Representative Malinowski Votes To Facilitate Ratification Of The ERA

Statement

Today, Representative Tom Malinowski voted to pass H.J. Res. 79, a resolution to remove an arbitrary deadline previously set by Congress for states to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). This will help facilitate the timely ratification of the ERA as an amendment to the United States Constitution. Representative Malinowski is a cosponsor of this legislation.

The ERA states: "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of sex." The Amendment would give women in the United States a critical legal tool to overcome barriers to full equality, including pay discrimination, pregnancy discrimination, and sexual and domestic violence. It would provide a single, national baseline protection against sex discrimination across the country.

When Congress passed the ERA in 1972, it attached a 7-year ratification deadline to the preamble which was later extended three more years. By 1982, 35 states out of the required 38 states had voted to ratify the amendment. In the past three years, grassroots campaigns have successfully secured ratification votes in Nevada, Illinois, and most recently, Virginia.

"Today the ERA is one step closer to ratification," said Representative Malinowski. "The Constitution will not be a complete expression of our country's highest values until the rights and equality of women are enshrined within it."

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