Congresswomen Demand Action on Equal Rights Amendment

[niyad]

Congresswomen Demand Action on Equal Rights Amendment


Congresswomen Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), and Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) took to the House floor yesterday to urge for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which would grant constitutional protection from discrimination based on sex.

Citing “enduring bias and discrimination” against women, Congresswoman Watson Coleman emphasized that the ERA would provide constitutional grounding to enact more proactive legislation to protect women’s rights. In particular, Watson Coleman noted that the ERA would allow Congress to restore a provision of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) that allowed survivors to hold perpetrators and enablers of gender-based violence liable for damages, even if the state would not criminally prosecute. The Supreme Court invalidated this portion of VAWA in 2000, finding that Congress lacked the constitutional authority to enact the provision.

Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, the lead sponsor of the ERA in the House, joined Watson Coleman on the floor during the “special order hour.” Watson Coleman has pledged to use the special order hour, when members of the House can speak on any topic they wish, every month to highlight the ERA. “We’ll keep coming back until its done,” Watson Coleman pledged.

Maloney, who proclaimed women’s equality a “fundamental right,” used her time on the House floor to highlight gender-based pay discrimination and its impact on the financial stability of women and families, as well as its negative impact on economic growth. Women, on average, are still paid only 79 cents to a man’s dollar, but the pay gap is particularly onerous for some women of color. African American women, for example, are paid 60 cents, and Latinas only 55 cents, for every dollar paid to a white man, according to a report released last month by the U.S. Congressional Joint Economic Committee (JEC), of which Maloney is the ranking member.

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http://feminist.org/blog/index.php/2016/05/13/congresswomen-demand-action-on-equal-rights-amendment/