On the recordJune 4, 2019
As the senior Republican woman in the Senate today, I am pleased to begin a series of speeches, along with my good friend from California, the senior Democratic woman Senator, Mrs. Dianne Feinstein, to commemorate a significant milestone in our Nation's history. One hundred years ago today, the Senate finally passed the 19th Amendment, which affirmed the right of women to vote in elections. All of us recall that in 1775, as the Second Continental Congress was forging a new Nation conceived in liberty, Abigail Adams admonished her husband John to ``remember the ladies.'' Despite Abigail Adam's advice, it took nearly a century and a half for women to achieve their rightful place as full U.S. citizens. On June 4, 1919, the U.S. Senate passed the 19th Amendment to our Constitution. The courage and determination exhibited by generations of women and men were rewarded in just two sentences: The rights of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. That is it. Those are the words of the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing women the right to vote. It is an honor today to join my 24 women Senate colleagues in cosponsoring a resolution commemorating this centennial. The yellow roses that we are wearing are a historic and enduring symbol of the victory that we celebrate today.…
