Senate Passes Bipartisan Baldwin, Collins Resolution Designating August as National Women’s Suffrage Month

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Senate passed a bipartisan resolution introduced by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Susan Collins (R-ME), together with all the women Senators, designating this August as National Women’s Suffrage Month, as America celebrates the 100^th anniversary of the ratification of the 19^th Amendment, which granted American women the right to vote.

“Our bipartisan resolution designating August 2020 as National Women’s Suffrage Month recognizes and honors the struggle to extend to women the most fundamental right in our democracy – the right to vote. As our nation comes together to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the passage and ratification of the 19^th Amendment, let us remember that the hard work for women’s suffrage was done by women of all backgrounds, including women of color who fought and marched alongside their white colleagues in the suffrage movement, but whose contributions went largely unsung, and many of whom were still denied the right to vote after the 19^th Amendment was ratified,” said Senator Baldwin, “This year, as America celebrates this monumental Centennial and all the progress that women have made in the last 100 years, let us also recognize that we have more glass ceilings to break, and more work to do to make sure that the voting rights that have been won for all, are protected.”

“Women across the country made countless sacrifices and worked tirelessly to ratify the 19^th Amendment,” said Senator Collins. “Though there is more work to be done, this resolution recognizes the brave women who fought for equal voting rights and commemorates this moment for generations to come.”

The Nineteenth Amendment was passed by Congress on June 4, 1919, was ratified on August 18, 1920 when the legislature of the thirty-sixth state approved the measure, and formally became part of the Constitution on August 26, 1920. 

The resolution reads, “Resolved, that the Senate designates August 2020 as ‘National Women’s Suffrage Month;’ honors the role of the ratification of the 19th Amendment in further promoting the core values of the democracy of the United States, as promised by the Constitution of the United States; reaffirms the opportunity for people in the United States to learn about and commemorate the efforts of the women’s suffrage movement and the role of women in our democracy; and reaffirms the desire of Congress to continue strengthening democratic participation and to inspire future generations to cherish and preserve the historic precedent established under the 19th Amendment.”

The bipartisan resolution that passed the Senate was cosponsored by Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Martha McSally (R-AZ), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Kelly Loeffler (R-GA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Kamala D. Harris (D-CA), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Patty Murray (D-WA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), and Maggie Hassan (D-NH).

The full text of the resolution is available here.