Perhaps you’ve noticed that there is a great deal of movement and momentum around the Equal Rights Amendment! This year, the 100th anniversary of the ERA, is the year this journey will be completed. We have very exciting plans coming up around the ERA Centennial and we will be letting you know all about them very soon. In the meantime, however…
It is our understanding that the
Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on the ERA the next few weeks.
We must act fast to make sure the messaging is on point!
EQUAL MEANS EQUAL is a proud active member of the National ERA Publication Task Force which is taking the lead in pushing for immediate action to safeguard the work and democratic will of millions of women and our allies spanning the past century.
EME is grateful to Nicole Vorrasi Bates of Shattering Glass and Jean Sweeney of Rethinking Eve for their diligent work alongside us to get the ERA published right away, as is required by law.
We need all EQUAL MEANS EQUAL members to take action NOW to ensure that these Senators understand that the ERA is presently ratified and we want women’s equality enshrined in our Constitution immediately.
Here is how you can help get the ERA over the finish line, guaranteeing equality for all and protecting reproductive rights:
- Email and call each of the Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee;
- Write on the Contact Pages of the Members;
- Post the letter you send on the social media of each Member; and
- Share this with others and ask them to do the same
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
At the end of January, two identical resolutions were introduced in Congress
H.J.Res.25 and S.J.Res.4, to affirm the validity of the Equal Rights Amendment (“ERA”) as the 28th Amendment.
Specifically, the resolutions provide:
Notwithstanding any time limit contained in House Joint Resolution 208, 92d Congress, as agreed to in the Senate on March 22, 1972, the article of amendment proposed to the States in that joint resolution is valid to all intents and purposes as part of the United States Constitution having been ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States.
The resolutions are intended to urge immediate publication of the ERA as the 28th Amendment, which has been blocked by the Trump and Biden Administrations. The resolutions affirm the validity of the ERA, thereby addressing any doubt cast by opponents of equality for all and reproductive rights, who argue that the arbitrary deadline contained in the preamble to the proposed Amendment is valid.
How you can help:
EMAIL/CALL SENATORS – please email the letter below to each of the Senators at the addresses listed. You may use this letter or tailor it as you see fit. The key is to express the need for the Senators to make it abundantly clear that the ERA is the 28th Amendment and should be published and that S.J.Res. 4 is designed to urge publication and remove any doubt cast upon the ERA’s validity by the opponents of equality and reproductive rights.
Sample Letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Members
Dear Senator:
I am writing regarding the upcoming hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the Equal Rights Amendment.
As you are aware, the ERA has been ratified by the requisite states and is the 28th Amendment. However, it has yet to be published, as it has been blocked by the Trump and Biden Administrations, due to a purported deadline in the preamble to proposed amendment. A deadline deemed invalid by hundreds of constitutional scholars.
The failure to publish the ERA has subjected the rights of women, girls and LGBTQIA+ people to ever increasing attack. Subjecting women legislators to draconian dress codes. Forcing transgender students to use the restroom assigned to their biological sex. Permitting public charter schools to require girls to wear skirts. Even allowing domestic abusers to possess firearms! And these are just a few examples from the first few weeks of this year.
We need the ERA now more than ever! It is the most powerful tool available to right these wrongs. To guarantee equality for all, free from the whims of anti-equality politicians and judges. To protect women from domestic violence. To restore reproductive rights. To guarantee equal pay. To end gender and pregnancy discrimination and more.
As a result, this upcoming hearing and related messaging crucial. The key points are as follows:
• The ERA was passed (overwhelmingly!) by Congress in 1972. It does not need to be passed;
• The ERA has been ratified by the required number of states. It does not need to be ratified;
• The ERA is duly ratified and is the 28th Amendment;
• The ERA is required to be published as the 28th Amendment;
• Opponents of equality for all and reproductive rights state that the ERA has not been passed or ratified, pointing to a deadline in the preamble to the proposed Amendment to try to deny women, girls and LGBTQIA+ people equal rights. That makes it ever-so-important to state that the ERA has been ratified and is the 28th Amendment; and
• The proposed resolution (S.J.Res. 4) is designed to remove any doubt, which has been cast by these opponents, to affirm the validity of the ERA, and to urge its immediate publication.
Thank you for your continued support for the Equal Rights Amendment. We look forward to the hearing on the ERA, which is vital to the rights and lives of more than half of Americans and the future of our democracy.
[Insert Signature]
The links for each Senator’s contact page are below. Please also submit the letter you email on their website Contact Page. They must get the message loud and clear!
CONTACT INFORMATION FOR SENATE JUDICIARY
Senate Judiciary Committee @JudiciaryDems https://www.facebook.com/
Senator Dick Durbin (IL)
711 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510
202-224-2152
Fax – 202-228-0400
Contact Page: https://www.durbin.senate.gov/
Emails for Staff: [email protected].
Social Media: @SenatorDurbin; https://www.facebook.com/
Senator Richard Blumenthal (CT)
706 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510
202-224-2823
Fax – 202-224-9673
Contact Page: https://www.blumenthal.senate.
Emails for Staff: jack_budish@judiciary-dem.
Social Media: @SenBlumenthal; https://www.facebook.com/
Senator Dianne Feinstein (CA) (Will only accept on contact page if CA address)
331 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3841
Fax – 202-228-3954
Contact Page: https://www.feinstein.senate.
Social Media: @FeinsteinSenate; https://www.facebook.com/
Senator Peter Welch (VT)
SDG-12 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510
202-224-4242
Contact Page: https://www.welch.senate.gov/
Social Media: @PeterWelch; https://www.facebook.com/
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (RI)
539 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510
202-224-2921
Fax – 202-228-6362
Contact Page: https://www.whitehouse.senate.
Emails For Staff: [email protected].
Social Media: @Senwhitehouse; https://www.facebook.com/
Senator Amy Klobuchar (MN)
425 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3244
Fax – 202-228-2186
Contact Page: https://www.klobuchar.senate.
Emails for Staff: kimberly_hunt@klobuchar.
Senator Chris Coons (DE)
218 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5042
Fax – 202-228-3075
Contact Page: https://www.coons.senate.gov/
Emails for Staff: [email protected]
Social Media: @ChrisCoons; https://www.facebook.com/
Senator Mazie Hirono (HI)
109 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510
202-224-6361
Fax – 202-228-1031
Contact page: https://www.hirono.senate.gov/
Social Media: @maziehirono; https://www.facebook.com/
Senator Cory Booker (NJ)
717 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3224
Fax – 202-224-8378
Contact page: https://www.booker.senate.gov/
Emails for Staff: [email protected]
Social Media:@SenBooker; https://www.facebook.com/
Senator Alex Padilla (CA)
112 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3553
Contact page: https://www.padilla.senate.
Emails for Staff: alyson_sincavage@judiciary-
Social Media: @AlexPadilla4CA; https://www.facebook.com/
Senator Jon Ossoff (GA
Russell Senate Office Building Suite 455
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-3521
Fax: 202-224-2575
Contact page: https://www.ossoff.senate.gov/
Emails for Staff: [email protected].
Social Media: @ossoff @SenOssoff; https://www.facebook.com/
Please follow up with a call to each office/staff member emailed stating “Has the Senator read my letter, emailed to [name of staff] and placed on the Senator’s contact page, regarding the Equal Rights Amendment?” If you do not get confirmation, email it again and call the next day. When you get confirmation, please let us know immediately.
ALSO TWEET THE COMMITTEE AND SENATORS
Example:
@JudiciaryDems As you are aware, the #ERA has been duly ratified and should be published now as the 28th Amendment. SJRES4 is intended to remove all doubt, cast by opponents of #EqualityForAll and reproductive rights, that the ERA is valid and in effect. @NFL @SuperBowl 1/2
2/2 @FeinsteinSenate @AlexPadilla4CA @SenBlumenthal @ChrisCoons @maziehirono @SenatorDurbin @SenatorCardin @SenAmyKlobuchar @amyklobuchar @SenBooker @SenSchumer @Senwhitehouse @PeterWelch @ossoff @SenOssoff https://www.blumenthal.senate.
Thanks, as always, for your kind support. Our work is supported completely by you and your donations and we greatly appreciate your donations, large or small. 🙂
In solidarity and with fierce determination, your friends,
Kamala, Natalie, Nicole, Jeff, Alice, Joel, Tom and the EQUAL MEANS EQUAL team
