Original sentence: Representative Carl Elliott of Alabama later claimed, "Smith didn't give a damn about women's rights...he was trying to knock off votes either then or down the line because there was always a hard core of men who didn't favor women's rights," and the Congressional Record records that Smith was greeted by laughter when he introduced the amendment.Smith nevertheless claimed that he sincerely supported the amendment and made serious arguments in its favor.Smith thought that northern Democrats would not vote for the bill due to the inclusion of gender, because the clause was opposed by labor unions which the northern Democrats aligned themselves with.The amendment had been forcefully promoted by the National Woman's Party and its allies in Congress, who had no desire to scuttle the Civil Rights Act.The claim was not entirely ungrounded, as Smith had long been close to Alice Paul, a women's rights activist who urged him to include sex as a protected category.Thus, as William Rehnquist explained in Meritor Savings Bank v
Edited sentence: For years Smith had been close to Alice Paul, the chief supporter of equal rights proposals since the 1920s.Now was the moment.Representative Carl Elliott of Alabama  later claimed, "Smith didn't give a damn about women's rights...he was trying to knock off votes either then or down the line because there was always a hard core of men who didn't favor women's rights," and the Congressional Record records that Smith was greeted by laughter when he introduced the amendment.She and other feminists had worked with Smith for years to find a way to include sex as a protected category.Smith nevertheless asserted that he sincerely supported the amendment and indeed more than anyone else he made serious arguments in its favor.Smith thought that northern Democrats would be embarrassed by the hypocrisy of having to vote against civil rights for women (because the clause was opposed by labor unions).Smith's amendment was forcefully promoted by Paul's  National Woman's Party and its allies in Congress, who had no desire to scuttle the Civil Rights Act.Thus, as Justice William Rehnquist explained in Meritor Savings Bank v