On the recordMay 21, 2019
Exactly 100 years ago today, this House passed the 19th Amendment. On June 4, 1919, the Senate approved it. The women's right to vote began the race to ratification, requiring three-fourths of the 48 States to ratify it before it was added to the Constitution. That happened on August 26, 1920. Madam Speaker, a woman having the right to vote is not at all controversial today. However, in 1848, when the first women's rights convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York, the issue was so contentious that the group of mostly women only narrowly passed including voting rights in their Declaration of Sentiments. We know some of the leaders of the movement, like Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Ida B. Wells, but there are thousands of other women whose names will never be known. They also gave heart and courage to ensuring equality for women. The passage of the 19th Amendment ensured that all Americans were included in steering our Nation toward the future. One hundred years later, it remains just as important. ____________________
