#RejoiceThe19th: U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin Seeks to Commemorate the Centennial of the Passage and Ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, which Granted American Women the Right to Vote

WASHINGTON, D.C. –U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin announced today that she has led a bipartisan group of women senators in introducing legislation to commemorate the centennial of the passage and ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, which granted American women the right to vote. The Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission Act creates a commission charged with planning and executing programs, projects and activities to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of this critical step forward in our democracy. 

“Almost 100 years ago, after decades of struggle by brave women and men, our nation finally extended to women the most fundamental right in our democracy – the right to vote. Today, women vote at higher rates than men, more than 300 women have served as members of Congress and for the first time, a woman has been selected as a major party’s presidential nominee,” said Senator Baldwin. “We still have more work to do, more glass ceilings to break, but it is important to celebrate this monumental anniversary and all the progress that women have made in the last 100 years. The Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission will ensure that the 100^th anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment receives the celebration and recognition it deserves.”

The Commission would be composed of fourteen members, with two appointed each by the President, Speaker of the House, House Minority Leader, Senate Majority Leader and Senate Minority Leader, along with the Librarian of Congress, Archivist of the United States, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and Director of the National Park Service. 

The Nineteenth Amendment was passed by Congress on June 4, 1919 and was ratified on August 18, 1920, when the legislature of the thirty-sixth state approved the measure. The Commission will work to celebrate the centennial of this multiyear process to make a woman’s right to vote a reality in our nation.

The bill’s bipartisan cosponsors include: Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Diane Feinstein (D-CA), Kirstin Gillibrand (D-NY), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).

A copy of the legislation can be found here.