Political Quotes

“I am so honored by that introduction and to be here on the floor with a great colleague--a champion in the House as well as now in the Senate--Chris Van Hollen of Maryland. I thank the senior Senator from Maryland--we are both senior Senators from our respective States--for yielding first to me. More importantly, I want to thank him for his leadership on human rights and civil rights here in the United States. He has been such a powerful advocate. But also, around the world, through the Helsinki Commission, I have had the great privilege of working with him and serving with him on that Commission, where he has put front and center the crimes against humanity committed in Ukraine as well as in other parts of the world where the rule of law, unfortunately, is lacking. So I am very, very proud to be with him on the floor today. Like my colleague Senator Durbin, who has been rightly lauded by Senator Cardin for his work on rights, I rise to ask this body and all who are hearing this message to commit to making the Equal Rights Amendment the law of our land--part of the Constitution. Outside of the right to vote, the Constitution has no mention of gender equality. It was enshrined--the right to vote--just over a century ago with the 19th Amendment, but the U.S. Constitution does not include an explicit provision on equal rights for women, and that is a sad omission that cannot be allowed to stand. We must fix it.…”