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Congress Supports Day of Commemoration for Women Suffragists

On July 25, the House approved, 378-0, a resolution (H. J. Res. 59) expressing the sense of Congress that an appropriate day of commemoration should be established for the women suffragists who worked for the right of women to vote in the United States. The Senate approved the resolution, by unanimous consent, on July 28. It will now go to the White House for President Bush’s signature.

Sponsored by Rep. Shelly Berkley (D-NV), the resolution contains a number of findings, including:

  • One of the first public appeals for women’s suffrage came when Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton called a women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York, on July 19, 1848;
  • In 1869, suffragists formed two national organizations to work for the right to vote: the National Woman Suffrage Association and the American Woman Suffrage Association;
  • In 1872, Susan B. Anthony voted in the presidential election in Rochester, New York, and was arrested and fined for voting illegally;
  • The United States Senate voted on women’s suffrage for the first time on January 25, 1887; and
  • On August 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution granted women in the United States the right to vote.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) said that the resolution “intends to commemorate the struggle waged by suffragists such as Sojourner Truth, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony,” adding that “the determination of these women was as strong and has endured as any in our history. To earn the right to vote, these women chained themselves to the White House gates. They went on hunger strikes. They participated in marches and often were arrested and jailed for their disobedient action. Despite the difficult obstacles and resistance they faced, suffragists remained committed to giving women [an] equal voice in American politics. Their victory was finally secured when Secretary of State Colby certified the ratification of the 19th amendment to the United States Constitution on August 26, 1920. The joint resolution under consideration marks the 19th amendment’s upcoming 85th anniversary on August 26.”

Noting that the women’s rights movement began because women were not allowed to participate equally with men in anti-slavery demonstrations, Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL) explained that earning the right to vote was not the focus of the movement until 1848. He also said that 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…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 want to achieve, but we are continuing to try and form a more perfect Union.”