Press Releases

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congresswoman Lori Trahan (MA-03), the mother of two young girls, took to the House floor to call for passage of H.J.Res. 17, legislation she cosponsored to remove an arbitrary time limit for states to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).

The full clip of Trahan’s remarks on the House floor in support of H.J.Res. 17 can be accessed by CLICKING HERE or the image.

 

A transcript of her speech as delivered is embedded below.

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Congresswoman Lori Trahan

Remarks as Delivered

Full Consideration of H.J.Res. 17

March 17, 2021

 

Madam Speaker, I rise in full support of the Equal Rights Amendment and to debunk some of the nonsense being spouted by my colleagues across the aisle.

 

This legislation is NOT about special rights. It’s NOT about preferential treatment. And it’s NOT about erasing sex differences. It’s about finally guaranteeing equal rights – plain and simple.

 

Critics of the E-R-A know that – or at least they would if they actually read the legislation. It’s right there for everyone to see.

 

And I quote, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” Period.

 

Everyone in this Capitol has a mother and some of us are blessed to have daughters. This amendment is about them – it’s about completing the work of generations of women before us who marched for full equality. And it’s about finishing that journey so that the next generation will experience nothing other than full and fair rights under the law.

 

I urge my colleagues to give our daughters that chance. Join us and pass this resolution.

 

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The ERA is critically important: creating additional avenues of legal recourse for people who face discrimination under the laws on the basis of sex and ensuring that the Supreme Court applies the same standard of review for sex discrimination cases as it applies to cases of discrimination based on race and national origin. With the ERA, women will have the stronger legal protections that they need against sexual assault, domestic violence, and pay discrimination, and more.

 

Nearly a century after the ERA was drafted, it is still not part of the U.S. Constitution despite having passed both chambers of Congress with a super-majority vote. That’s because of an arbitrary deadline that had been set for states to ratify the constitutional amendment. H.J.Res. 17 removes that deadline and moves the amendment one step closer to finally becoming part of the Constitution.

 

The ERA was first proposed in 1923 by suffragist Alice Paul, just a few years after women gained the right to vote. It was also in the Republican Party’s presidential platform as early as 1940 and was supported by both Democrats and Republicans under Presidents Nixon, Carter, and Ford. The constitutional amendment was passed in 1972 by bipartisan majorities in both the House and Senate. As of last year, 38 states have ratified the ERA to become the 28^th Amendment to the Constitution, but the arbitrary deadline put in place following the vote in 1972 prevents it from doing so.

 

There is broad support from organizations across the country for this resolution and for the Equal Rights Amendment including the ERA Coalition, the National Organization for Women, the YWCA, the League of Women Voters, the National Women’s Law Center, the American Association of University Women, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Feminist Majority, GLAAD, National Association of Women Lawyers, the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, National Network to End Domestic Violence, National Urban League, Service Women’s Action Network (SWAN), TIME’S UP Now, Women’s Media Center, the U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce, among others.  

 

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