Date: 2016-05-12
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. 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 leftout group. we had to add to the Bill of Rights. 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. So I just answer today. for those who may be querying "here they come again" or "they already have a Bill of Rights" or "they have the amendment allowing them to vote." yes. we have sectors of rightsthe right to voteand maybe we join in and have the right to due process. What the Equal Rights Amendment does is it pierces the veil of governmental leadership and governance. and it says to the 50 States: you must adhere to the Constitution as it is related to women and that. with every aspect of governmental action that impacts women. without discrimination against men. you must put them on an equal footing. We have title VII and we have title IX. but. Mr. Speaker. in spite of those statutes. women are still discriminated against because you cant section off their rights and expect all of their rights to be protected. Discrimination under title VII fits one box. and title IX. with athletics. fits another box. Then. for some reason. we have all of these different aspects that seem either not to prevail under lawsuits under title VII or not to prevail under lawsuits under title IX. but women are still discriminated against. If there were an amendment that would cover all aspects of governance that States had to adhere to. that counties had to adhere to. that cities had to adhere to. and that. certainly. the Federal Government had to adhere to. because the Constitution is the Constitution of the United States for all people. then we would see the lifting of those issues that impact women and that are not clarified through the statutory process. I rise today again to support the movement of this bill through the Judiciary Committee. to the floor of the House. and. ultimately. through the Senate. For my colleagues. many of you know that there is a constitutional process that would engage the States. Then. ultimately. that would become an amendment to the United States Constitution. What better process of engaging the people of the United States in determining whether they want and recognize the importance of an Equal Rights Amendment than the process of amending the Constitution of the United States. I finish by saying we are doing what is right. and I am hoping that its conclusion will be in short order on behalf of the women and the men and the families of this great United States of America.