Political Quotes

“as we prepare to celebrate Mother's Day this Sunday, I am today introducing a joint resolution which would remove the deadline for the ratification by the States of the equal rights amendment, the ERA. I thank my cosponsors. As of this morning my cosponsors included Senator Kirk, Senator Mikulski, Senator Murkowski, Senator Harkin, Senator Sanders, Senator Levin, Senator Menendez, Senator Stabenow, Senator Heinrich, Senator Boxer, Senator Gillibrand, Senator Durbin, Senator Lautenberg, Senator Murphy, Senator Baldwin, Senator Landrieu, Senator Brown, and Senator Begich. When Congress passed the ERA in 1972, it provided that the measure had to be ratified by three-fourths of the States, or 38 States, within 7 years. This deadline was later extended to 10 years by a joint resolution enacted by Congress, but ultimately only 35 of the 38 States required ratified the ERA when the deadline expired in 1982. Congress has the authority to give the States another chance, and should do so. I want to point out to my colleagues that in 1992, the 27th Amendment to the Constitution prohibiting immediate Congressional pay raises was ratified after 203 years. So this additional delay is certainly in keeping with our prior precedent. Article 5 of the Constitution contains no time limit for the ratification of constitutional changes, and the ERA time limit was contained in a joint resolution, not the actual text of the amendment.…”