>> the house will be in order. >> this year, c-span's celebrates 45 years covering congress like no other. since 1979, we've been your primary source for capitol hill. providing balanced, unfiltered coverage of government. taking you where the policies debated and decided all with the support of america's cable company. c-span, 45 years and counting. powered by cable. >> up next, senators ben cardin, kirsten gillibrand and representative jennifer mcclelland discuss the equal rights amendment at an event hosted by georgetown university law school. they argue for it to become a permanent part of the constitution and discuss its importance. this is about 40 minutes.

>> this is washington in action. as you know we have several people who are speaking but the first is definitely an important advocate for the 28th amendment. not the e.r.a., the 28th amendment. and it's particularly a pleasure because i just found out that someone i taught legislative procedure to is now the chief counsel for senator cardin. when i was visiting at the university of maryland. i want to introyou to an extraordinary advocate for the 28th amendment and equal rights, an extraordinary leader in the

fight for human rights around the globe, and a great senator for the great state of maryland, ben cardin. [applause] sen. cardin: professor, don't leave us. i want to thank you. i want to thank you. you did a great job on bill van horn. he's a really good chief counsel. so thank you for imparting into him what is necessary and we have a lot of procedural problems in the united states senate. i don't think -- i don't know if you noticed that or not. we thank you very much. helen rogers of my staff is also here. the staff do incredible work for us. i always want to acknowledge them. thank you for being here. thank you for what you. do i want to thank the sponsors. i want to thank you for putting this one on. i know my colleagues from the house of representatives will be here a little later on. they have some voting that

they're doing at this particular moment. it is a challenge because of the leadership in the house of representatives for them to get anything done. so hopefully they'll be able to move some legislation. i just really wanted to start by saying, 100 years is too long to wait on this thing. we've got to get the acknowledgment of the amendment as being part of the constitution. that's bottom line. i strongly support the efforts of senator gillibrand and representative bush are doing, my legislature, the maryland ledge slay sure has a resolution to acknowledge the equal rights amendment as par of our constitution. we need the states to weafnlgt need the white house to be a little more friendly toward the -- the view. there is nothing in the constitution of the united states, article 5, that talks about a time limit.

there is no time limit on equality. as we know the amendment before equal rights amendment was ratified was one dealing with congressional pay and that took about 200 and something years for that to become ratify. there's no time limit on the constitutional process. the 38 state ratified in 2000 with virginia. that's what is required in the constitution. the e.r. ample should be acknowledged as part of the constitution of the united states. and we're going to continue to work for that. in the meantime, we have other strategies that we are working with. the american people are on our side. you know that. every poll shows that the overwhelming majority of americans believe it's part of the constitution of the united states and support it as being

part of the constitution of the united states. so we have the american people on our side. it's urgent that we get this done. it's been over 100 years we've been -- not me personally but we've been fighting to get this as part of they have -- as part of the constitution with the ratification of the women's right to vote 104 years ago, we've been working on this issue ever since. and we've got to complete the job. it's urgent today. why sit urgent today? because we have runaway courts. we have runaway courts that are coming up with absurd interpretations of our constitution. we need a stricter interpretation as it relates to the rights, the equal rights amendment. and that's what it will give us. yet the dobbs decision puts a a big spotlight on this. but we're seeing other decisions that are eroding the rights. i never thought i'd see this. you know, the dobbs decision

erased rights that were embedded for 48 years. giving women the right to control their own destiny. their own health care decisions. but we have equal concern about what these rights will be for pregnant women, what the rights are going to be for violence against women. what the rights are going to be in regards to workplace, workplace safety issues. the list goes on and on and on that we need to have the protection of the strict interpretations as provided by the equal rights amendment being part of our constitution. so we really need to have that extra protection in the constitution. so where are we? the legislation i introduced over a decade ago to remove the time limit which has been done in the past, this is not something that h hasn't been done before. congress put a time limit on it. there's no requirement for a time limit. there's a certain argument that

we feel very passionately about, that that does not deny the ratification even at that time when it still remains in law. but we want to take that time limit out of law. to make it as clear as possible, to move this issue along. and we have seen that legislation pass the house of representatives in previous congresses. we want to get it passed again in the house of representatives. there's a discharge petition in order to make that a reality. in the united states senate we have 53 co-sponsors of that legislation. last time i checked, a majority of the senate is 51. so we had the majority of the senate, we have every single democrat, every single independent, we have senatormy kowskey and senator collins, it's bipartisan. we have that support. i want to thank senator durbin, senator during win held the first hearing on the equal

rights amendment last year. and it gave us the opportunity to establish the record, the clear record, about why the bill, resolution that i introduced should be passed. we then had a vote, thank you senator schumer for scheduling a vote on the floor of the united states senate. the majority of the senators voted in favor of moving forward to pass that legislation. senator schumer took steps so we can reconsider that at any time. we can reconsider that. we can have more votes this year on this issue. but because of the arcane use of the filibuster in the senate, and i know there are some areas that you might think it's important to slow down legislation, i do. but for 100 years this has gone well too long. there's fundamental legislation that the senate rules should allow us to vote on. and that's been denied in

regards to the legislation to clarify the enactment of the equal rights amendment. so we think that's an exception that should be made an exception. we should be able to get it passed in the senate. we've got to get it passed in the house and senate and signed by the president. we are determined to con this effort. we want to get it done this year. we know we need help. that's why i was so pleased that this forum is taking place. i want you to know we are open, we are part of this team. you have incredible leaders on the e.r.a. that are in this room who have been working on this issue. we applaud their efforts, they're keeping public attention on this. that's important. let me tell you how democracies work. they work on election day. to who you elect to office. this needs to be resolved, i hope before election day. if it's not then we should make sure that this becomes an issue in the vote -- that voters

understand who is on their side and who is not on their side and that this becomes an important issue to make sure that we have the right mind come the next year if we don't get it done this year to make sure we have this act knowledged as part of the constitution of the united states. thank you all. i understand we have some friendly questions. i always like friendly questions. >> thank you. i have the privilege of moderating this q&a. everyone queue up your questions for senator cardin. i'm the director of the equal rights amendment project at the columbia law school center for gender and disability law, thank you for being here. so as you see, we are joined by incredible advocates, youth leaders, elected officials, scholars, people in the private

sector, essentially representing everybody in society. what is your advice for people as a group of very different people, with different viewpoint to keep the moment up? sen. cardin: that's an important question. that's why we had the e.r.a. coalition and leadership. we try to focus our strategies together. we have at this stage several strategies that we're using. to get the legal acknowledgment that the e.r.a. is part of the constitution. that's being wage and two fronts. one to get a friendlier reaction from the administration on legal interpretations. and secondly, to bring this issue up in a judicial way where we think we could be successful in getting it acknowledged. so that's strategy one. we want -- we want us to be all focused on those strategies. strategy two is to get the legislation, the resolution that i sponsored along with two of my

colleagues, enacted into law. that would remove any doubt about the time limit that congress placed on the enacting legislation that allowed the states to vote on the ratification of the equal rights amendment. so that is our second avenue of efforts. in regards to the first, we do have legislation in that would acknowledge that the e.r.a. is part of the constitution. that we should be supportive as well. so put attention on that. and then lastly it's the rules of the -- of how we operate in the house and senate to put a focus on the fact that both bodies should be voting by majority vote on the equal rights amendment. if we do that, we think we can win the equal rights amendment on the floor of the house and the floor of the senate. so it's those strategies that we're trying to get everyone to be focused on. to get things done in this congress.

and then lastly, let me point out the need for education. education on two fronts. i'm happy everybody thinks the e.r.a. is part of the constitution but we need the public to understand we need to still take steps to make sure it's acknowledged as part of the constitution and becomes part of the constitution. so there's an educational process here. why is that important? we want to make sure that we have our constituencies asking the right questions of our candidates so they'll vote the right way so we can complete the job on the equal rights amendment. and then secondly, the importance of the ratification of the equal rights amendment. because most -- many americans say, you know, it's 2024. do we really need an equal rights amendment in the constitution? the answer is clearly yes. and we need to educate the public as to what's happening in our courts and the needs, the different scrutinies that are available if the equal rights

amendment becomes part of our constitution. >> hi, senator cardin. my name is katy, i led the advocacy group, the coalition of advocates in virginia for the virginia ratification. sen. cardin: congratulations. well done. >> thank you. many of us would love to see this important human rights discussion held in the larger understanding of our international reputation. in your final time as senator will you schedule a hearing about the e.r.a.? sen. cardin: that's an interesting point. i served as the chair of the helsinki commission, a group for

europe, central asia and north america. we have used that forum to point out that the united states is violating international standards by denying the citizens of the district of columbia full voting protections and representation in the united states congress and senate. and we have actually sponsored resolutions and those resolutions have passed the whole -- the united states out of step with the international community. i want to go over this with the e.r.a. coalition as to where we think the focus needs to be in regards to the united states senate before we use any of our senate mechanisms to put a spotlight on one strategy versus another. i also recognize that this is a little sensitive because it's democrat on democrat when we talk about what the white house is doing. so i -- this is an election year, in case you haven't noticed. it's a strategy decision that i

want to make along with the coalition. >> hi, senator. my name is claudia, i'm the deputy executive director at the young feminist party, a 14,000-strong youth-led movement to finalize the equal rights amendment. i'm also a proud marylander and i want to say young marylanders are so proud of you and your astounding leadership in the senate just pioneering the e.r.a. sen. cardin: i'm glad i recognized you for a question. >> i wanted to ask, so given your experience and expertise in the senate, what is your outlook regarding whether or not the e.r.a. will be passed in the senate, given the fact that the e.r.a. is not regular legislation, it's legislation relating to article 5 matters and shouldn't be subject to the

senate filibuster? sen. cardin: that's an excellent, excellent question. we have not been able -- we need 50 senator we don't need 51, we need 50 senators that are willing to allow senator schumer to make that interpretation and will support that interpretation. as of last count, we had a maximum, wasn't 100% sure we had that number but a maximum of 49. we did not have 50. and i say a maximum. i'm going to tell you i don't think we have 49. i think we're probably about -- if we get it to a vote we can lobby, i think we can get it up. but it's right now probably in the mid 40's that -- where we are on that type of an interpretation of our rules. so that's the pragmatic challenges we have. we need to have -- need to support senator schumer's

actions on that. senator sheumer is prepared to move forward if we can get to 50 vote, the vice president would be the 51st vote. whenever kamala harris votes in the senate we always win. always like having her there. it's a strategy that we're -- i don't think we should give up on. i think we should work to try to see if we can reach the finish line. in congress as you get closer and closer to the end of a session of congress, when certain senators will not be returning to the senate, it would be help to feel get this done this year. >> thank you. >> good afternoon, senator. my name is jake, i'm a student here a georgetown. i had a quick question looking forward. what are some prospective pieces of legislation that aren't feasible under the current constitutional framework that maybe would be possible after the 28th amendment is widely

recognized? sen. cardin: that's a good question. i think it's more to protect than it is affirmative passing. it's an excellent question. i have to give it a little more thought. we're right now struggling in regards to some court interpretations that are affecting affirmative action, affecting the use of demographic data, etc. that is really causing tremendous challenge dealing with underrepresented communities, underserved communities. so i would have to give that some thought as to whether we want to adopt any additional affirmative protections in regards to the equal rights amendment. my guess is that there would be an evaluation made and there would probably be an effort for legislation because we can go further than we've gone in the past. it's not a protected class under the constitution so therefore we do not have the same rights that

we have on race. it is an issue that i think we'd have to evaluate. it's a good question. >> so i think we're nearly at time. i guess i'll close by asking you what your plans are for post-senate and what are your plans to advocate for the e.r.a. or gender justice as a civilian? sen. cardin: you know, thank you for that. i can assure you that as i tell people who think that i might be retiring, i'm not retiring. i'm just not running for re-election. i've been extremely fortunate. i've had a chance to serve in the maryland general assembly, speaker of the maryland house, served in the howps and now the united states senate. it's been an incredible journey. i thank the people of maryland for allowing me to do this. i started as a law student. i don't necessarily recommend that to the law students who are here.

of course columbia is in the city. so you're close to -- you're far away froalbany so that would be a heavy commute. but i was a maryland law student when i ran for the maryland legislature, was elected and served during my third year in law school. it's been a long run. i appreciate the support i've received from the people of maryland. so i do intend to stay active. i will follow the priorities i have, one of those is the equal rights amendment. i tend to be actively engaged to see it completed. i hope it's completed in my term as senator. if it's not i'll continue to work in that effort. i'll work on the environment. i'll work on human rights issues. i'm going to work on those issues that i think are ones that i can give some value to the policy development of our nation. so i've been heavily engaged in human rights issues and heavily engaged in the environment. i loe baltimore, probably try to do things to help my beloved

city. thank you all very much. [applause] >> everyone, enjoy your lunches, we are awaiting the arrival of representatives cory bush and ayana pressley. >> i believe in the interim we have video remarks from senator gillibrand who has also been invested in the e.r. ample effort and a gender champion particularly involving women in the military, gender violence, so we're going to play that video now. i hope. [video clip] >> i'm senator kristen gillibrand, i'm honored to join you all at the equal rights

conference. it's great to have the best and brightest pushing to make the e.r.a. our 28th amendment. i'm proud to be the nat lead on the e.r.a. now resolution which deems the e.r.a., the 28th amendment, to the constitution and directs the archivist of the united states to certify and publish the e.r.a. it's well past time. women have waited far too long for our constitution rereflect the will of the american people. the e.r.a. should already be the law of the land. it was passed by a 2/3 majority of congress and ratified by three fourths of the states. it has satisfied all the requirements under article 5 to become a part of our constitution. and yet, it's the only constitutional amendment that has ever met these strict requirements to be discriminated against and blocked from being certified and published. donald trump's administration

intentionally inserted itself into this process to deny equality to millions of americans base and a flawed and inconsistent legal theory that equates to political conjecture. the memo drafted by the office of legal counsel relies primarily on a 1921 supreme court case that was actually made moot by the enactment of the 27th amendment. it said all constitutional amendments had to be done in a timely, reasonable amount of time but the 27th amendment took 203 years to be ratified and certified after it was initially proposed. article 5 is clear about the appropriate separation of powers. congress proposes amendments. states ratify them. we cannot allow a trump era legal memo to dictate that women are second class citizens under the law. i want to be clear on what's at risk. without roe and without a

federal guarantee of sex equality, state legislatures and courts have the final say on whether women and girls have a right to privacy, bodily autonomy or to make their own medical decisions. our fundamental rights should not be determined by our zip code. we have seen how successful equal rights amendments can be in fighting against attacks on women's reproductive health. just this year, state level e.r.a.'s in pennsylvania and nevada provided the constitutional basis to challenge state abortion restrictions in medicaid coverage. imagine what a federal equal rights amendment could secure for all americans. i'm proud to work with you on this incredible and herculean effort. i know that we are closer now than ever to seeing a federal equal rights amendment become the law of the land. and i will continue to push forward to any legal or legislative avenues to get this done.

women have waited lock enough. we need to have the e.r.a. certify and publish intad our constitution. thank you all for being parking lot of this historic fight for equality. >> thank you very much. for purpose of our videoed or of this amazing event we'll have a video of representative mcclellan's moving remarks for those of you who weren't here at the beginning. she has an extraordinary story

about her work in my home state of virginia, and she's now the first black woman elected from the commonwealth of virginia to the house of representatives. [video clip] >> greetings, i'm congresswoman mcclelland, i have -- mcclellan. i'm the first black woman elected to congress from the commonwealth of virginia. i am the daughter, granddaughter, and great granddaughter of educators, domestic workers, community leaders and civil rights activists who struggled for equality in the jim crow south. my great grandfather was born shortly after the civil war on a plantation where his parents had been enslaved. shortly after reconstruction he had to pass a literacy test and find three white men to vouch for him just to be able to register to vote. but my great grandmother couldn't vote. my grandfather and father had to pay poll taxes to cast their ballots.

my mother comes from generations of domestic workers who were often overlooked and underpaid despite the vital role they played in our society. and while my father voted at the age of 22, my mother couldn't vote until well into her 30's after the passage of the voting rights act of 1965. my family faced tremendous obstacles to exercise the fundamental right to vote yet they never wavered in their commitment to our political practice or their desire to create a better future for the next generation. after nearly two decades in elected office i have carried these stories with me. stories that inspire me to do my part to create a more just future. when i was in the virginia house of commons i was one of just 20 women in the room out of 100. i felt that imbalance when i

became the first member to become preg that night and give birth while serving. a male representative asked me, are you going to retire? a man who became a father within months of that was not asked the same question. from the very beginning the women's rights movements included women of color on the front lines even when we were the last to benefit. black women marged for the right to vote in 1913. even when told to march in the back. black women marched from the u.s. capitol to the lincoln memorial in 1963 even when not given a speaking role. throughout the course of history, black women have been interlopers in the fight for --

have been i want grale in the fight for equality. while in the virginia general assembly i was part of a multigenerational group of black women lawmakers who came together to make virginia the 38th and final state needed to ratify the alle call rights amendment. it was poetic justice that our commonwealth, the birth place of american democracy and birth place of american slavery was the state to bring the e.r.a. across the finish line. it was a feat that the first woman to arrive in jamestown 400 years earlier could never imagine. in 1619 the men of jamestown realized they needed women to make virginia a permanent settlement. so they actively recruited women to, quote, make wives of their inhabitants and in 1620, the first 90 women arrived on the shores of virginia and their rights were surrendered to their

husbands. they could not vote. they could not own property. black women were considered property and had even fewer rights. 156 years later thomas jefferson wrote in the declaration of independence that all men were created equal and endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. thomas jefferson most certainly did not include me in that declaration. 72 years later, elizabeth cady stanton wrote women -- in the declaration of sentiment she wrote all men and women were created equal. in 1787 the constitution created a government by, of, and for we the people but we did not include everybody. it took 81 years to begin ex-tanding that promise beyond white men. in 1868, the 14th amendment promised equal protections under the law but women still did not

experience that reality. in fact, the 14th amendment added the first mention of gender into the constitution. declaring all male citizens over 21 should be able to vote. it took another 52 greers the 19th amendment to grant women that right. and three years later, the equal rights amendment was introduced. and we are still fighting to publish it in the constitution. the states have done their part. and i was proud of my role in that fight. now in congress, i am still fighting to enshrine gender equality under the law into the constitution. as vice chair of the first ever congressional e.r.a. caucus, as the first black woman to represent virginia in congress, and as a mother to two young children i will continue fighting to do my partner next generation -- so the next generation is not left fighting the same battle our mothers, grandmothers and great grandmothers fought.

as we witness widespread, systematic attacks reproductive freedom, access to the ballot box and other perm freedom it is imperative we take immediate action to make gender equality the law of the land. this congress i signed a discharge petition to demand an immediate vote on e.r.a. caucus co-chair ayana pressley's resolution to remove the arbitrary ratification deadline for the e.r.a. and enshrine it into law. i will continue my efforts until the e.r.a. is published as the 28th amendment in the united states constitution. because we owe it to our daughters and our granddaughters as well as our mothers, our grandmothers and great grandmothers. i thank columbia law school and georgetown university law center for your work on the equal rights amendment project and for creating space for today's discussion. today -- together we will continue doing our part in the march for gender equality under the law.

>> thanks so much. that was an amazing journey to her place in the house of representatives. now we are waiting for representatives pressley and bush who are the co-chairs of the one of the largest caucuses in the congress. and they have had votes. but to all my students who are here in my legislation class where i teach about congress you should have noted two things. one, senator cardin's yen counsel, chief counsel is one of my former students. one. two. that this matters to how the world works. so congress, what you've heard

so far, is that congress has other roles to play than you thought. under article 5, it does have the role to propose and ultimately in our view decide about these procedural questions involving ratification. that's very, very important. you know, the founders put the congress in article 1 for a reason. they knew that their old systems in the states had not worked particularly well. so they changed some of their -- the constitutional articles of the state constitutions that they had come from the colony. so they added something called the president in article 2. and courts only come in article 3. they did ask why congress put them in the basement of the capitol for a very, very long time. indeed, when they built the marble palace, the supreme court of the united states, several

people did not want to even have their offices in there because they thought it was much too posh during the middle of the depression. so i think at law school we teach you courts, courts, courts, courts, courts. but the reason that the dean was here, particularly at our law school, is we teach you that the constitution is also about you. about elections. about the congress. about the presidency. because we can get rid of courts. there are other nations that don't have a court like ours. they still have a democracy. and that's worth fighting for. so thanks for that. we will get back here when we have representatives pressley and bush. as they're on their way. thanks for your patience. [applause]