August 26 is the 90^th Anniversary of Women Gaining the Right to Vote

NEW YORK – Congressman Charles Rangel released the following statement in celebration of Women’s Equality Day, on August 26, 2010, the 90th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote.

Thursday, August 26, marks the 90^th anniversary of the final ratification of the 19^th amendment to the Constitution, granting women the right to vote.  This day is recognized each year since 1971. Back then, just twelve women served in the House; and only one in the Senate. Today, in 2010, there are 76 women in the House and 17 in the Senate.

Those gains were facilitated by the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which guaranteed African Americans the right to vote.  In 1968, Shirley Chisholm became the first African American congresswoman when she was elected to represent a district in Brooklyn, and went on to become the first woman to run for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Today, there are 13 black women serving in the House, and six Latinas. Congresswomen Yvette Clarke and Nydia Velasquez are among the inspiring new generation of leaders representing New York in the U.S. Congress.  That same quality of leadership also distinguishes many women serving in state and local elected offices.

In the U.S. Congress, one needs look no further than the office of the Speaker of the House, where Speaker Nancy Pelosi is compiling an outstanding record of achievement.

Working with President Obama, she shepherded through Congress the landmark health care reform law–an achievement of historic proportions.  It ended the discriminatory practice of charging women higher insurance rates–due to their gender; and for the first time includes maternity care as an essential service.

My Democratic colleagues and I continue to fight for fairness and equality for America’s working women, which is even more critical now as many families find themselves relying solely on the mother’s paycheck.  Mothers are the primary breadwinners or co-breadwinners in two-thirds of American families.

The Lilly Ledbetter law, the first bill President Obama signed when he took office, provides women with the tools to fight pay discrimination in the workplace.  Still, too many women are working as hard or more than their male counterparts, but still earning less. That’s why the House passed the Paycheck Fairness Act and why the Senate needs to pass it as well.

As we mark the 90^th anniversary of a woman’s right to vote – and Equality Day – we celebrate the role that our sisters have played not only at the polls, but in every part of civic life. For our nation to reach its full potential, we need more women as public officials and even more of them engaged in creating and carrying out public policy. Their full participation can only  bring  greater progress not just for women and families, but for all members of our society.