Las Vegas, Nev. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) today released the following statement on Women’s Equality Day, which this year falls on the hundredth anniversary of the certification of the 19th Amendment of the Constitution granting women the right to vote.
“The Nineteenth Amendment marked a turning point in U.S. history, opening the door for women to participate more fully in the political process. Like other landmarks in our history, it created opportunity for some even as its full promise remained unfulfilled—many women of color were excluded from the ballot at the time of its passage. As I reflect upon the past 100 years of women’s access to the ballot, I’m proud to be part of a group of trailblazing firsts in America, and to stand alongside the inspirational women senators in history who represent both how far our nation has come and how much farther we intend to go. As we look forward to the next century of women’s suffrage, I challenge us to keep working so that all Americans have an equal chance to participate in our experiment in self-government, to earn a decent living, and to live lives of freedom and possibility.”
BACKGROUND:
To commemorate the centennial of the passage of the 19th Amendment, Senator Cortez Masto joined 23 of her female Senate colleagues in contributing to the Smithsonian Institution’s online exhibit on the anniversary of the 19th Amendment, entitled “Creating Icons: How We Remember Woman Suffrage.”
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