What is the political history of the ERA?
The Equal Rights Amendment was written in 1923 by Alice Paul, a leader of the woman suffrage movement and a lawyer. It was introduced in Congress in the same year and subsequently reintroduced in every Congressional session for half a century. On March 22, 1972, the ERA finally passed the Senate and the House of Representatives by the required two-thirds majority and was sent to the states for ratification. An original seven-year deadline was later extended by Congress to June 30, 1982. When this deadline expired, only 35 of the necessary 38 states (the constitutionally required three-fourths) had ratified the ERA. It is therefore not yet included in the U.S. Constitution. The Equal Rights Amendment has been reintroduced in every session of Congress since 1982. In the 110th Congress (2007-2008), ERA ratification bills were S.J.Res. 10 (lead sponsor, Senator Edward Kennedy, MA) and H.J.Res. 40 (lead sponsor, Representative Carolyn Maloney, NY). ERA ratification bills have not yet been r
The Equal Rights Amendment was written in 1923 by Alice Paul, a leader of the woman suffrage movement and a lawyer. It was introduced in Congress in the same year and subsequently reintroduced in every Congressional session for half a century. On March 22, 1972, the ERA finally passed the Senate and the House of Representatives by the required two-thirds majority and was sent to the states for ratification. An original seven-year deadline was later extended by Congress to June 30, 1982. When this deadline expired, only 35 of the necessary 38 states (the constitutionally required three-fourths) had ratified the ERA. It is therefore not yet included in the U.S. Constitution. The Equal Rights Amendment has been reintroduced in every session of Congress since 1982. In the 111th Congress (2009-2010), ERA ratification bills were introduced as S.J.Res. 41 (lead sponsor, Senator Robert Menendez, D-NJ) and H.J.Res. 61 (lead sponsors, Representative Carolyn Maloney, D-NY, and Representative Judy
