Senators Collins, Feinstein Lead Bipartisan Commemoration of 100 Years of Women’s Right to Vote
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Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), the most senior Republican and Democratic female Senators, led a bipartisan tribute today commemorating the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment by the U.S. Senate. Senators from both sides of the aisle delivered remarks from the Senate floor to honor those who fought for women’s right to vote.
In addition to the floor event, the Senate is expected to vote on a resolution today, introduced by all 25 women Senators, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the passage and ratification of the 19th Amendment. Senators Collins and Feinstein have also joined their colleagues in introducing the Women's Suffrage Centennial Commemorative Coin Act, legislation that would authorize the Treasury Department to mint coins in honor of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. Additionally, Senators Collins and Feinstein led their female colleagues in sending a letter to the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee urging them to create a Women’s Suffrage Stamp.
“One of my inspirations in public service, Maine Senator Margaret Chase Smith, once addressed the question of what is a woman’s proper place. Her famous short answer was, ‘Everywhere.’ The rest of her answer describes the importance of the struggle and the success we celebrate today: she said, ‘If there is any proper place for women today, it is that of alert and responsible citizens in the fullest sense of the word,’” said Senator Collins. “It is a pleasure to join my colleagues in saluting those great, courageous, and persistent women who over many long decades, and through much difficulty, guided our nation to that proper place by giving women the long overdue right to be full citizens in this country.”
“From my legendary predecessors, Senators Margaret Chase Smith and Olympia Snowe, to current public servants like Governor Janet Mills and my colleagues Senator Susan Collins and Representative Chellie Pingree, to the women leading in communities from Kittery to Madawaska, Maine women have long made innumerable and invaluable contributions to our state’s public life,” said Senator Angus King (I-ME). “The door allowing these talented and dedicated public officials to serve opened 100 years ago, when America righted a wrong and took a step toward living up to our national values. By finally recognizing the inherent right of women to participate in their own government, our nation came closer to fulfilling Lincoln’s vision of ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people’; America is better because of this amendment and all of the important work that has been done by Maine women in the century since its enactment.”
Senators wore a yellow rose, donated by the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission, on their lapel throughout the day. The yellow rose, a symbol of the women’s suffrage movement, evokes the historic debate by the Tennessee legislature prior to becoming the final state to ratify the 19th Amendment in 1920. Those who supported women’s enfranchisement wore yellow roses, while antisuffragists wore red roses.
Following passage by the U.S. House of Representatives, the Senate, and three-fourths of the states, the 19th Amendment was added to the Constitution on August 26, 1920.
