100th Anniversary of Passage of the Nineteenth Amendment

Floor Speech

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Ms. SANCHEZ. Madam Speaker, today marks the 100th anniversary of the House passage of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote.

It is hard to think that, 100 years later, for most of our Nation's history, including my grandmother's and great-grandmother's generations, women contributed to the building of our Nation but lacked this basic civil right.

In America, your vote is your voice; it is what makes all of us equal. We each have one vote. Voting is one of the most important things that you can do as a citizen.

When the 19th Amendment passed over 100 years ago, only one woman served in the United States House of Representatives. When I began my congressional career here in 2003, 60 women were serving in the House.

Today, I am proud to serve in the House with 127 women, including 14 other Latinas. That, my friends, is progress.

While we have made significant improvements to expand the representation of women in our political system, we still have a long way to go. So let us honor this anniversary by committing ourselves to continuing the unfinished work toward achieving full equality for women in this country.

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