Women's Suffrage
Floor Speech
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Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, let me turn to the fight--the century fight for women's suffrage, the right to vote, the right to be treated equally, the right to be heard. It is a history that is long and interesting, sometimes very colorful.
I have had an opportunity these past couple of weeks to be reading a collection of stories about how women in the West worked to really be the vanguards, if you will, on the suffrage movement. You don't necessarily hear them spoken to with great frequency, but, in fairness, it is many of those Western States--it was Wyoming that was the first mover.
So reading some of their stories was a good reminder--a good reminder--of the role that many in Alaska have also played. We have been relatively progressive when it comes to women's rights--so progressive that many Alaskan women received equal voting rights with men in 1913. This was 7 years before the 19th Amendment was ratified. Alaska was still a territory and was still going to be a territory for a long time going forward.
The sorry and the sad part of that history, though, was that not all Alaskan women were given that right to vote. Alaskan Native women were excluded. They were excluded based on citizenship and civility assessment as well as literacy tests that prevented Alaska Natives--not just the women but some Native men--from voting for several more decades.
We recognize through a State day of observation and recognition the work of Elizabeth Peratrovich, an Alaska Native woman from Southeastern Alaska, who was the driving force behind our first antidiscrimination law. This was back in 1945, nearly 20 years before Congress passed the Civil Rights Act.
This year, on the 75th anniversary of the bill's passage, the U.S. Mint has actually created a gold coin in her honor. As you look at that coin and reflect on her role, on the significance of that proud, strong, fierce Native woman leader, you can't help but be proud of her.
The fight for women's suffrage was waged, as we know, for decades and decades. But again, the women in the West led the way.
As I was reading the recount of the Alaska suffrage initiative, it was reflected that the women in Alaska didn't really have to work that hard to get it; that it was just ``provided'' to them. I think there is more to that history than that, but a newspaper publication at the time, The Daily Alaskan, in 1904, argued that while women's suffrage might be disfavored as a general proposition, the merits were different in Alaska.
And he says the women there ``are brave and noble helpers in the development of a frontier country'' and ``not the pampered dolls of society.''
So today it still probably holds true that we have some pretty strong women in Alaska. We own and operate fishing vessels. We work as oil rig operators, diesel mechanics. We have some extraordinary Alaskan women, industry leaders leading our Alaska Native corporations, leading our oil companies. We are leaders in education and advocates for children and seniors and victims of domestic violence. They truly have helped not only our State but our country.
The 100th Anniversary of Women's Suffrage is a reminder of the progress that we have made as a nation. But we know that we have more to do and that inequities remain whether in the workforce or pay equality. Continuing that work is a matter that we have not relaxed on. That work includes getting the Equal Rights Amendment signed into law.
The Equal Rights Amendment was first written and introduced by Alice Paul at a conference commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Seneca Falls Convention in 1923. But it wasn't until 1972 that the ERA passed through Congress and was sent to the States with a 7-year deadline for ratification that was eventually extended until 1982.
It is a pretty simple amendment. It is pretty short. ``Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.'' That is the Equal Rights Amendment, in addition to the implementing provisions following that. But that is the context.
In Alaska, I am proud to say that we were one of the early adopters, having ratified the Equal Rights Amendment on April 5, 1972. More recently, Virginia became the 38th State to have ratified the amendment, which brings us to the three-fourths threshold needed for ratification. Unfortunately, this milestone was reached after the deadline for ratification. It had already expired, so Senator Cardin and I have introduced a resolution, S.J. Res. 6, which would remove the time limit from the joint resolution that passed the Congress in 1972.
I have asserted time and again--and Senator Cardin, so many--we have said that you cannot put a time limit on women's equality. It has been 100 years since women were granted the equal right of voting. Women's equality is fundamental to the American way of life, and it is far past time to be expressly recognized in the Constitution.
I thank Senator Cardin for his leadership in working on this resolution with me and all the Members of Congress who fought with us in support of the ERA. I thank the advocates who continue to call their Senators, call their Congressmen, who lift their voices to support this important cause. We have work to do. We will continue that work.
I want to note that my colleague Senator Cardin was here on the floor, was planning to speak on this matter today, but our time schedules got compressed, so his statement has been included as part of the Record. I want to acknowledge the good work and the partnership that we have on this.
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