WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) spoke on the Senate Floor about her bill, S.1235, the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commemorative Coin Act to honor the 100th Anniversary of the women’s right to vote.

To watch her remarks, click below or HERE.

TRANSCRIPT

Today, Mister President, I am rising in support of S.1235, the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commemorative Coin Act. It was introduced by Senator Gillibrand and myself.  

Now, 150 years ago this month, the National Woman Suffrage Association was founded by Susan B. Anthony and a group of very brave suffrage activists who fought for all American women to have the right to vote.  

This bipartisan measure honors the centennial and the legacy of the suffrage activists with a commemorative coin to be minted by the U.S. Department of Treasury.

As we approach the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment - also called the Susan B. Anthony Amendment, next year, Americans are discovering the history of women’s suffrage and that movement and the stories of the women who led it to victory. These stories are a vast part of our nation’s history, but they are not often discussed, which is something that we are seeking to change. 

It would be a tragedy if the stories of these trailblazers were forgotten by future generations. It is our hope that by passing this important and bipartisan measure, we will help keep their memory alive. 
We often take the voting rights of women for granted, as if it was something that was an inevitable outcome in our history.  In truth, winning the vote for women was anything but inevitable.

It required 72 years – think about that, 72 years -  of ceaseless agitation by generations of dedicated, fearless suffragists, who fought against centuries of law and millennia of tradition. 

And I’m quoting now: “I declare to you that woman must not depend upon the protection of man, but must be taught to protect herself, and there I take my stand,” That is a quote by Susan B. Anthony.

The women’s suffrage movement began in July 1848 with the first women’s rights convention held in Seneca Falls, New York – Senator Gillibrand’s home state. The fight concluded in August 1920 in Nashville, Tennessee – my home state. 

Tennessee was the 36th and final state needed to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment - and so we did in true Tennessee style. On that hot August day in Downtown Nashville, a 24-year-old Freshman State Representative named Harry Burn from McMinn County, Tennessee changed his vote from NO to YES ensuring the amendment’s adoption. Why did he change his vote?  You may ask this question. Because his mother, Miss Febb as she was known, wrote him a letter reminding him to “be a good boy” and vote FOR the amendment. As we get ready to celebrate Mother’s Day this month, the story of Harry Burn and Miss Febb is a great reminder of how important for each and everyone of us to heed our mothers advice. Mothers are always right!

Mister President, consider how remarkable it is that the Nineteenth Amendment was not ratified until 132 years after the ratification of the U.S. Constitution in 1788.  

The Nineteenth Amendment marked the single largest extension of voting rights in American history. Many of the women who led the movement did not live to see their mission accomplished and many of the women who cast those first votes were not born when the movement began. 

As the first female Senator from Tennessee, I feel it is my duty to honor the life and legacy of those brave suffragists.  

I am so pleased to have worked with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand on this truly bipartisan celebration of a milestone in our nation’s history. 

It is cause for further celebration that we are able to introduce this legislation in a chamber where, for the first time in U.S. history, one-fourth of the members of this chamber are female. 

And, Mister President, I am delighted to report that our legislation has the support of all twenty-five female Senators. 

As we approach the centennial, it is our hope that this commemoration will increase public awareness and appreciation for the history of the women’s suffrage movement.

Honoring women who exemplify patriotism is an excellent example of what Washington can achieve when both sides come together and remember the maxim that there is more that unites us than divides us. 

I also recently joined Senator Tester in introducing the “Hello Girls” Congressional Gold Medal Act to honor women soldiers of the Army Signal Corps during World War I.

Another example of trailblazers in history, these women enabled American and French armed forces to communicate clearly with one another to enter battle armed with the intelligence they needed to win those fights. They changed the course of the war at the height of the conflict, leaving Europe in a safer state thanks to their efforts. 

Mister President, America’s values are reflected in the history that we are choosing to honor. 

“We must remember the past, hold fast to the present and build for the future”, the great Tennessee suffragist, Sue Shelton White, once wrote. “If you stand in your accepted place today, it is because some woman had to fight yesterday. We should be ashamed to stand on ground won by women in the past without making an effort to honor them by winning a higher and wider field for the future. It is a debt we owe.”

These medal and the coin are a small way to honor these women for the debt we owe them. It is a debt that can only be repaid by encouraging all women to exercise these hard-fought rights and accept more leadership roles when they are presented – whether they be at home, church, in the workplace, in civic life, or maybe in public service. 

I take inspiration from the women that blazed trails before me, and I hope the women of this chamber can provide that same type of inspiration to generations of women who are to come behind us.

With that, Mister President, I yield the floor and note the absence of quorum.