[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16397]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   CELEBRATING FIRST WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE

  (Mrs. MALONEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, as a proud New Yorker, I rise today to 
mark the anniversary of the first women's suffrage convention in Seneca 
Falls, New York. Our founding mothers and their successors ultimately 
gained the right to vote in 1920. Unfortunately, it is the only women's 
right in the Constitution.
  The suffragettes also called for equality of opportunity for women. 
That is our moral mandate and our great unfinished business. And 157 
years after Seneca Falls, we find ourselves in the midst of a rollback 
of rights we have already won. Passing the Equal Rights Amendment would 
protect women against these rollbacks.
  Title 7 has been weakened. Women's role in the military has been 
attacked, and Head Start, affordable housing, and child care programs 
that most benefit women and children are being slashed. We owe it to 
the suffragettes to establish that all men and women are created equal. 
It is time to realize our foremothers' goals and get equal rights 
written into the Constitution.

                          ____________________