Los Angeles City Council address June 27, 2012

30th Anniversary of the ERA Deadline
June 30, 1982 – June 30, 2012

Thank you Councilman Garcetti and the Los Angeles City Council,

Thank you for inviting me to speak to you today marking the 30th anniversary of the ERA deadline.  It is a particularly memorable day for me as 30 years ago today I was ending a 37 day water only fast in the Illinois State House for the ERA. 

 While our military travels to the Middle East and offers so much to assure that women are included in foreign Constitutions, American women have yet to be explicitly included in ours.  The Equal Rights Amendment has been introduced into every US Congress since 1948 and is there today, in the 112^th,  languishing in both the House and Senate Judiciary. 

 You may find it surprising to know that that 96% of Americans are in favor of the ERA and 72% think it passed.  In fact, in all my years of working to ratify the ERA, this is the single biggest obstacle; people actually believe it passed 30 years ago and I , for one, do not blame them as it does seem reasonable.    

I am often asked what can we do to advance the passage of the ERA.
I always say there are two things:

       1 Tell people that it did not pass.
       2 Live as if it did.

Thank you for this opportunity to state in the most prestigious company of the Los Angeles City Council, on the 30th anniversary of the ERA deadline, That the United States Constitution still does not include the Equal Rights Amendment.
Thank you (end)

TWO STRATEGIES in Congress:
The original ERA with no deadline ~ Maloney/Menendez ~
Senate Bill 21 & House Bill 69

Remove the Deadline ~ Baldwin/Cardin ~
Senate Bill 39 & House Bill 47 

My position is very simple – I support ALL STRATEGIES.  I have zero interest in speaking against any strategy.  There is nothing to be gained by speaking against either strategy, everything to gain by supporting both. 

ERA Once and For All ~ mission statement:
   support all strategies for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment
   distribution of information on the current status of the ERA
   education on the history of the ERA