On 2nd Anniversary of Virginia Ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment, Warner & Kaine Announce Cosponsorship of Bipartisan Bill to Affirm ERA Ratification
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine announced their cosponsorship of bipartisan legislation to remove the deadline to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which would expressly prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex in the U.S. Constitution. This bipartisan, bicameral resolution was first introduced by Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and U.S. Representatives Jackie Speier (D-CA) and Tom Reed (R-NY) introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives. The resolution passed the House of Representatives in 2020, but did not receive a vote in the Senate.
“We’re proud that two years ago today Virginia became the 38th and final state needed to ratify the ERA, meeting the requirement to enshrine equal rights in our Constitution,” said the Senators. “Congress must act now to remove the arbitrary time limit standing in the way of the ERA. We must live up to our nation’s promise of equality.”
In January 2020, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the ERA, which was first proposed in 1972. Congress has the authority under Article V of the Constitution to set and change deadlines for the ratification of constitutional amendments, and has done so on numerous occasions. For instance, in 1992, the 27th Amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting immediate congressional pay raises, was successfully ratified after 203 years. That amendment was initially proposed as part of the original Bill of Rights in 1789.
Click here to read the full text of the resolution.
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