Lamar Smith: “Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 1375, recognizing the 90th anniversary of the 19th Amendment. The 19th…”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 1375, recognizing the 90th anniversary of the 19th Amendment. The 19th Amendment prohibits the Federal Government and the States from denying a citizen's right to vote on account of sex. It was ratified on August 18, 1920. For more than a century after our Nation's founding, women lacked the right to vote. However, throughout this time women participated in politics. Their many contributions paved the way for the eventual ratification of the 19th Amendment. Many women played significant roles in the abolitionist movement, for example. It was after Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott were denied admission to an anti-slavery conference that they organized the first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848. The convention's Declaration of Sentiments stated that 'all men and women are created equal.' This served as a foundational document in the women's suffrage movement that followed.”