WASHINGTON –The journey to equality must push forward. On Tuesday, February 28, 2023, Illinois Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton, along with constitutional experts, ERA advocates, and U.S. senators testified before the full Senate Judiciary Committee at a hearing entitled, “The Equal Rights Amendment: How Congress Can Recognize Ratification and Enshrine Equality in Our Constitution.”

Stratton’s testimony focused on the need to give concrete voice and constitutional protection against gender discrimination regardless of race or socioeconomic background. She highlighted the entrenched disparities that continue to impact women, particularly women of color, that bring urgency to the efforts for gender equality.

“We simply cannot be our best selves as Americans, if we don’t proactively and intentionally seek ways to strengthen freedoms,” Stratton said.

In 2018, then-State Representative Juliana Stratton joined a bipartisan vote to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment in Illinois. When combined with the ratifications of Virginia and Nevada, the constitutional threshold required for it to become part of the Constitution was met.

On January 31, 2023, Chair and U.S. Senator Dick Durbin joined a bicameral, bipartisan group of his colleagues to unveil the introduction of a joint resolution affirming the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.

Stratton is raising her voice, not only as Lt. Governor, but as the mother of four daughters, and for the generations of women and girls to come, who deserve to be seen as equals. Please find key quotes from her testimony and background on the ERA.

KEY STRATTON QUOTES AS DELIVERED

 “We live with the stark reality that despite being the most educated demographic in the United States, Black women are only paid 64 cents for every dollar paid to white men. There should be stronger remedies to make sure women, all women, are paid an equal wage based on their abilities and qualifications without discrimination based on sex.”

“We are seeing the eroding of women’s rights and their ability to determine what is best for their futures. Recent events have shown us all too well how easily decades of progress can be erased when our rights are not guaranteed by the Constitution.”

“Make no mistake: Should the ERA pass, it will not guarantee that women will be treated equally overnight. We all know, for example, that the struggle continues for racial justice and equal rights for Black people and other people of color under the 14th Amendment and women will also need to remain vigilant. But we need a firm foundation for equality that is long overdue.”

ON BACKGROUND

The Equal Rights Amendment was first introduced 100 years ago to codify gender equality. Since 1923, the constitutional amendment was introduced in every session of Congress until it passed in 1972 in both the House and Senate. Congress then placed an arbitrary seven-year deadline on the ratification process before extending the deadline to 1982, but only 35 states ratified the ERA before the arbitrary deadline. However, with the recent ratifications of the ERA by Nevada in 2017, Illinois in 2018, and Virginia in 2020, the number of state ratifications necessary for certification of the ERA to become the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution has now been reached.

Ratifying the ERA, which states, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of sex,” would affirm women’s equality in the Constitution, enshrining the principle of women’s equality and an explicit prohibition against sex discrimination in the nation’s foundational document.

As the 28th Amendment, the ERA would serve as a new tool - for Congress, for federal agencies, and in the courts - to advance equality in the areas of workforce and pay, pregnancy discrimination, sexual harassment, and violence, and so much more. Enshrining this protection in the Constitution also ensures enduring protections for all Americans across the country. It would also signal to the courts that they should apply a more rigorous level of review to laws and government policies that discriminate on the basis of sex, making it more likely for them to be struck down.