Today in Herstory: Will the House Soon Be Forced to Vote on the ERA? (5 jan 1944)
(and SEVENTY years later, we are still waiting for ratification)
Today in Herstory: Will the House Soon Be Forced to Vote on the ERA?
January 5, 1944: This looks like a great year for the Equal Rights Amendment.
Rep. Pat Cannon, Democrat of Florida.
There were already a number of reasons for optimism, but an announcement today greatly increased the chances of a vote by both Houses of Congress. Representative Pat Cannon, Democrat of Florida, said that he intends to get enough signatures on a discharge petition (218 out of 435 House members) to get the amendment out of the House Judiciary Committee and force a vote in the full House. It has already been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, and there are no remaining obstacles to a vote by the entire Senate.
Today’s announcement comes at a particularly opportune time, because momentum for passage of the E.R.A. is increasing, and this should give it a further boost. In the beginning of the struggle, the sole supporter of the E.R.A. was the National Woman’s Party. It called for “absolute equality” at its first national convention after winning the vote, and in July, 1923, used the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls to announce the text of the E.R.A., and that it would be introduced in Congress later that same year.
The original wording of the E.R.A. was: “Men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction.” The wording was changed last year and Section One now reads: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” Section Two says: “Congress and the several States shall have power, within their respective jurisdictions, to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.” Section Three reads: “This amendment shall take effect five years after the date of ratification.”
Over the past 21 years, many organizations have endorsed the E.R.A. In its 1940 Platform, the Republican Party called for “An amendment to the Constitution providing for equal rights for men and women,” and a drive will be made again this summer to get Democrats to follow suit in their 1944 Platform. Twenty-four national organizations now officially favor the Equal Rights Amendment, the most prestigious of which is the National Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs. All two dozen groups have banded together into the Women’s Joint Legislative Committee for Equal Rights in order to coordinate their efforts.
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http://feminist.org/blog/index.php/2015/01/05/today-in-herstory-will-the-house-soon-be-forced-to-vote-on-the-era/
