especially concerning in light of the new 
conservative majority on the Supreme Court, which has long signaled its 
opposition to women's reproductive rights. Just last month, in a case 
challenging abortion restrictions in Indiana, Justice Thomas authored 
an opinion comparing contraceptives to eugenics and demonstrated a 
clear hostility to Griswold and Roe. Between the Indiana case, the 
various unconstitutional State laws, and other reproductive rights 
cases on the Court's docket, many legal observers believe Roe today 
remains in jeopardy.
  As a U.S. Senator, I will continue fighting for equal rights for 
women, and I will honor the legacy of women who blazed the trail. I am 
honored to recognize those women and the progress we have made as we 
commemorate the 100th anniversary of Congress passing the 19th 
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.
  Ms. COLLINS. Madam President, I thank the Senator from California for 
her remarks and yield time now to the Senator from Illinois, Ms. 
Duckworth.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.
  Ms. DUCKWORTH. Madam President, I come to the floor today to honor 
some of the Founders of our Nation who all too often don't get their 
due--

[[Page S3190]]

Founders whose gender or skin tone may not be represented on Mount 
Rushmore but whose brilliance, whose resilience, helped ensure that the 
democracy we have today is strong and true.
  This democracy wasn't just built by George Washington or Thomas 
Jefferson. It wasn't perfected in the 18th century when the ink dried 
on the four original pages of the Constitution.
  It was shaped by women like Abigail Adams, whom I named my first 
daughter after. It was strengthened by suffragists like Sojourner 
Truth, who worked tirelessly to better the country that had kept her in 
chains, who used her emancipation to call for freedom and a voice for 
all women--Black, White, you name it. It was formed by Illinoisans like 
Ida B. Wells, who demanded that women of color have a place at the 
forefront of the suffrage movement. It was forged by women like Mary 
Livermore, who channeled her frustration over women's inequality into 
action, spearheading Chicago's first-ever suffrage convention 150 years 
ago and marking Illinois as a leader in the fight for women's rights.
  Our democracy was sharpened by a group of Illinoisans who traveled to 
Washington, DC, in 1913, joining thousands of other women in their 
march down Pennsylvania Avenue--protesters who were vilified, berated, 
jostled, tripped, and even jailed but who withstood it all to call for 
a constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote.
  This Union was made more perfect when the 19th Amendment finally 
passed Congress 100 years ago today.
  These women raised their voices on the picket lines so that we could 
make ours heard at the polls. They risked safety and security, 
withstood hypocrisy and overcame misogyny, refusing to stay silent so 
that their daughters and their daughters' daughters would inherit the 
democracy they deserved. For that, we are forever in their debt.
  Of course, every American's right to vote wasn't truly secured that 
day in 1919, nor was it secured later that week, when Illinois became 
one of the first States to ratify the amendment, or in 1965, when 
Lyndon B. Johnson picked up a pen and signed the Voting Rights Act into 
law.
  It still is not secure today--not when voter suppression tactics 
still block so many people of color from the ballot, when voter roll 
purges are still common and some in power are still fighting to install 
modern-day poll taxes.
  So we can't get complacent. What began at Seneca Falls continues with 
us today, as it now falls to our generation to keep alive the work of 
yesterday's suffragists, to keep pushing for bills like the Voting 
Rights Advancement Act to ensure that bigoted State laws don't 
disenfranchise any American. It falls on us to keep fighting for that 
more perfect Union, to keep making our voices heard--whether that is 
here on the Senate floor or anywhere else--so that finally, some day 
soon, every American can make theirs heard at the ballot box.
  I yield the floor.
  Ms. COLLINS. Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. COLLINS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Ms. COLLINS. Madam President, I recognize the Senator from Alaska, 
Ms. Murkowski.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska is recognized.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Madam President, I rise today to join my colleagues as 
we commemorate the 100th anniversary of the date Congress sent to the 
States this question: the ratification of a constitutional amendment 
granting women the right to vote.
  Our ancestors have long sought the promise of a better life for 
themselves and their children. Many of our forebearers came to this 
country seeking religious liberty, economic security, or personal 
freedom.
  Since 1788, they were drawn to the promise of these words: ``We the 
People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, 
establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common 
defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of 
Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this 
Constitution for the United States of America.''
  Today, most in this body and across the country would agree that a 
woman's full participation in the life of her community and Nation are 
crucial if the promise laid out in our Constitution's preamble is ever 
to be fully realized.
  But in 1788 and for many years thereafter, women could not own 
property, could not open a bank account on their own, or even control 
the money that they earned through their own work. They could not 
control their destiny or, indeed, their own bodies. Justice, 
tranquility, the general welfare, and the blessings of liberty were, 
for women, what men said they were.
  That all began to change on June 4, 1919, the date when finally, 
after so many years of struggle and failure, the required number of 
Senators voted aye for House Joint Resolution 1, ``proposing an 
amendment to the Constitution extending the right of suffrage to 
women.'' It was very simple yet intensely powerful, a resolution with 
just one article that read:

       The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall 
     not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any 
     State on account of sex. Congress shall have the power to 
     enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

  That remarkable moment, we know, did not come easily. For decades, 
women across America sought the promise of our Nation for themselves 
and their daughters. They were subjected to insults and ridicule and, 
sometimes, even imprisonment and violence.
  In 1906, an editorial in the New York Times defined the word 
``suffragette'' as a ``demanding screecher'' and ``a woman who ought to 
have more sense.'' Walking in parades in support of the right to vote, 
women had insults and worse hurled at them. Suffragists were physically 
attacked.
  Beginning in June of 1917, it got much worse. Here in Washington, DC, 
police began arresting women who were picketing the White House in 
support of suffrage for ``obstructing sidewalk traffic.'' Throughout 
the summer and into the fall, women who refused to pay the fine were 
sent to the Women's Workhouse in Lorton, VA, or the district jail, 
where conditions were deplorable. Rats ran free in the prison. The food 
was infested with maggots. Alice Paul, a leader of the National Woman's 
Party, and about 71 other women began a hunger strike while in jail and 
for months suffered force-feeding of raw eggs in milk through nasal 
gastric tubes. In November, 33 of the imprisoned suffragists were 
beaten by guards by order of the prison superintendent. One woman's 
hands were handcuffed high above her head on the prison door for an 
entire night. Some were left unconscious.
  Sojourner Truth, Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe, Ida B. Wells, Mary 
Church Terrell, Alice Paul, and others are widely known as suffragist 
leaders. There were millions of others across the country doing what 
they could in their own families, in their own communities and States, 
to advance women's rights. They marched, protested, sewed flags and 
banners, and spoke up at home and in their hometowns.
  In the following 100 years since the Senate sent the women's right to 
vote to the States for ratification, the right to vote gave women the 
power to change their lives and to impact our Nation in so many 
positive and profound ways. As a result, our Nation has made incredible 
strides.
  Today, in 2019, it may be difficult for some to imagine an America 
without women leaders in every conceivable endeavor. Amazing women have 
contributed to our Nation in countless ways, both large and small. We 
have moved from the horse and buggy era to putting a man on the moon, 
but man would not have gotten there and back without women 
mathematicians and engineers.
  While few colleges admitted women a century ago, by 1980 more women 
than men earned bachelor's degrees. Since 1919, women are able to enter 
any profession for which they are qualified, keep their own wages, 
start and run corporations, lead scientific and medical advances, and 
fly into space. Women have the right to be heard in

[[Page S3191]]

the Halls of Congress and in their children's schools. We are allowed 
to determine the guilt or innocence of an accused and volunteer as poll 
workers. We can inherit property, run the Iditarod, and become mayors 
and Governors. And we can not only run for office, but we can vote for 
ourselves.

  Women can do anything we put our minds to, but if it had not been for 
the right to vote--the basic, legal right to be recognized--would we be 
where we are today? Would we have women like Sandra Day O'Connor, 
Condoleezza Rice, Christiane Amanpour, or Sally Ride? Would we have the 
benefit of the voices of countless American women who share their views 
with Congress because they know that their opinions--backed up by their 
votes--matter on issues as varied as childcare, climate change, and 
national security? Would the young women of today have the faith that 
they really can do anything they set their minds to? Maybe not.
  I rise today to call on all Americans to commemorate this day, to 
remember all those who made it possible, and to honor them by 
recognizing that the right to vote, to be heard, and to be valued is a 
precious right. It has not always been implemented fairly, and it must 
be guarded and defended.
  As we look to honor the past, we must also acknowledge that, like our 
ancestors, we have more progress to make. Gaining the right to vote was 
the first step toward full equality. Despite the passage of the Civil 
Rights Act, which makes discrimination on the basis of sex illegal, and 
despite the Equal Pay Act and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, our 
Constitution gives us the right to vote but does not protect us from 
discrimination.
  So in the spirit of women who fought for the rights of women who 
would come after them, I hope the Senate will pass S.J. Res. 6 to 
remove the deadline for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. 
That will be something we will bring up at another point in time. But 
today, I am able to stand with my friends and my colleagues here in the 
Senate as we recognize and honor those who paved the way and have 
allowed for this right to vote, that right and value to be heard.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cassidy). The Senator from Maine.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Alaska for her 
eloquent comments.
  I now yield to Senator Murray.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, 150 years ago, in Washington State, a 
suffragette named Mary Olney Brown went to vote, and like so many 
others at the time, her vote was rejected. Why? Because she was a 
woman. She said: ``The idea of a woman voting was regarded as an 
absurdity.''
  Fifty years later, thanks to the tireless efforts of women like Mary 
Olney Brown, that longstanding injustice finally began to change when 
this Chamber passed the 19th Amendment to guarantee women's right to 
vote.
  Today, as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of that important 
milestone in the march for equality, it is inspiring to see how far 
women have come over the last century. When we passed the 19th 
Amendment, there was only one woman in Congress--Jeannette Rankin. 
Before I ran for the Senate in 1992, there were two women Senators. I 
was very proud to join the Senate in 1993 and to join with Senator 
Barbara Mikulski, who is here today, and we became six women in the 
Senate. Today, there are 25 women serving in the Senate and 102 in the 
House of Representatives. Today, women are Governors, Fortune 500 CEOs, 
Nobel Prize-winning researchers, and candidates for President.
  It is clear we have come a long way, but we still have more work to 
do. Women may have more representation, but we still make up less than 
a quarter of Congress. Women of color are still particularly 
underrepresented. And we still have some ceilings left to crack. Women 
are still paid less than men for the same work, and the same gap is 
even wider for women of color. Women still bear most of the burden of 
being a working parent, especially when so many lack access to 
affordable childcare and paid family leave. Nearly 50 years after Roe 
v. Wade was decided, women are still fighting to defend their right to 
make their own decisions about their own bodies.
  These injustices even extend to voting rights. Even after the 19th 
Amendment was ratified, many women of color were still denied the right 
to vote by discriminatory barriers designed to keep them from the 
ballot box. Today, there are still far too many States that have put 
into effect voter-suppression efforts that disproportionately hurt 
communities of color, like harsh voter ID laws, limits on early voting, 
polling machines, voting locations, and ``exact match'' requirements 
that make it easy to purge someone from the voter rolls due to a typo.
  After all the years women spent fighting for their right to vote, it 
is unacceptable that these kinds of efforts would strip that right away 
from anyone, which is why we need to pass legislation to restore the 
Voting Rights Act to its full power to protect the rights of voters 
across our country.
  While there is still a lot of work ahead to make good on the promise 
of the 19th Amendment and make sure that everyone in our country who is 
entitled to vote is actually able to vote and that every woman is able 
to exercise all of her rights under our Constitution, I am confident we 
can get there, and I want to say why.
  After 2016, I watched as women across the country stood up, spoke 
out, and fought back. I saw as much energy as I have seen in my 
lifetime as women joined together against countless different efforts 
to roll back the clock on their rights. I saw millions of women turn 
out to march for their rights, and then I saw millions of women turn 
out to exercise those rights last November. And what happened? They 
broke records and barriers across the country, and afterwards, several 
States started breaking down some of the barriers that were put up to 
block people from voting. I believe that momentum is going to continue 
to build, especially as women continue to reach out to other women to 
build a bigger and more inclusive coalition.
  So today, as we celebrate the Senate vote to pass the 19th Amendment, 
I want to not only remember how hard women fought to get that right to 
vote but to promise that we are going to keep fighting just as hard to 
protect it for everyone in this country, and then we are going to keep 
using it to fight hard for the change we want to see in our 
communities.
  Thank you.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I thank the Senator for her good remarks 
today.
  I am very pleased to yield time to the Senator from Tennessee, Mrs. 
Blackburn.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Maine for her 
leadership in today's activity as we commemorate the Senate's action in 
passing the 19th Amendment and sending that to the States for 
ratification.
  It is amazing to think that it was 100 years ago today--today--that 
women in this country still did not have the right to vote. When we 
think about Nashville, TN, today, we are thinking about country music, 
bachelorette parties, pro-sports; in the summer of 1920, Nashville, TN, 
was the focus of individuals on both sides of the debate over women's 
suffrage because that summer was the final push to get the 19th 
Amendment ratified so that women would forever have the right to vote. 
Suffragists from all across the country looked to Tennessee in that 
last-ditch effort to pass an amendment before the 1920 Presidential 
elections.
  As it all came together and as everybody was coming into Nashville--
you had the red roses on one side and the yellow roses on the other 
side--the battle was heating up. The Tennessee House of Representatives 
had been called back into a special session so that they could debate 
this issue: Would women receive the right to vote? Would Tennessee 
agree to vote for ratification of the 19th Amendment?
  The pro and anti suffragists flooded that city. Those who opposed 
enfranchisement, wearing those red roses, went to extreme lengths to 
prevent a vote. At one point, legislators actually fled the State to 
prevent a quorum.

[[Page S3192]]

They left the State so they would not have to say where they stood on 
the issue of women having the right to vote. But let me tell you, 
against those Tennessee women, against suffragists from across the 
country, all wearing their yellow roses, those legislators never stood 
a chance.
  You have all heard of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, 
but let me introduce you to a few more of those fierce female fighters 
from the summer of 1920. There was Anne Dallas Dudley from Nashville, 
who was really quite an organizer; Abby Crawford Milton; Sue Shelton 
White from West Tennessee; and, as has been mentioned, Ida B. Wells, 
who was from Memphis. They are all Tennesseans who fought tirelessly on 
behalf of suffrage and brought the State's house of representatives to 
that fateful vote on August 18, 1920.
  The Senator from Maine talked a moment earlier about a young 
legislator, the youngest member of the House of Representatives in the 
State of Tennessee. His name was Harry T. Burn. Harry was from Niota, 
TN. He was a freshman house of representatives member. He switched his 
vote from nay to yea, broke a tie, and made history. As the Senator 
from Maine said, he did it because of a letter written to him by his 
mother, who reminded him that he should be a good boy and help Ms. 
Catt--Carrie Chapman Catt--put the ``rat'' in ``ratification.'' He did, 
and so it was official: Tennessee had become the 36th and final State 
needed for ratification of the 19th Amendment.
  That journey from Seneca Falls, NY, to Nashville, TN, was hard-
fought. Sometimes we don't think about how long it took. It was a 72-
year journey--72 years--from the Seneca Falls Convention to that final 
vote in Nashville, TN.
  Think about this: The women who started this push for women's 
suffrage were not alive to see it become the law of the land and become 
a constitutionally guaranteed right. And the women who voted in that 
1920 Presidential election, many--most of them were not even alive when 
the fight began. But the women who started the fight did it because 
they knew that women receiving the right to vote was a worthy fight. 
Today, we owe them so much gratitude for the work they did 100 years 
ago today in pushing this through the U.S. Senate.
  My colleague, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, has joined me 
in working to pass the Women's Suffrage Centennial Commemorative Coin 
Act. We are doing that here in the Senate, and in the House, two of our 
colleagues--Representative Elise Stefanik from New York and Brenda 
Lawrence--have introduced a companion bill.
  The legislation authorizes the Treasury to mint silver coins honoring 
the work of women suffrage activists. The coins will be issued in 2020, 
which also marks the centennial anniversary of the passage, the 
ratification of the 19th Amendment. Proceeds from sales of the coin 
will support the important work of the Smithsonian Institution's 
American Women's History Initiative.
  It is my hope that because of this, more young women will look to 
history for guidance and feel very proud of what they learn about the 
women suffragists, that the little girl who is following her mom into 
the voting booth will begin to understand and appreciate why so many 
women are standing in line at the polls to cast their vote, and that 
women who want to change things in their community or their State or 
their country will stop waiting for someone else to take the lead and 
will realize they are empowered to do this because of actions that were 
taken over 100 years ago.
  In 1916, famed suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt stood before the 
National American Woman Suffrage Association, and she declared:

       The time has come to shout aloud in every city, village, 
     and hamlet, and in tones so clear and jubilant that they will 
     reverberate from every mountain peak and echo from shore to 
     shore: The Woman's Hour has struck.

  Indeed, the woman's hour did strike and shout, these ladies did.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Tennessee for 
giving us such a great history lesson, and I appreciate her remarks.
  Next on our list of speakers is Senator Ernst followed by Senator 
Shaheen.
  I yield to Senator Ernst of Iowa.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
  Ms. ERNST. Mr. President, I thank Senator Collins and Senator 
Feinstein for arranging this afternoon's visit on the floor of the U.S. 
Senate. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to come to the floor 
today to recognize the courageous and determined women behind the 
women's suffrage movement.
  These trailblazing women, and countless more like them, paved the way 
for women in my home State of Iowa and across the Nation to have the 
right to vote. They forged a path for women like me and all of my 
absolutely remarkable female colleagues joining me on the Senate floor 
today.
  On this 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, it is 
easy to think of these courageous women as institutions and visions of 
strength and perseverance, and that is absolutely what those women are.
  They were also once young girls and young women seeking to understand 
the answer to simple questions like: Why can't my mother vote in an 
election? Why can't I pursue my dreams?
  All too often, the response back then to these questions was simply 
to tell women that politics and government were too complicated or 
important for our gender to have a role in it. ``Best leave it to the 
men to figure out these tough matters.'' That is what they would say.
  I think the 127 women in Congress this year would have something very 
different to say about that. To be honest, I don't know if the 
suffragettes completely understood the tremendous impact their efforts 
would have now a century later.
  They secured more than just the right to vote. The passage of the 
19th Amendment has led to immeasurable progress in the right for 
women's equality on all fronts. I see their spirit in the girls and 
women, young and old, I meet each and every day in my job as a U.S. 
Senator.
  I was recently at a women's networking event where Gen. Jennifer 
Walter, the first female Iowa Air Guard general in the Iowa National 
Guard, talked about her career options when she graduated high school 
over four decades ago. They were very limited, to say the least. She 
could be a typist or work in a clerking job in the Air Force or she 
could be a nurse. Those were the options that were open to her, but 
General Walter is not one to be boxed in.
  She decided to forge her own path forward. That led her to the Air 
National Guard, first in Kansas and then in my home State of Iowa. 
There were still plenty of obstacles, but she was unwavering. Walter 
was going to prove she belonged and could reach her full potential.
  Even in my own life, I have benefited from the hard work and the 
commitment of these women trailblazers. That is especially clear when I 
look back on my 23 years of service in the Army Reserve and the Iowa 
Army National Guard.
  When I joined the service after college, there were no opportunities 
for women in combat. By 2003, I was a company commander leading supply 
convoys in combat zones in Iraq. Like me, hundreds of women were 
serving the cause of freedom, and some were even paying the ultimate 
price for our Nation. Yet women could not even formally serve in combat 
fields or occupations until 2013.
  Now I look at my daughter, Libby, as she prepares to enter her second 
year at West Point, and she also considers entering combat arms. She 
has so many opportunities ahead of her because of the strong women that 
came before her.
  It is truly an honor to be in the company of so many remarkable women 
on the Senate floor today to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 
passage of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote, and it is 
all the more fitting that we do so during a time when there are more 
women serving in the U.S. Senate than any other time in history.
  We come from every imaginable background and from every corner of our 
great and beautiful country. I will continue to challenge every one of 
our

[[Page S3193]]

young women today who are contemplating serving our country in 
government or in the armed services to say yes and to jump into that 
arena. We are a better nation because of the contributions of women in 
all walks of life and in all fields of service and in both Chambers of 
Congress.
  Again, I offer my great thanks to Senator Susan Collins and Senator 
Dianne Feinstein of California for the opportunity to speak today.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, before I yield to my friend and neighbor 
from New Hampshire, I recognize, in the back of the Chamber, a truly 
extraordinary woman, an outstanding former U.S. Senator who served in 
this Chamber from 1987 to 2017, some 30 years, Senator Barbara Mikulski 
of Maryland. She has served on the Commission that has worked very hard 
to make sure we commemorate this centennial of women's suffrage, and 
she has been a mentor and friend to all of us who had the pleasure of 
serving with her.
  I welcome Senator Mikulski back to the U.S. Senate, which was her 
home for so many years and where she still has so many friends and 
admirers, of whom I count myself one.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair counts himself one as well.
  Ms. COLLINS. The Chair is a very wise man.
  Now I yield to Senator Jeanne Shaheen.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire.
  Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I thank my neighbor and friend, Senator 
Collins, and Senator Feinstein--the two of them for organizing this 
afternoon's conversation on the floor in recognition of the 100th 
anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment.
  I also begin by recognizing Senator Mikulski, who was such a 
trailblazer for so many women. I remember being a young woman involved 
in politics in the late eighties in New Hampshire right after she was 
elected to the Senate, and she came up and spoke to us. At the time, I 
was not sure there was ever an opportunity for a woman in New Hampshire 
to go anywhere, and listening to her made me realize there were 
opportunities for women everywhere, and we need to take advantage of 
them, so I thank Senator Mikulski.
  Today we celebrate not only the passage of the 19th Amendment but the 
countless women who fought for decades before 1919 so that women would 
one day realize the full rights protected under the Constitution.
  As so many of my colleagues have said, we remember women like 
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, who organized the first 
women's rights convention at Seneca Falls in 1848; Susan B. Anthony, 
who took up the fight following the first convention, and Harriet 
Tubman, Ida Wells, and Sojourner Truth, who worked tirelessly for 
women's rights all while battling the forces of slavery and racism. 
These women and so many others faced extraordinary obstacles as they 
protested, marched, lobbied, and, at times, sacrificed their own 
freedom so women could one day secure the right to vote.
  The leaders of the women's suffrage movement understood the 
fundamental truth; that the rights protected under the Constitution are 
merely privileges if they are not enjoyed by everyone in our society.
  As Susan B. Anthony put it in 1873, ``It was we, the people; not we, 
the white male citizens; not yet we, the male citizens; but we, the 
whole people, who formed the Union. And we formed it, not to give the 
blessings of liberty, but to secure them; not to the half of ourselves 
. . . . but to the whole people--women as well as men.''
  The suffrage movement was, of course, an effort to achieve political 
equality for women, but it was also an effort to secure a more perfect 
Union by giving life to the ideals laid out in our founding documents. 
This pursuit for equality continues today, and it is in the spirit of 
our trailblazers that women carry on the fight for full equality under 
the law.
  It is in that spirit that we are here this afternoon on the floor of 
the Senate to talk about the importance of carrying on the tradition of 
our Founding Mothers. These figures are an important part of our 
history, and because of the generations of women they inspired, their 
legacy lives on today. We must remember their stories and honor their 
sacrifices. Those sacrifices have helped shape the identity of our 
Nation, and it is why we celebrate these women in the same regard as we 
have our Founding Fathers. It is why the issue, for me, of keeping a 
promise to redesign the $20 bill with the likeness of Harriet Tubman is 
so important.
  The United States was not shaped exclusively by men, and our living 
history, which our currency is a part of, should reflect that because 
the symbols that we have for our country matter.
  Leaders of the women's suffrage movement rose from communities across 
this country, but today I would like to recognize one of the pioneers 
of that movement from my own State of New Hampshire, Armenia S. White.
  Armenia spent most of her life in Concord, NH, which is our capital. 
She was active in the community, including supporting the abolitionist 
and temperance movements, but the cause for which she was most 
passionate was securing the vote for women.
  Armenia was the first signer of the call for an equal suffrage 
convention in New Hampshire, which was held in Concord in 1868. She was 
also the first president of the New Hampshire Woman Suffrage 
Association, a position that she held for nearly 50 years. When the 
time came for New Hampshire to send a delegate to the American Woman 
Suffrage Association, organized in Cleveland, Armenia was selected and 
served in that position for decades.
  Armenia's efforts in New Hampshire were largely responsible for the 
decisions by the State legislature in 1871 and 1878 to make women 
eligible to serve on school committees. I think it is interesting that 
we were eligible to serve on school committees before we were eligible 
to serve in the legislature. But, nevertheless, not only did she help 
women become eligible to serve on school committees, but she secured 
women a vote in local school district elections.
  Sadly, Armenia never lived to see women secure the right to vote with 
the passage of the 19th Amendment, but her efforts to improve equality 
in New Hampshire and throughout the Nation left an enduring impact on 
the movement. It is an impact that, as the first woman elected to be 
Governor of New Hampshire and then elected to be Senator there, I have 
benefited from. I feel a deep sense of gratitude to Armenia and to so 
many women who came before me for forging a path so that women could 
one day serve in public office and so that one day we could vote.
  Alice Paul, the leader of the women's suffrage movement, once 
described women's suffrage saying:

       I always feel the movement is a sort of mosaic. Each of us 
     puts in one little stone, and then you get a great mosaic at 
     the end.

  As we recognize and celebrate the passage of the 19th Amendment, we 
must remember that there is still so much work to do, and even the 
smallest stones contribute to this great mosaic.
  I thank the Presiding Officer and thank again my colleagues, Senator 
Collins and Senator Feinstein, for leading this effort.
  We still have a lot of work to do.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from New Hampshire, 
and it is now my pleasure to yield time to the Senator from Nebraska, 
Mrs. Fischer.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nebraska.
  Mrs. FISCHER. Mr. President, I, too, would like to thank the senior 
Senator from Maine and the senior Senator from California for 
organizing the colloquy we are having on the floor today in recognition 
of a very historic moment.
  To have Senator Collins be a leader here in the U.S. Senate has been 
just a wonderful experience for me and to share with her the last 7 
years that I have been here. She is truly a leader, and she is a mentor 
to both men and women here in the Senate. I always tell people, if you 
want to see a true legislator, you need to watch Susan Collins.
  Mr. President, I rise today with great honor and pride to join my 
colleagues in recognizing the 100th anniversary of

[[Page S3194]]

the Senate passage of the 19th Amendment, which did pave the way for 
women's constitutional right to vote in this country. Today we 
celebrate this historic milestone, and we honor the suffragists, women 
of courage who were pioneers and leaders.
  These women who fought for their God-given right to vote in the 
greatest democracy the world has ever seen must be remembered. Nearly 
100 years ago, with picket signs in hand, Alice Paul led hundreds of 
brave suffragists to the White House to advocate for the essential role 
of women's right to vote in this Republic.
  Today, almost a century later, women make up half of the electorate. 
According to the Pew Research Center, more women voted than men in the 
2018 elections.
  As I stand today in this Chamber alongside the women of the Senate, I 
am so grateful for the strength of the women who came before us. On 
this historic day, I would like to reflect on some of Nebraska's strong 
and very influential women who have made a difference. Susette 
LaFlesche Tibbles served as a translator for Chief Standing Bear during 
his famous speech when he fought for Native Americans to keep their 
land. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Willa Cather is renowned for her 
work chronicling life on the Great Plains. And biographer, historian, 
and teacher Mari Sandoz invested in the next generation of creative 
writers.
  I also think of women in politics from my home State of Nebraska who 
inspired me to serve my community, my State, and my country. I think of 
Kay Orr, Nebraska's first female Governor and the first female 
Republican Governor in the United States. I think of Virginia Smith, my 
congressional Representative and the first woman from Nebraska to hold 
a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
  Let's not forget the stories of the suffragists and all of the women 
throughout our Nation's history whose courage and brilliance changed 
the world. It is because of them that we stand today in the hallowed 
Chamber of the U.S. Senate, with a record number of women serving in 
Congress and record numbers of women exercising their constitutional 
right to vote. We will never forget the path that brought us here today 
and the pioneers who fought for the rights of millions of women to 
participate in the core function of our Republic.

  I encourage my Senate colleagues to swiftly pass the resolution 
before us today, and I hope in doing so that it serves as encouragement 
and inspiration for future generations of women who will continue to 
write America's story.
  Thank you again to Senators Collins and Feinstein and to all of my 
colleagues for sharing their stories, their past, and their future 
vision for this country.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I want to thank the Senator from Nebraska 
for her very kind comments and her eloquent remarks, and I am now 
pleased to yield time to the Senator from Wisconsin, Ms. Baldwin.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wisconsin.
  Ms. BALDWIN. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Senator Collins.
  I rise today proudly wearing a yellow rose in solidarity with 24 
other women who serve in the U.S. Senate to recognize what is a very 
historic milestone in our Nation's history. Almost 100 years ago, after 
decades and decades of struggle by brave women and men, our Nation 
finally extended to women the most fundamental right of our democracy--
the right to vote. The struggle for women's suffrage was fought in 
every corner of our country, and communities all over the Nation are 
planning to recognize their contributions over the next year.
  Today marks precisely 100 years to the day that the Senate passed the 
19th Amendment. I am proud to state that a week later, on June 10, 
1919, Wisconsin became the first State in our Union to ratify the 19th 
Amendment. I am always proud to say that my home State was the very 
first to ratify women's right to vote, narrowly beating our neighbor to 
the south, the State of Illinois, because of a paperwork error. You 
know, we are still first. I am especially happy that I will forever 
have bragging rights over my friend from Illinois, the co-chair of the 
Senate caucus, Senator Tammy Duckworth, because Illinois wasn't quite 
quick enough and Wisconsin did it first.
  I am also proud today to wear a purple ribbon. This ribbon is in 
recognition of the women of color who fought and marched alongside 
their White colleagues in the suffrage movement but whose contributions 
went largely unsung and many of whom were still denied the right to 
vote after the 19th Amendment was ratified.
  As we observe and celebrate this historic moment, we must be careful 
not to mistake progress for victory. With just 131 women currently 
serving in Congress, we are well short of equal representation in 
government. Government works best when legislatures reflect the people 
they work for--when they look like America. That is why it is important 
to increase the number of women who serve in public office. Women are 
half the population. We should be half of our Nation's government, too.
  When I first entered public service, I had the opportunity to sit on 
the Madison City Council. I remember well a meeting when I had one of 
those light bulb moments of the difference that women make when we 
serve.
  The city council that day was debating whether to extend service and 
add an additional bus route that went directly to the Madison Area 
Technical College's new campus. I remember listening to my male 
colleagues and their participation in the debate. There was a lot of 
focus on funding and logistics and finger pointing at which body in 
government should bear this responsibility. At first, they didn't seem 
to think that the city council should take action to add another bus 
route.
  Then I began hearing the voices of my female colleagues. They began 
speaking of and describing their experience traveling to campus. They 
spoke about evening classes and having to walk a long distance down a 
poorly lit road to get to the nearest bus stop. They spoke about the 
dangers of walking home alone at night. Most women can identify with 
the fear of walking or commuting home late at night. It seemed that the 
men in the debate hadn't thought about it in the same way before that 
moment. The whole debate changed as soon as women's voices were heard, 
and the city council ultimately voted to fund a new route that went 
right to the campus door.
  Women bring their life experiences to the job. It helps inform our 
debate, our votes, and the policies that we deliver. My experience with 
the women of the U.S. Senate, past and present, is that they ran for 
office and came to Washington to solve problems. I feel like we are 
guided by the idea that our job is to work together and to get things 
done. That is what we do, both Democrats and Republicans, as we work 
together to deliver solutions.
  I worked with my colleague Senator Susan Collins to pass legislation 
to better support the more than 40 million family caregivers in this 
country who contribute millions of dollars each year in uncompensated 
care for their loved ones. I worked with my colleague Senator Joni 
Ernst to pass legislation to provide our Nation's farmers and 
agricultural workers with the mental health resources they need to deal 
with the extreme economic stress that our farmers have faced in recent 
years. I worked with my colleague Senator Lisa Murkowski to pass 
legislation that will bring more obstetricians to rural areas and 
expand access to maternity care to women so they no longer have to 
drive hours to get the healthcare they need or to deliver their babies.
  I appreciate these partnerships and the many others that I have been 
able to experience, and I look forward to continuing to work together 
on a bipartisan basis to deliver results for the American people. With 
more women in public office, you will see more solutions to the 
challenges and problems we face. Women get stuff done.
  In 2017, I was proud to lead bipartisan legislation to establish the 
Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission and ensure that we give this 
important anniversary the recognition and celebration it deserves. I am 
thrilled to say that the Commission is now hard at work in developing, 
supporting, and

[[Page S3195]]

lifting up commemorative efforts across this country. It is working 
with private organizations and government at every level to encourage 
and help facilitate their events.
  I give a particularly heartfelt thank-you to my friend and former 
Senator Barbara Mikulski, who helped to get the Commission started and 
is now actually serving as a Commissioner.
  I look forward to seeing the great work of the Women's Suffrage 
Centennial Commission as we get closer to the formal anniversary 
celebration of when the 19th Amendment finally became part of our 
Nation's charter.
  I am grateful today for the brave women who came before us and fought 
for the right of all American women to have a say in their own 
government. Thanks to their struggle, their persistence, and their 
determination to bring women the right to vote, I stand here today as 
one of 25 women who serves in the U.S. Senate and represents the great 
State of Wisconsin.
  We have more work to do, but in 2018, more women ran for office and 
won than ever before in our Nation's history. As a result, we have a 
new Congress that is starting to look just a little bit more like the 
people it aims to represent. Let's keep building on that progress, and 
let's keep working together on solutions to the challenges we face 
today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I am now pleased to yield to the Senator 
from Maryland, Mr. Cardin.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland.
  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I thank Senator Collins for arranging for 
us to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the passage of women's 
suffrage here in the Senate.
  I thank my colleague Senator Feinstein for working together so that 
we all have a chance to reflect on the progress we made and the 
commitment to make sure we continue to move forward.
  It was June 4, 1919--100 years ago today--that the Senate passed the 
women's suffrage constitutional amendment, but the campaign started 
with the birth of our Nation. On March 31, 1776, Abigail Adams wrote a 
letter to her husband, who was serving in the Continental Congress.
  She wrote:

       I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous 
     and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such an 
     unlimited power in the hands of the husbands. . . . If 
     particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we 
     are determined to foment a rebellion and will not hold 
     ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or 
     representation.

  I am sorry that our Founding Fathers did not listen to Abigail Adams.
  Over 144 years later, the 19th Amendment was adopted to our 
Constitution, providing for women's suffrage. It passed first in the 
House of Representatives on May 21, 1919, and then in the Senate on 
June 4, 1919.
  The right to vote was the first step. Over the last 100 years, we 
have seen tremendous progress. Legally, financially, and socially, more 
women have entered the workforce than ever before. Women are filling 
key leadership posts in increasing numbers, but we still have an 
unfinished agenda for equality for women.
  I think most people in this country would be surprised to learn that 
there is nothing in the Constitution of the United States that 
guarantees equal rights for women. As the late Justice Scalia said, 
there is nothing in the Constitution that requires discrimination 
against women, but there is nothing that protects women against 
discrimination.
  Senator Murkowski and I introduced S. Res. 6, which extends the date 
for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. In 1972, we passed 
the Equal Rights Amendment here for ratification for the States and 
extended it one time, and 10 years later, 35 States had ratified the 
Equal Rights Amendment--3 short of the required 38. Nevada and Illinois 
have since ratified the amendment, so it is one State short. However, 
we need to pass the resolution to extend the time limit.
  As Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has said--and this is interesting--
every constitution written since the end of World War II includes a 
provision that men and women are citizens of equal stature. Ours does 
not. It is well past time that we passed the Equal Rights Amendment.
  The 27th Amendment to the Constitution took over 200 years to ratify. 
It deals with congressional pay increases.
  We can pass and should pass in this Congress a fitting tribute to the 
celebration of women's suffrage--the Equal Rights Amendment for women.

  We need to do more for equal pay for equal work. I acknowledge the 
extraordinary leadership that we had in Maryland and this Nation in 
Senator Barbara Mikulski. She was a true champion in so many ways--as a 
social worker, as a city councilperson, as a Member of the House of 
Representatives, and as a U.S. Senator--in advancing rights for women, 
particularly in the workplace. I remember, with pride, seeing her stand 
next to President Obama as he signed his very first bill, the Lilly 
Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which enforced rights for women in the 
workplace. As Senator Mikulski would point out, we still have work to 
do. We still have not passed equal pay for equal work in this country, 
and this Congress should deal with that.
  We have a wealth gap. There is no question that women do not have the 
same wealth as men. In working with Senator Rubio on the committee on 
which I serve as ranking member, the Small Business and 
Entrepreneurship Committee, we must look at whether the tools of the 
Small Business Administration's are providing help to women to develop 
their own businesses. Wealth is usually accumulated through business 
growth, and we need to do more to help women.
  In the State of Maryland, I am proud that 39 percent of our small 
businesses are owned by women, but women do not have equal access to 
the tools with which to access capital. We can do better with the 7(a) 
Program and with the Community Advantage Pilot Program, particularly in 
making it permanent. So there are still steps we can take to help 
advance equal rights and equal opportunity for women.
  There is women's healthcare. The constitutional right of women to 
make their own choices about their own health and well-being is again 
being challenged by some of our States and here on Capitol Hill. 
Whether it is abortion, preventive screening, or contraception, access 
to reproductive healthcare provides women with greater economic 
opportunity. Treating women as less than equal was wrong at the start 
of our Nation, and it is wrong today.
  As we celebrate the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage, let us do 
several things. First, I urge all of our colleagues to support the 
resolution that is pending, S. Res. 212, in regard to celebrating the 
women's suffrage and, second, that we work for full equality for women 
in our Constitution, in the workplace, in entrepreneurship, and in 
healthcare.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I am pleased to yield to the Senator from 
Minnesota, Ms. Klobuchar.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota.
  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I thank my colleague, Senator Capito 
from West Virginia, who, in the spirit of today, has allowed me to take 
her place, and she will go next.
  I rise to join my colleagues to celebrate the centennial anniversary 
of the 19th Amendment. I thank Senator Collins and Senator Feinstein 
for taking the lead in bringing us together today.
  Just think. One hundred years ago today, the Senate voted to 
guarantee and protect a woman's constitutional right to vote, marking 
an important milestone in our democracy. My home State of Minnesota was 
the 15th State to ratify the 19th Amendment, and women like Dr. Mary 
Jackman Colburn, Sarah Burger Stearns, Clara Ueland, and Sarah Tarleton 
Colvin fought to make it happen.
  By the way, on a historical note, when President Wilson refused at 
first to support a constitutional amendment to grant women equal voting 
rights, suffragists like Sarah Colvin of Minnesota chained themselves 
to the fence of the White House and burned an effigy of the President. 
After weeks of similar protest fires and intense pressure to support 
equal rights, he announced his support of a constitutional amendment.

[[Page S3196]]

  We also must remember, in addition to people like Elizabeth Cady 
Stanton, Lucretia Mott, and Susan B. Anthony, the African-American 
suffragists who were in the league--Harriet Tubman, Ida B. Wells, 
Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, and Margaret Murray Washington.
  The women's suffrage movement encountered strong opposition. It 
doesn't feel like that would have happened now, but it did back then, 
and those who opposed equality came up with creative reasons to keep 
women from voting.
  The National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage was a real 
organization and published a pamphlet full of propaganda. The pamphlet 
read that if women were granted the right to vote, some States would be 
under ``petticoat rule.'' The pamphlet also provided a list of 
household cleaning tips for women, such as not needing a ballot to 
clean out your sink spout and that there is no method known by which a 
mud-stained reputation may be cleaned after bitter political campaigns. 
Posters were scattered across cities that depicted men at home taking 
care of babies and cooking and cleaning because they had been abandoned 
by their voting wives.

  One hundred years later, I think we can safely say that none of the 
dire warnings described in the propaganda came to pass and that the 
United States of America did not perish under the ``petticoat rule.'' 
What did happen is, in 1920, in the first Federal election in which 
women could vote, the total popular vote increased dramatically from 
18.5 million to 26.8 million by 1920.
  When I arrived in the Senate, there were only 16 women, led by the 
dean of the women Senators, who is here with us today, Senator Barbara 
Mikulski. As noted by my colleagues, we now have 25 women Senators. 
That is an alltime high because, when you look at the history of the 
Senate, there have been nearly 2,000 male Senators and only 56 women. I 
was on the Trevor Noah show a few months ago, and he said that if a 
nightclub had that kind of ratio, they would shut it down. Yet, in 
fact, we are at an alltime high with 25 women Senators and with more to 
come.
  Someone once said that women should speak softly and carry a big 
statistic. Well, I don't agree with the ``speak softly'' part, but 
there is some merit to the big statistic. Maybe because it was harder 
for them to get where they are, I have found women Senators to be 
accountable, to say what they are going to do, and to get it done. 
There was actually a study from Harvard--the University of Minnesota of 
the East--that showed that it was, in fact, true.
  My colleagues have mentioned the challenges ahead. We have to make 
sure that more people can vote and that we don't suppress votes. We 
need to pass the Equal Rights Amendment. We need to make sure that we 
have equal pay. There are many, many challenges ahead.
  We celebrate today because we all stand on the shoulders of those 
before us. In our case, we stand on the very broad shoulders of our 
friend Barbara Mikulski, who once said--and I still remember this--when 
we took up a woman's issue on the floor, to put on your suits, square 
your shoulders, put on your lipstick, and get ready for a revolution. I 
don't know what revolution she was talking about, but hers was the 
voice of those before us. We all stand on their shoulders, and we are 
happy to take up their torch.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I yield to the Senator from West 
Virginia, Mrs. Capito.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia.
  Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, I thank all of my colleagues, 
particularly my colleague from Maine, Senator Collins, for her 
leadership on this issue and many others.
  It is great to be here with our former colleague Senator Mikulski, 
who taught me how to be tough on the Appropriations Committee--if I 
could only be that tough.
  I join my colleagues today to commemorate and celebrate the 
centennial anniversary of the 19th Amendment. We all know the history--
at least we should--and we have talked a lot about it today. We have 
heard the names in documentaries and have read about them in history 
books--Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, and 
so many others. These suffragists, these leaders paved the way for 
women to exercise their right to vote, changing history and the fabric 
of our Nation in the process. I think it goes without saying that this 
was no small or easy feat. In fact, it was a pretty tough fight, and it 
wasn't won overnight. It took a total of 9 years for the amendment to 
reach the Senate floor.

  In 1887, the vote for suffrage was actually defeated--hard for us to 
imagine. I think experiencing legislative defeat is something we all 
have experience with in this body. But that was not the end. It 
certainly took too much time, and things started to really heat up 
around 1916. That year, the people of Montana made the monumental move 
of electing Jeannette Rankin to the House of Representatives. 
Interestingly enough, with a woman finally serving in Congress, it 
didn't seem so crazy that a woman should be able to have a say when it 
comes to who serves.
  Eventually, the Senate passed the resolution proposing the 19th 
Amendment. The date was June 4, 1919, exactly 100 years ago. I am proud 
to say that both of West Virginia's Senators at the time, Senator 
Howard Sutherland and Senator Davis Elkins, voted in favor of the 
resolution--I would expect nothing more from tough mountaineer men--and 
that language was adopted and ratified to the Constitution on August 
18, 1920, marking the moment that women were given the opportunity to 
have their voices heard at the ballot box.
  Finally, our country was acknowledging that women had a voice and 
that their voice was needed to be a part of this democracy. Don't get 
me wrong--women were not instantly made political equals of men 
overnight, at least not in practice. Even today, despite making up more 
than half of the population, women do not make up half of the Congress, 
and that is something we are working hard on every day. Over the years, 
thanks to the pioneering efforts of the suffragists and others who came 
before them, we have made progress, yes, and we have celebrated many 
victories, from the very small to the very significant.
  Just think, when I first came to Congress in 2001--I saw my colleague 
from Tennessee, but I don't believe she was here then--we had to work 
to just get a woman's restroom put in off the floor of the House of 
Representatives. Today, I am one of 127 women who have the honor of 
serving our districts and our States and our country in Congress. That 
is the most women to ever serve in the Congress. And across the Nation, 
there are countless future leaders. That is why I think this day is so 
important.
  I am very proud of the history my home State of West Virginia has 
already made when it comes to having women participate in our 
democracy.
  In 1951, Elizabeth Kee of Bluefield took the place of her husband, 
the Honorable Congressman John Kee, to be the first woman to represent 
West Virginia in the U.S. Congress.
  I am also proud to say we have Carol Miller--another woman--on the 
other side representing our State.
  Elizabeth Kee had been her husband's longtime secretary--which, by 
the way, is not allowed today--and actually stood up against party 
leaders who said she should retain her position as secretary for the 
incoming appointee. She didn't listen to that, thank goodness.
  When the 26th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified in 1971, 
changing the voting age from 21 to 18, this was done at the dogged 
insistence of my predecessor, Senator Jennings Randolph. But a proud 
West Virginian, Ella Mae Thompson Haddix, was the first person in the 
United States of America--a young woman from West Virginia--to register 
to vote as an 18-year-old.
  I am very honored to be the first woman to represent my State, and 
many of us are that in our States. With that honor, I feel a special 
obligation to help the next generation of young leaders. I started a 
program called West Virginia Girls Rise Up, and with that program, I 
travel and talk to fifth grade girls, encouraging them to set goals for 
themselves and then work to achieve them. We talk about what it

[[Page S3197]]

means to be a leader in whatever career or field they love or are 
passionate about. My hope is that eventually these girls will grow into 
engaged citizens and leaders--not only women who vote but women who 
aren't afraid to run for office or run a boardroom or pursue a STEM 
career or anything else they might desire.
  The 19th Amendment--hard fought--brought women more than just the 
right to vote; in many ways, it gave us women more courage to run, to 
advocate, and to lead.
  I thank my colleagues for taking time today to celebrate the 19th 
Amendment, to celebrate civic-minded women, courageous women, and to 
celebrate that our country is stronger now and will be stronger in the 
future because women are voting and leading.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. McSALLY). The Senator from Maine.
  Ms. COLLINS. Madam President, earlier, I recognized Senator Barbara 
Mikulski, an outstanding leader and former colleague and member of the 
Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission. I also want to acknowledge that 
there are other members of the Commission who are here with us today. 
We welcome them as they observe this debate, and we thank them for 
their hard work to make sure this significant occasion is recognized.
  It is now my great pleasure to yield time to the Senator from 
Washington, Senator Cantwell.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
  Ms. CANTWELL. Madam President, I thank the Senator from Maine for 
helping us coordinate this very important moment today, and I, too, 
want to recognize the presence of our former colleague, who is playing 
such a great role in helping us commemorate next year as such a very 
important time for us to recognize the important role of women's voices 
in American politics.
  I join my colleagues today to commemorate the 100th anniversary of 
the Senate's passing of the 19th Amendment and to honor all the women 
who struggled hard and long to make sure our democracy included our 
voices, the voices of all women, all those women who saw the promise of 
the United States and fought for their place in it. Those women helped 
craft a more perfect union. For nearly a century, these women fought to 
be heard, and their efforts fundamentally transformed our democracy and 
our country.
  I am very proud to represent a State with a long tradition of women 
activists and leaders. Today, I want to recognize two influential 
suffragists from my State--Emma Smith DeVoe and May Hutton. Both women 
were pioneers in the struggle to get the right to vote. In an era when 
women were given few opportunities, these two women refused to be held 
back. They instead paved a way for women to fully engage in the 
political process.
  Tacoma resident Emma Smith DeVoe built the Washington Equal Suffrage 
Association and led the successful campaign to enshrine women's 
suffrage in Washington's State Constitution a full 10 years ahead of 
the ratification of the 19th Amendment. She helped win the right to 
vote for women in Idaho in 1896 and led campaigns in other States, 
speaking and organizing rallies and sit-ins, and she helped found the 
National Council of Women Voters to continue the nationwide suffrage 
movement and educate newly enfranchised women about politics across the 
country. Her efforts got her the nickname ``the Mother of Woman's 
Suffrage.''
  May Hutton, the other activist from our State, overcame a very 
difficult childhood. She and her husband became successful 
entrepreneurs and devoted much of their self-made wealth to activism.
  When they moved to Spokane from Idaho in 1906, May actually lost her 
right to vote in the process. She quickly set out to work to change 
that injustice and win the franchise for women in every State in the 
territory.
  She wrote:

       Women should vote because they have the intelligence to 
     vote. They should vote because it gives them 
     responsibilities, and responsibilities better fit women for 
     all conditions of life. Equality before the law gives women a 
     fair chance with men in a question of wages for the same 
     work.

  There you go--a century ago, someone standing up for women to have 
the same wage in work, and that is the work we continue here today.
  She continued:

       In other words, the enfranchisement of women means a square 
     deal for all.

  May stood tall for more than just women's rights; she proposed 
extending the franchise to all adults, regardless of sex, race, or 
color.
  Washington's territorial legislature gave women the right to vote in 
1883, but it was struck down by the courts. Because of the continuous 
efforts of Ms. DeVoe, Ms. Hutton, and so many others, women finally 
gained the franchise in Washington in 1910--a full decade before this 
right was guaranteed nationally. Emma Smith DeVoe and May Hutton paved 
the way for so many women. Washington State is proud of their work, and 
we are proud of their accomplishments.
  As we honor them today, we must also recognize that the struggle for 
equal rights is still not over. We have more to do. We know that our 
country is stronger, more representative, and more successful when we 
include women at every table and in every boardroom and at every ballot 
box and in every discussion in our families and in our communities, but 
we need to be reminded of the example of Emma and May so that other 
suffragists know that we remember their work and are grateful for it 
and that we are going to continue the fight to get equal access and 
equal representation in all issues in the United States.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.
  Ms. COLLINS. Madam President, I simply want to thank my colleagues 
for their participation today in bringing to the attention of the 
American people that this truly is a historic occasion, a date on which 
we celebrate the Senate's passage of the 19th Amendment granting women 
a long-overdue right to vote. I want to thank all of my colleagues who 
participated in the speeches. The history they brought from their 
individual States was fascinating indeed.
  It is my understanding that we will now move to pass commemorative 
coin legislation introduced by the Senator from Tennessee.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.

                          ____________________