Equal Rights Amendment - Reintroduced
Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.
The Equal Rights Amendment was first introduced into congress in 1923. It was finally passed in 1972, but ultimately fell just three states short of the 38 needed for ratification in 1982. The ERA was reintroduced into congress on July 21, 2009. Let your representatives know it is time to fully ratify this amendment! Read more.
Alice Paul
Author of the
Equal Rights Amendment
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
"I sign this bill for my daughters, and all those who will come after us, because I want them to grow up in a nation that values their contributions, where there are no limits to their dreams and they have opportunities their mothers and grandmothers never could have imagined."
- President Barack Obama
Lilly Ledbetter found out that after working for the Goodyear Tire Company for 19 years, she was earning 20% less than her male co-workers. This began a ten year fight for equal pay for equal work, that went all the way to the Supreme Court.
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was the first piece of legislation signed by President Obama. It helps to ensure that individuals subjected to unjust wage discrimination are able to more effectively assert their rights.
The White House Council on Women and Girls
On March 11, 2009, President Obama signed an executive order creating the White House Council on Women and Girls.
He said, "Today, women make up a growing share of our workforce and the majority of students in our colleges and our law schools. Women are breaking barriers in every field, from science and business to athletics and the Armed Forces.
...But at the same time, when women still earn just 78 cents for every dollar men make; when one in four women still experiences domestic violence in their lifetimes; when women are more than half of our population, but just 17 percent of our Congress; when women are 49 percent of the workforce, but only 3 percent of our Fortune 500 CEOs - when these inequalities stubbornly persist in this country, in this century, then I think we need to ask ourselves some hard questions.
... when any of our citizens cannot fulfill their potential because of factors that have nothing to do with their talent, their character, their work ethic, that says something about the state of our democracy. It says something about whether we're honoring those words put on paper more than two centuries ago - whether we're doing our part, like generations before us, to breathe new life into them in our time.
That, above all, is the true purpose of our government. Not to guarantee our success, but to ensure that in America, all things are still possible for all people. Not to solve all our problems, but to ensure that we all have the chance to pursue our own version of happiness. To give our daughters the chance to achieve as greatly as the women who join us today. That's the impact our government can have."
-President Barack Obama
March 11, 2009