Biden Urges Congress to Immediately Recognize Equal Rights Amendment

[George II]

Source: US News and World Report

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday called on Congress to immediately act to enshrine the Equal Rights Amendment in the U.S. Constitution and formally protect women's rights decades after lawmakers adopted them.

Biden, in a statement released by the White House, urged Congress "to pass a resolution recognizing ratification of the ERA" after a recent legal analysis said there was nothing preventing lawmakers from acting.

"We must recognize the clear will of the American people and definitively enshrine the principle of gender equality in the Constitution. It is long past time that we put all doubt to rest," Biden said. "No one should be discriminated against based on their sex—and we, as a nation, must stand up for full women’s equality."

Biden's call comes amid ongoing legal jostling over the deadline to enact the ERA, which passed Congress in the early 1970s with a 1982 deadline to be enacted if 38 state legislatures voted to approve.





Read more: https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2022-01-27/biden-urges-congress-to-immediately-recognize-equal-rights-amendment

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Statement from President Biden on the Equal Rights Amendment

JANUARY 27, 2022 • STATEMENTS AND RELEASES

Today, as the House announces a resolution on the Equal Rights Amendment, I once again want to express my support for the ERA loudly and clearly. I have been a strong supporter of the ERA ever since I first ran for the Senate as a 29-year-old. We must recognize the clear will of the American people and definitively enshrine the principle of gender equality in the Constitution. It is long past time that we put all doubt to rest. I am calling on Congress to act immediately to pass a resolution recognizing ratification of the ERA. As the recently published Office of Legal Counsel memorandum makes clear, there is nothing standing in Congress’s way from doing so. No one should be discriminated against based on their sex—and we, as a nation, must stand up for full women’s equality.

[secondwind]

1. K&R!

[homegirl]

17. So

the party that protects every zygote, protects NO living woman or girl. Of course.

[turbinetree]

2. Just some background....

https://www.equalrightsamendment.org/era-ratification-map

[bullwinkle428]

3. The ERA was part of the REPUBLICAN PARTY PLATFORM, back in the 1970s!

Rachel Maddow brought this up on her show last night, which was part of the impetus for Reagan promising a woman would be his first SC nominee (Reagan was anti-ERA...I know, shocker).

[amb123]

10. Yes, the 1976 Platform.

When Reagan got the nomination in 1980, the ERA plank was removed.

"We're not talking about Equal Rights, we're talking about Women's Rights."

- Congressman & Future Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott

[Ray Bruns]

4. "we will pass the equal rights amendment when monkeys fly out of my but"

Mitch McConnell

[durablend]

5. "Not bipartisany enough"

Joe Manchin

[Budi]

7. "Lets not rush this..."

Susan Collins

[IronLionZion]

8. "it's a slippery slope to Republicans may use it against us in the future"

Kyrsten Sinema

[PoliticAverse]

6. Congress doesn't determine when an amendment has been ratified.

If it did, it could just bypass the requirement that stated ratify an amendment by passing a resolution that a proposed amendment was ratified immediately after passing a proposed amendment.

[thesquanderer]

12. Read the article linked to in the OP. And for more background, also...

...the one at https://www.newsweek.com/equal-rights-amendment-cant-ratified-judge-rules-case-could-head-supreme-court-1574206

[PoliticAverse]

15. I'm thoroughly familiar with the issue, having followed it since passage...

note that the OP article indicates..,.

the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration said it would abide by the Justice Department's legal opinion unless otherwise directed by a final court order.

The US NARA and courts decide when ratification has occurred.

[FBaggins]

9. The ERA isn't waiting on congressional "recognition"

The current problem is that the courts so far have said that the deadline expired years ago and no further ratifications have any effect.

Congress could try another extension (it's an open question whether they can "extend" something that is not currently active), but that couldn't be done with just a resolution.

[MichMan]

11. Apparently the administration's legal advisors don't think that matters

[FBaggins]

14. I wouldn't say so

I'd say instead that the administration's advisors (legal or otherwise) think it's politically advantageous to reopen the conversation in time for the coming election.

But Congress doesn't play a role in declaring an amendment to have been ratified - particularly after federal courts have said that it hasn't been.

What Congress could try is to pass legislation extending the deadline for ratification (assuming they could get past a filibuster), but that could still run afoul of the courts.

[calimary]

21. I find myself wondering how many of these ideas we could slip into the fine print

of other bills the GOP would not oppose too stridently.

If I were in Congress, I might be trying that on several bills, in several ways.

If they won't open the door, then can we slip it in through the mail slot? Or through the cat door? Or through a side window? Or... ?

[DemocraticPatriot]

24. Or make the GOP take credit for blocking ERA again, before the midterms

(regardless of all the legal minutae)

[PoliticAverse]

28. Forget the amendment itself, you can just make a resolution supporting what the amendment says...

and have Republicans vote against it.

[BadgerMom]

13. DO IT!!

I’ve given up hope that I’d see it in my lifetime. It would be sooo great!

[mcar]

16. Yes!

Thank you, Mr. President.

[Javaman]

18. I will now commence with the holding of my breath. nt

[Cha]

19. TY Pres Biden..

[LetMyPeopleVote]

20. Biden: "I am calling on Congress to act immediately to recognize the ratification of the ERA

Link to tweet

[FakeNoose]

22. That's a win for sure

I can't believe the Equal Rights Amendment is still hanging after all these years.

Makes me wonder why Chump didn't do this 5 years ago? It was the Repuke women who got him elected, after all.

[Polybius]

25. Until it gets struck down by the Supreme Court

The expiration date won't hold. RGB even said it.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg probably just dealt a fatal blow to the Equal Rights Amendment

[Scrivener7]

23. This is really remarkable. I do love him.

[Polybius]

26. So Biden disagrees with RGB that it will pass the court test?

Ruth Bader Ginsburg probably just dealt a fatal blow to the Equal Rights Amendment

[Martin68]

27. It's about F-ing time!