Expressing Sense of Congress with Respect to Commemoration of Women Suffragists

EXPRESSING SENSE OF CONGRESS WITH RESPECT TO COMMEMORATION OF WOMEN SUFFRAGISTS -- (House of Representatives - July 25, 2005)

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Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join with my colleague in consideration of H.J. Res 59, expressing the sense of Congress with respect to the establishment of an appropriate day for the commemoration of the women suffragists who fought for and won the right of women to vote in the United States.

Mr. Speaker, the women's rights movement began in the mid-1800s when women such as Sarah Grimke, Angelina Grimke, Lucy Stone, Abby Kelly, Lucretia Mott, and Sojourner Truth found it necessary to speak out for women's rights because they were not allowed to participate equally with men in anti-slavery and temperance reform movements.

The right to vote was not their original focus. A convention held in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848 changed that. It was at that historic event that the women's suffrage movement formally began.

The movement culminated with the passage of the 19th amendment to the Constitution in 1920.

Suffragists employed a variety of arguments to press their case. Some argued from the basis of natural law, arguing equality for all. Some argued on the grounds that women were compelled to pay taxes on the property they owned and, therefore, should not be subject to the injustice of taxation without representation.

Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Lucretia Mott were among the most well-known suffragettes who pushed for a constitutional amendment. These women emerged as the leaders of the movement and helped to secure the right to vote for all women in America.

Mr. Speaker, I want to commend my colleagues, and specifically the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Berkley), for bringing this bill to the Floor today. We should never forget how our country has emerged to being a representative democracy, knowing full well that we have not totally achieved everything that we wants to achieve, but we are continuing to try and form a more perfect Union.

Mr. Speaker, I urge support for this bill.

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