US Constitution

Floor Speech

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Ms. MURKOWSKI. Madam President, I rise today to join my colleagues as we commemorate the 100th anniversary of the date Congress sent to the States this question: the ratification of a constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote.

Our ancestors have long sought the promise of a better life for themselves and their children. Many of our forebearers came to this country seeking religious liberty, economic security, or personal freedom.

Since 1788, they were drawn to the promise of these words: ``We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.''

Today, most in this body and across the country would agree that a woman's full participation in the life of her community and Nation are crucial if the promise laid out in our Constitution's preamble is ever to be fully realized.

But in 1788 and for many years thereafter, women could not own property, could not open a bank account on their own, or even control the money that they earned through their own work. They could not control their destiny or, indeed, their own bodies. Justice, tranquility, the general welfare, and the blessings of liberty were, for women, what men said they were.

That all began to change on June 4, 1919, the date when finally, after so many years of struggle and failure, the required number of Senators voted aye for House Joint Resolution 1, ``proposing an amendment to the Constitution extending the right of suffrage to women.'' It was very simple yet intensely powerful, a resolution with just one article that read:

The right 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 remarkable moment, we know, did not come easily. For decades, women across America sought the promise of our Nation for themselves and their daughters. They were subjected to insults and ridicule and, sometimes, even imprisonment and violence.

In 1906, an editorial in the New York Times defined the word ``suffragette'' as a ``demanding screecher'' and ``a woman who ought to have more sense.'' Walking in parades in support of the right to vote, women had insults and worse hurled at them. Suffragists were physically attacked.

Beginning in June of 1917, it got much worse. Here in Washington, DC, police began arresting women who were picketing the White House in support of suffrage for ``obstructing sidewalk traffic.'' Throughout the summer and into the fall, women who refused to pay the fine were sent to the Women's Workhouse in Lorton, VA, or the district jail, where conditions were deplorable. Rats ran free in the prison. The food was infested with maggots. Alice Paul, a leader of the National Woman's Party, and about 71 other women began a hunger strike while in jail and for months suffered force-feeding of raw eggs in milk through nasal gastric tubes. In November, 33 of the imprisoned suffragists were beaten by guards by order of the prison superintendent. One woman's hands were handcuffed high above her head on the prison door for an entire night. Some were left unconscious.

Sojourner Truth, Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe, Ida B. Wells, Mary Church Terrell, Alice Paul, and others are widely known as suffragist leaders. There were millions of others across the country doing what they could in their own families, in their own communities and States, to advance women's rights. They marched, protested, sewed flags and banners, and spoke up at home and in their hometowns.

In the following 100 years since the Senate sent the women's right to vote to the States for ratification, the right to vote gave women the power to change their lives and to impact our Nation in so many positive and profound ways. As a result, our Nation has made incredible strides.

Today, in 2019, it may be difficult for some to imagine an America without women leaders in every conceivable endeavor. Amazing women have contributed to our Nation in countless ways, both large and small. We have moved from the horse and buggy era to putting a man on the moon, but man would not have gotten there and back without women mathematicians and engineers.

While few colleges admitted women a century ago, by 1980 more women than men earned bachelor's degrees. Since 1919, women are able to enter any profession for which they are qualified, keep their own wages, start and run corporations, lead scientific and medical advances, and fly into space. Women have the right to be heard in the Halls of Congress and in their children's schools. We are allowed to determine the guilt or innocence of an accused and volunteer as poll workers. We can inherit property, run the Iditarod, and become mayors and Governors. And we can not only run for office, but we can vote for ourselves.

Women can do anything we put our minds to, but if it had not been for the right to vote--the basic, legal right to be recognized--would we be where we are today? Would we have women like Sandra Day O'Connor, Condoleezza Rice, Christiane Amanpour, or Sally Ride? Would we have the benefit of the voices of countless American women who share their views with Congress because they know that their opinions--backed up by their votes--matter on issues as varied as childcare, climate change, and national security? Would the young women of today have the faith that they really can do anything they set their minds to? Maybe not.

I rise today to call on all Americans to commemorate this day, to remember all those who made it possible, and to honor them by recognizing that the right to vote, to be heard, and to be valued is a precious right. It has not always been implemented fairly, and it must be guarded and defended.

As we look to honor the past, we must also acknowledge that, like our ancestors, we have more progress to make. Gaining the right to vote was the first step toward full equality. Despite the passage of the Civil Rights Act, which makes discrimination on the basis of sex illegal, and despite the Equal Pay Act and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, our Constitution gives us the right to vote but does not protect us from discrimination.

So in the spirit of women who fought for the rights of women who would come after them, I hope the Senate will pass S.J. Res. 6 to remove the deadline for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. That will be something we will bring up at another point in time. But today, I am able to stand with my friends and my colleagues here in the Senate as we recognize and honor those who paved the way and have allowed for this right to vote, that right and value to be heard.

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