Dear John,
I am so thrilled to share this news with you! Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.J.Res. 79 removing the arbitrary timeline on the Equal Rights Amendment by a vote of 232-183, with five Republicans voting in favor of the resolution. This was the first time the ERA had been discussed on the House floor since 1978!
The U.S. House declared: there is no time limit on equality. How sweet it is! The U.S. House has acted swiftly to remove this arbitrary timeline. The removal of the timeline by the U.S. House is perfect—no time has been wasted since Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the ERA.
The amendment had been trapped in committee for 48 years without a floor vote. In 2020, finally after 401 years, the speaker of the Virginia House, the Majority Leader, and the co-sponsors of the ERA are all feminist women. Women won, women acted, and the ERA was passed!
In 1972, when the ERA was first approved by the U.S. House, only 3% of its membership was comprised of women representatives. Then it took 49 years of feminist activism for the Congress to act. Now that women are in the leadership of the House and 24% of its membership, it has acted in just a little over two weeks since the Virginia ratification. What a difference women in leadership make!
The ERA has overwhelming public support nationwide today. Some polls reveal that public support for the ERA is over 90%. It was never a matter of if, only when the ERA would be ratified. Women have fought long and hard for equal rights under the law. The ERA is a giant step forward for equality and justice for all.
Thank you for staying the in this fight with us. Progress is not always a straight line, but perseverance gets results! Today we celebrate, and tomorrow we get back to work on urging the Senate to follow the House's example and remove the arbitrary timeline on the ERA!
Onward to victory,
President, Feminist Majority
