Since she was elected to the U.S. House of Representative in 1993, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney has immersed herself in women’s issues.
As lead House sponsor of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and author of the Smithsonian Women’s History Museum Act, which was recently signed into law, Maloney spoke on the House floor Wednesday in celebration of Women’s History Month.
She highlighted the ERA, the forthcoming Smithsonian Women’s History Museum, and the achievements women across the country have made in the advancement of equality.
“In 1921 — exactly 100 years ago, just after ratifying the 19th Amendment, the suffragists set their sights on another constitutional change. The vote was not enough for them; they knew we needed to put gender equality into our Constitution. And so, these women — among them [my] relative, Alice Paul — wrote the Equal Rights Amendment,” Maloney said. “It was first introduced in Congress in 1923, in celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the Seneca Falls Convention, the first women’s rights convention in our country. It was introduced in the House by Representative Daniel Anthony, nephew of the great suffragist leader Susan B. Anthony, to honor her work, as well as the work of many others like the great suffrage leader Elizabeth Cady Stanton, also of New York.
