Ahead Of Senate Vote, Durbin Calls On His Colleagues To Support The Equal Rights Amendment
Floor Speech
"The language of it [ERA] is so expressed and so clear that most people in the United States really would be surprised to know it's not already in the Constitution--no discrimination against people on the basis of sex. Most people assume that's the fact, but it's not. We have to do something about it. The Equal Rights Amendment is literally a century in the making, and over the years, generations of Americans have done their part to push it forward. They've marched on Washington, they've met with Congressmen and Senators, and as of 2020, they've crossed a crucial threshold--ratification of the ERA in 38 states. That's the exact number of states needed to certify it as the 28thAmendment to the U.S. Constitution.
So now it's time for lawmakers in Congress to do our part in supporting the ERA. We need to clear a path for equality. And this proposal, this bipartisan proposal from Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland and Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, is our chance to do it. It will remove the arbitrary deadline Congress imposed on ERA ratification more than 50 years ago and removing that deadline has never been more important.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Right now, women all across America are living with the reality that their fundamental freedoms are under attack. In the months since the disastrous Dobbs decision, millions of Americans have been robbed of their reproductive rights. Without ERA protections, even basic rights like reproduction are on the chopping block--protections against discrimination in the workplace, in the classroom, even in the courtroom. Unless women's rights are explicitly protected under the Constitution, there's nothing stopping the right-wing majority on the Court from ripping them away. That's why Congress must restore and protect women's rights in all facets of life.
If we want to live up to the promise of America, we need to protect the rights of every American. Let's start with the ERA."
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