19th Amendment

Floor Speech

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Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, I thank all of my colleagues, particularly my colleague from Maine, Senator Collins, for her leadership on this issue and many others.

It is great to be here with our former colleague Senator Mikulski, who taught me how to be tough on the Appropriations Committee--if I could only be that tough.

I join my colleagues today to commemorate and celebrate the centennial anniversary of the 19th Amendment. We all know the history-- at least we should--and we have talked a lot about it today. We have heard the names in documentaries and have read about them in history books--Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, and so many others. These suffragists, these leaders paved the way for women to exercise their right to vote, changing history and the fabric of our Nation in the process. I think it goes without saying that this was no small or easy feat. In fact, it was a pretty tough fight, and it wasn't won overnight. It took a total of 9 years for the amendment to reach the Senate floor.

In 1887, the vote for suffrage was actually defeated--hard for us to imagine. I think experiencing legislative defeat is something we all have experience with in this body. But that was not the end. It certainly took too much time, and things started to really heat up around 1916. That year, the people of Montana made the monumental move of electing Jeannette Rankin to the House of Representatives. Interestingly enough, with a woman finally serving in Congress, it didn't seem so crazy that a woman should be able to have a say when it comes to who serves.

Eventually, the Senate passed the resolution proposing the 19th Amendment. The date was June 4, 1919, exactly 100 years ago. I am proud to say that both of West Virginia's Senators at the time, Senator Howard Sutherland and Senator Davis Elkins, voted in favor of the resolution--I would expect nothing more from tough mountaineer men--and that language was adopted and ratified to the Constitution on August 18, 1920, marking the moment that women were given the opportunity to have their voices heard at the ballot box.

Finally, our country was acknowledging that women had a voice and that their voice was needed to be a part of this democracy. Don't get me wrong--women were not instantly made political equals of men overnight, at least not in practice. Even today, despite making up more than half of the population, women do not make up half of the Congress, and that is something we are working hard on every day. Over the years, thanks to the pioneering efforts of the suffragists and others who came before them, we have made progress, yes, and we have celebrated many victories, from the very small to the very significant.

Just think, when I first came to Congress in 2001--I saw my colleague from Tennessee, but I don't believe she was here then--we had to work to just get a woman's restroom put in off the floor of the House of Representatives. Today, I am one of 127 women who have the honor of serving our districts and our States and our country in Congress. That is the most women to ever serve in the Congress. And across the Nation, there are countless future leaders. That is why I think this day is so important.

I am very proud of the history my home State of West Virginia has already made when it comes to having women participate in our democracy.

In 1951, Elizabeth Kee of Bluefield took the place of her husband, the Honorable Congressman John Kee, to be the first woman to represent West Virginia in the U.S. Congress.

I am also proud to say we have Carol Miller--another woman--on the other side representing our State.

Elizabeth Kee had been her husband's longtime secretary--which, by the way, is not allowed today--and actually stood up against party leaders who said she should retain her position as secretary for the incoming appointee. She didn't listen to that, thank goodness.

When the 26th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified in 1971, changing the voting age from 21 to 18, this was done at the dogged insistence of my predecessor, Senator Jennings Randolph. But a proud West Virginian, Ella Mae Thompson Haddix, was the first person in the United States of America--a young woman from West Virginia--to register to vote as an 18-year-old.

I am very honored to be the first woman to represent my State, and many of us are that in our States. With that honor, I feel a special obligation to help the next generation of young leaders. I started a program called West Virginia Girls Rise Up, and with that program, I travel and talk to fifth grade girls, encouraging them to set goals for themselves and then work to achieve them. We talk about what it means to be a leader in whatever career or field they love or are passionate about. My hope is that eventually these girls will grow into engaged citizens and leaders--not only women who vote but women who aren't afraid to run for office or run a boardroom or pursue a STEM career or anything else they might desire.

The 19th Amendment--hard fought--brought women more than just the right to vote; in many ways, it gave us women more courage to run, to advocate, and to lead.

I thank my colleagues for taking time today to celebrate the 19th Amendment, to celebrate civic-minded women, courageous women, and to celebrate that our country is stronger now and will be stronger in the future because women are voting and leading.

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