Political Quotes

“I rise today to join my colleagues as we commemorate the 100th anniversary of the date Congress sent to the States this question: the ratification of a constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote. Our ancestors have long sought the promise of a better life for themselves and their children. Many of our forebearers came to this country seeking religious liberty, economic security, or personal freedom. Since 1788, they were drawn to the promise of these words: ``We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.'' Today, most in this body and across the country would agree that a woman's full participation in the life of her community and Nation are crucial if the promise laid out in our Constitution's preamble is ever to be fully realized. But in 1788 and for many years thereafter, women could not own property, could not open a bank account on their own, or even control the money that they earned through their own work. They could not control their destiny or, indeed, their own bodies. Justice, tranquility, the general welfare, and the blessings of liberty were, for women, what men said they were.…”