[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 185 (Tuesday, November 19, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S6674]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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  SENATE RESOLUTION 430--DESIGNATING DECEMBER 10, 2019, AS ``WYOMING 
                         WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE DAY''

  Mr. ENZI (for himself and Mr. Barrasso) submitted the following 
resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

                              S. Res. 430

       Whereas the epithets for the State of Wyoming are the 
     ``Cowboy State'' and, more aptly, the ``Equality State'';
       Whereas the official State motto of Wyoming is ``Equal 
     Rights'';
       Whereas, at the founding of the United States, the inherent 
     right of women to vote and participate in the political 
     process was inhibited;
       Whereas the contributions of women to the fight for the 
     independence, founding, and rise to prominence of the United 
     States were extensive, vital to those objectives, and worthy 
     of recognition;
       Whereas women, like all persons, have always inherently 
     held the right to vote and participate in government;
       Whereas, on December 10, 1869, the Wyoming Territory 
     approved the first law in the history of the United States to 
     grant women the right to vote and hold public office;
       Whereas, in 1869, the Territorial Legislature of the 
     Wyoming Territory also passed legislation formally enabling 
     women to hold property and assuring equal pay for teachers;
       Whereas the government of the Wyoming Territory was the 
     first government to explicitly acknowledge and affirm the 
     inherent right of women to vote and to hold office;
       Whereas the Wyoming Territory granted women the right to 
     vote more than 20 years before Wyoming became the 44th State 
     admitted to the Union;
       Whereas, when Congress invited Wyoming to join the Union 
     and demanded that women's suffrage be revoked, the Wyoming 
     Legislature said, ``We will remain out of the Union one 
     hundred years rather than come in without the women'';
       Whereas, on September 6, 1870, Louisa Gardner Swain became 
     the first woman in the world to cast a ballot after being 
     granted universal suffrage in Wyoming;
       Whereas the right of women to vote in Wyoming has been 
     maintained in perpetuity;
       Whereas, on March 7, 1870, in Laramie, Wyoming, the first 
     jury in the United States to include women was sworn in;
       Whereas, in 1870, Mary Atkinson served as the first female 
     court bailiff in Laramie, Wyoming;
       Whereas Esther Hobart Morris was appointed to serve as 
     justice of the peace in February 1870, making her the first 
     woman to serve as a judge in the United States;
       Whereas, in 1892, the women of Wyoming became the first 
     women to vote in a presidential election;
       Whereas, in 1894, the people of Wyoming elected Estelle 
     Reel to serve as the State superintendent of public 
     instruction, making her one of the first women in the United 
     States elected to serve in a statewide office;
       Whereas, in 1920, the residents of the town of Jackson, 
     Wyoming, elected a city council composed entirely of women, 
     the first all-women government in the United States, which 
     was dubbed the ``petticoat government'' by the press;
       Whereas, in 1924, Wyoming became the first state to elect a 
     female governor, Nellie Tayloe Ross;
       Whereas, on May 3, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt 
     appointed Nellie Tayloe Ross as Director of the United States 
     Mint, making Ross the first woman to hold that position;
       Whereas, as Director of the United States Mint, Nellie 
     Tayloe Ross oversaw the establishment of the Franklin half 
     dollar and the beginning of the production of proof coins for 
     public sale;
       Whereas the United States did not endorse women's suffrage 
     until 1920, with the ratification of the 19th Amendment to 
     the Constitution of the United States, 50 years after 
     Wyoming;
       Whereas the decision of the people of Wyoming to endorse 
     women's suffrage demonstrates the foresight, bravery, 
     individualism, and honesty of the citizens of Wyoming and the 
     staunch adherence of the citizens of Wyoming to the storied 
     ``Code of the West'';
       Whereas achieving voting rights for all women required firm 
     and continuing resolve to overcome reluctance, and even 
     fervent opposition, to rightful enfranchisement;
       Whereas the milestones of women's suffrage in Wyoming 
     illuminate and strengthen the heritage of Wyoming as the 
     ``Equality State'';
       Whereas December 10, 2019, marks the 150th anniversary of 
     the date on which women's suffrage became law in Wyoming; and
       Whereas the ongoing contributions made by women to Wyoming 
     and the United States should be recognized: Now, therefore, 
     be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) designates December 10, 2019, as ``Wyoming Women's 
     Suffrage Day''; and
       (2) encourages the people of the United States to observe 
     the day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

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