[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 50 (Wednesday, March 17, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H1419]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT

  (Ms. JACOBS of California asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute.)
  Ms. JACOBS of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of 
the equal rights amendment.
  From the beginning, gender equality was left out of the Constitution. 
Generations of women and LGBTQ-plus Americans lived and died without 
ever having the equal rights and dignity that they deserve under the 
law.
  We know that the ERA is necessary by the words of its opponents, 
including the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who argued 
that the Constitution does not prohibit discrimination based on sex. We 
can change that.
  Madam Speaker, 38 States have ratified the ERA. The only hurdle that 
remains is the arbitrary deadline set by Congress, a deadline that 
passed before I was born, but a deadline that never stopped the pursuit 
of justice. With every vote we take in this Chamber, we have the chance 
to correct past mistakes and repeal past wrongs. That is what we will 
do again today.
  Madam Speaker, our march for equal rights is not done. It will not 
stop, and it does not expire.

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