On the recordMay 12, 2016
As I listened to Congresswoman Maloney, I heard her mention the Constitution and the importance of the Equal Rights Amendment and I am reminded of the constitutional amendment that was needed in 1920 to allow women the right to vote. If you took a broad assessment of the American people, they might allude to women have the right to vote. But what I would offer to say to them is that every time we wanted to be sure of a right given to a left-out group, we had to add to the Bill of Rights. {time} 1730 The Bill of Rights includes the Fifth Amendment, which is the protection of our property and due process. It includes the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, which codify, constitutionally, the wrongness of slavery and the concept of equal protection under the law. But in all of that, it has not protected women in their rightful place in this society to have a legal basis to object to unequal pay. It did not provide the cover for Lilly Ledbetter, who went to protest the fact that she was paid less and was not given any respect by the employer who felt that there were no laws that protected her. I believe that, in all of my tenure in Congress, I have supported the Equal Rights Amendment legislation.…
