[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 31 (Friday, February 14, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E187]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. ALMA S. ADAMS

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, February 14, 2020

  Ms. ADAMS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to voice my support for the 
Equal Rights Amendment.
  For 20 years in the North Carolina General Assembly, I fought 
tirelessly to get our state to ratify the ERA.
  And, since joining this body in 2014, I have supported the ERA in 
every Congress.
  That's why I was overjoyed to see Virginia's vote last month to 
become the 38th and final state needed to ratify the ERA.
  For 100 years women in North Carolina, Virginia, and all across this 
country have been fighting for the ERA.
  And we shouldn't have to wait another 100 years to get equal justice 
under the law.
  To this day, women are still paid less for our work, face workplace 
harassment, and are discriminated against simply for being who they 
are.
  Women who work full time, year-round still only make 82 cents on the 
dollar for men's earnings.
  For women of color, the disparity is even worse.
  Black women make only 62 cents, Latinas make 54 cents, and Native 
women make 58 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men.
  One in three women experience sexual violence in their lifetime.
  Sixty to seventy percent of women face sexual harassment during their 
careers.
  Sixty-two percent of pregnant women and new moms are in the 
workforce, yet under current law, pregnant workers can be placed on 
unpaid leave or forced out of their jobs because of a pregnancy.
  These are just some of the reasons that ratifying the ERA is so 
important.
  The ERA would help us fight those battles by prohibiting 
discrimination on the basis of sex in our most important, foundational 
document: the Constitution.
  I think we can all agree that our courts shouldn't have the option to 
treat women as less than equal.
  The Constitution was designed to be amended.
  Our founders made mistakes. They counted me as three-fifths of a 
person. They allowed slavery to persist in our country. They weren't 
Gods; they were men.
  And, as times change, we have a responsibility to change with them to 
ensure ALL people are afforded equal protections and rights.
  To quote Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, ``I ask no favor for my sex; 
all I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.''
  That's why we won't rest until women and men are finally equal under 
the eyes of the law.

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